Hinderer blade steel questions

Joined
Aug 19, 2010
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Can someone who knows what they are talking about explain the differences in Hinderer's blade steel's.

Some backstory on me. I have blades in 1095, S30V, 154 CM, and whatever Benchmade, Cold Steel, Leatherman, SAK, Myerchin, and Kershaw pump out. It is hard for me to determine what I need in a pocket knife. I can tell you though the 154 doesn't last for sh!t. The Benchmade's are meh at best due to blade design(hard to sharpen properly with water stones), and the Kershaw I bought at w**mart. Now before every fanboy from here to Hat Creek jumps on their band wagon and raises this thread; understand that I love each of the knives, I'm just not happy in MY ability to sharpen them. The Kershaw leak being the easiest of the folders due to its blade profile.

My fixed blades are 1095 mostly. BHK Bushcrafter, ESEE-5, and DPX H.E.S.T. and they are hair popping sharp. Mostly because I can easily hone them on my water stones down to 10K grit. As for the rest of my box, the swooping blade profiles, combo edges, and serrations are what stop me.

*SO*

Simply asked which of Hinderer steels: Duratech 20CV (59-60 HRC), Carpenter CTS-XHP (60-61 HRC), or CPM-S35VN (60-61 HRC) will retain the best edge.(period) I enjoy taking my time, hours if needed to hone a perfect edge.

That said, is there really even a difference in the steels? The hardness advertised pushes me towards the later two of the three choices is this correct?

I don't know maybe i am asking the wrong questions, this is an important purchase for me
 
Without going into the metalurgy of each (a searchable topic that explains in engineering terms and causes me to say, "Hmmm, cool" at the end of the read, I will say that I have ALL three(3) blade steels in my Hinderer's and while I have my EDC's it isn't because of the steel....it's size and style preference. ALL three are referred to as "Super Steels" and all three perform very well.
They sharpen well, hold edge well and I have yet to experience an edge failure in the form of a chip or roll.
I am sure there are those who have a favorite but my experience with them leaves me with an "I'd take any one of them with no preference" kind of position.
The magic (IMO) is in the heat treat process and then of course the further magic of Rick's entire process culminating in his sharpening.
Great knives!
 
I don't have any any Hinderers, but I do have those steels, Duratech 20CV is = M390 = CTS-204P if I'm not mistaken, so that should keep its edge the longest, follwed by CTS-XHP which is roughly = CPM-D2, and last CPM-S35VN which should act extremely similar to S30V with 30% improvement in strength which you wouldn't notice unless compared how hard it was to break a S35VN blade on purpose compared to the same blade in S30V. All are quite similar, though, especially with the 20CV being a little lower hardness than the other two, that would probably make them all within 10-15% of eachother as far as edge retention which I"m guessing most wouldn't notice withough a long session of cardboard or measuring/testing.
 
"Hmmm cool" ;)

Out of all of them 20cv is the most wear resistant. Here goes
"Of course, any steel is an alloy whose performance at a specific task depends entirely on its overall matrix. The formulation of DuraTech 20CV offers insight into its wear resistance qualities. The material component’s properties are: carbon (1.9%), chromium (20%), manganese (.3%), molybdenum (1%), silicon (.3%), tungsten (.6%) and vanadium (4%).

To be sure, the chromium content of this formulation is one of the highest of any high-vanadium stainless blade steel currently in use. The addition of such a high level of chromium to the steel provides superior corrosion resistance, even under demanding conditions. Not cleaning your knife blade after use is just such a “demanding condition.” Deer, antelope and elk blood, left to dry on a knife blade, can easily stain and mar many stainless steels. For this reason alone, a DuraTech 20CV blade would work well for use as an edged hunting tool.

Of course, it’s the vanadium content of the steel that provides the high wear resistance. When compared to other stainless blade steels, such as 440C, ATS-34 and 154CM where the vanadium component is absent, DuraTech 20CV offers far superior edge retention. Additionally, tests conducted by Latrobe have shown that this steel is 35% better at edge retention than S30V, which is saying a lot about the performance capability of DuraTech 20CV."

So I like it in slicer or spearpoint grinds, esp on 3" xm.
 
Freaking awesome...:friendly_wink:

Knife Chart for iPhone.

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