Kershaw's steel choices

tyyreaun said:
Looking at a major steel distributor, sample prices for a .18" x 23" x 2" billet:
  • 440C: $32
  • S30V: $57
  • M390: $91
Assuming you can get 5 blades from a 23" piece of stock, that's $6.40, $11.40, and $18.20 per knife respectively.

The difference in the raw material cost isn't that big, especially if you consider the bulk discounts someone like Kershaw would get, compared to buying small chunks.
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Problem is there is more to it than raw materials
-a less forgiving HT process, and customer expectation, means the HT process cost will go up in some form
-better blade steel = more machine wear = greater cost of maintenance and/or shorter life of tools

This doesn't mean there isn't room for them to improve the steels I feel that 14C28N is a great steel found on plenty of budget knives.
 
I've always felt like Kershaw runs their heat treatment to be a little more forgiving and tougher while holding an acceptable edge. I have flat out abused my old worn out 13c26 Skyline by batoning a 1x4 with it just to see what it could take and it never broke. I even hit a small hidden piece of nail and it rolled rather than chipping or snapping. Your average non-enthusiast knife user abuses a knife without even knowing it, and I think the majority of the market for Kershaw would benefit more from toughness and ease of sharpening than sheer edgeholding.

It would be nice if there were a line of Kershaws above the current US made line for those in-the-know on a budget, but not quite up in ZT territory.
 
Sticking with Kershaw specifically, I think it will be interesting to see if some folks here end up buying both one or more flavor of Natrix along with a 7777 Bareknuckle. I do have to question what the differences will actually be between what amounts to the exact same design, executed in different countries/factories from different steel. Is Kershaw really producing the same handle design in both their US and Chinese factories? The closest comparison I personally know of was the Skyline (US) versus Skyline XL (China) using the same design but different steel, with the latter being slightly larger. I initially considered snagging a D2 Natrix, but I've always been happy with the Sandvik 14C28N steel on my other US Kershaws and decided to go with the known quantity, so I preordered a Bareknuckle. Had the Bareknuckle been offered in D2, that would have been an intriguing alternative, but maybe that will come later. Once the price gets close to the $100 mark, I have to start consider other options, with D2 becoming a bare minimum. Nothing against 14C28N, but $70 is probably about the most I'd spend on a knife with that steel, and then only US-made.

I did find it interesting that a Real Steel I bought a year or two ago also claims to be made from the same Sandvik steel, which I thought was exclusive to Kershaw.
 
Inazone said:
I did find it interesting that a Real Steel I bought a year or two ago also claims to be made from the same Sandvik steel, which I thought was exclusive to Kershaw.
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It looks like you can buy 14C28N directly from Sandvik on their website. I believe Kershaw claims to have worked with Sandvik to develop 14C28N, but if they had an exclusivity it must have expired.
 
wayoftread said:
Kershaw also make a Dividend with s35vn steel. 90 bucks.
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The Link and the Divided, both M390, each under $80, both US made sprint runs, great value.
Offerings like these two is what keeps me watching Kershaw, I like buying a known design with upgraded steels.
 
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