Hap40 steel

W

watanabe

Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
104
Anyone know of any sources for hap40 steel plate/sheet?

I am in Japan at the moment and can get prehardened plate in many thicknesses but only in 6" x 2.5" sizes!

I have found a few places that will sell me larger sizes but the prices are crazy when I can buy kitchen knives with hap40 cores and stainless cladding for around $100US finished...
 
Not sure why you want it over better knife steels, but try Hitachi ( YSS)....they make it.

It is a powder metallurgy high Co/W/V/Mo ( 26% total carbides) tool steel for shafts and high strength/high tension equipment, not really a knife steel. I know they use it as a core steel ( like VG-10 is used), but as a stand alone steel, I don't think it would be all that great.
 
Thanks for the advice...

A few people here have recommended it and I thought I would give it a try as an experiment. The kitchen knives are said to hold an edge forever...
 
I bet it would make a great tomato slicing knife. Those with more knowledge please correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't the edge be super toothy and ragged (at a microscopic level) where all those various sized but super hard carbides tear out/stick out of the crystalline matrix along the edge? Kind of like D2 is known for.
 
It's a powder steel with very fine carbides...if you read the various reviews of kitchen knives, it is relatively easy to sharpen, holds an edge for a very long time, and is quite high in toughness considering the hardness it is being used at...
 
I have no personal experience with this steel, but reviews and recommendations from the people who sell something aren't always reliable. I regularly see people who make knives from RR spikes and lawn mower blades say they make "great knives" that take "unbelievable edges" and are "super sharp".......and some of us are old enough to remember the Ginsu ads.

I don't know how the 26% alloying of hard elements plus 70% iron gets combined with the 1.3% carbon, but something is surely left as an elemental alloy. I would assume that .60% of the available carbon gets tied up in ferrite ( only 70% iron content @ .84% ratio), so that leaves about .70% of the carbon to combine with the remaining 26% of alloying. Carbides aren't my forte, so I don't have a guess if that is enough, or which gets priority.

A secondary concern is that the HT requires 2200F.
 
The reviews I referred to were from buyers not sellers...I have ordered a few of the clad kitchen knives and will see for myself...thanks for the input...
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top