I Tested the Edge Retention of 48 Steels

Recently I was able to acquire a used CATRA machine, so I heat treated just about every knife steel I had, made 57 knives with the help of knifemaker Shawn Houston, and tested them all to see which cut the longest. For a few of the steels I did multiple heat treatments to look at a couple variables and to see the effect of hardness. I also compared edge retention and toughness to see which steels have the best balance of properties. https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/05/01/testing-the-edge-retention-of-48-knife-steels/
This is the Lord’s work. Thanks for your time and efforts, Larrin.
 
Thank you for this fantastic study, I am sure this will be a great reference for many consumers and makers in years to come, really appreciate it to say the least!

Just one humble request, any chance we may see X55CrMo14 (1.4110) tested for toughness and edge retention? If I am not mistaken, that's SAK steel and just curious where it stands.
I tested the toughness of the sorta similar 1.4116.
 
Thank you for such an amazing piece.

What seems to be left for me is the differences that custom heat treats can provide. I've long used my Benchmade Rukus 610s with the stock S30V blade and production heat treat, as well as blades in Vanax with a special heat treat by Peters and A8(mod) with an elaborate, custom heat treat by Fredrik Haaksonsen. The latter two have slightly better edge geometries and both outperform the stock S30V in terms of edge wear (high-grit finished edges) and toughness. The best cutting performance is from Vanax.

I can easily reach the toughness limits of S30V (slight micro-chipping), but not with Vanax or A8(mod) under the same use. I'd expect that the A8(mod) blade would be far and away the toughest, but I haven't tried to find those limits.

Nonetheless, your testing takes away a lot of the confounding variables in comparing the performance of various steels.

Nice work!
 
@knarfeng Frank, this was that big steel testing project I was talking about, check it out. :D


Recently I was able to acquire a used CATRA machine, so I heat treated just about every knife steel I had, made 57 knives with the help of knifemaker Shawn Houston, and tested them all to see which cut the longest. For a few of the steels I did multiple heat treatments to look at a couple variables and to see the effect of hardness. I also compared edge retention and toughness to see which steels have the best balance of properties. https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/05/01/testing-the-edge-retention-of-48-knife-steels/
 
I came back to comment again, because it occurs to me that this is an article that could (should?) spur changes in the knife industry or at least the way enthusiasts approach their purchases.

I don't like to overstate, but the kind of testing y'all are doing genuinely seems like a landmark in consumer information as far as cutlery is concerned and I wanted to thank you once more.
 
Thanks everybody. I don't think I've changed history but I do enjoy testing knives and steel.

There is a lot to like here but one thing that really stands out to me, is the illustration of the balance of edge retention and toughness in that sorta middle range. Further, as many of us know, it really shows that when knife makers purposefully design knife steels, they find good balance i.e. S30V, S35VN, etc.

Then people can use the chart to start understanding or making choices as you move north or south of that middle clump.
 
Nice study, thanks. It will take a while to go through all of this, but it looks very interesting. Did you test M390 or is there another material that is equivalent? Did you test any non-steel alloys?
 
No surprise to see DeadboxHero was also heavily involved. Sounds like a lot of sharpening, and a few belts were probably gone through. You've both been contributing great stuff to the general knowledge of the knife community. It's appreciated!
 
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