LV-04 Stainless Steel???

C

CPettersen

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May 13, 2003
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Greetings. I have been interested in a Lone Wolf Loveless Design "Semi-Skinner". According to its specs. it is "closed-die forged from a single piece of high carbon LV-04 stainless steel" . I am not familiar with LV-04. Is the blade in question worth the money?. What kind of quality is this steel or even the blade in question Any info would be greatly appreciated.
 
I dunno what the alloy is exactly, but it's supposed to be good stuff from what I have read and heard. I just bought one of these knives from a forumite, and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival. I like the looks of this knife!
 
I was interested in the drop point a few months ago, and got frustrated by the lack of useful information on the Lone Wolf site.

I seem to remember reading that LV-04 is some sort of modified 440, but I wasn't able to work out if it was 440A, B, or C.

David
 
Send lone wolf an e-mail. They answered all my questions about another proprietary steel of theirs. This particular steel was developed, I believe by Sandavick, for Loveless/Lone Wolf. I believe it's formulation helps in the automatic forging process used in manufacturing the blade.
 
It is basically 440B with a little over 1% molybdenum added. I would expect it to take a mediocre edge and be a hastle to sharpen. That is because of the extremely high, 18%, chrome content and the molybdenum. I wouldn't pay big bucks for a knife with this formulation. It might make a good fishing knife.
 
The semi-skinner blade design is makes a very good hunting knife. It is hard to find quality production semi-skinners. You might look at these semi-customs. They are made with A2 alloy blades, a nonstainless tool steel that takes a particularly sharp edge and is tough for a tool steel. It holds an edge better than most factory blades as well. It will darken with use unless you keep polishing it..
http://www.agrussell.com/knives/new_knives/tom_krein_semiskinner_black_micarta.html
 
This is what Lonewolf sent me:

"The LV-04 steel used on the Loveless fixed-blade knives was developed because there was not an existing steel that had the properties desired for this product. Working with Bob Loveless we established how we wanted the steel to perform and then challenged a major steel producer to meet these requirements. The result was what we decided to call LV-04. The steel has high carbon content with Molybdenum & Vanadium for flexibility and added edge retention. You can also forge this steel. This was the key to producing the Loveless fixed-blade knives in a closed-die forging tool. This was our goal and we had to develop a special steel to reach it. This was a challenge to say the least but the resulting product forged from this steel has outstanding cutting properties and excellent corrosion resistance. Because R. W. (Bob) Loveless pushed us hard to find or develop steel with these properties we gave it the LV prefix in honor of Mr. Loveless. Composition:

LV-04 / C 0.90% / Cr18.0% / Mn0.7% / Mo 1.15 % / V 0.1 %"

I think the carbon content puts it above the 440B range
 
brownshoe said:
Composition:

LV-04 / C 0.90% / Cr18.0% / Mn0.7% / Mo 1.15 % / V 0.1 %"
Click to expand...

Looks like good stuff to me. If properly heat treated, it should take a good edge, while not being too difficult to sharpen. Will it hold an edge like something like BG42? Probably not, but I still think it will be quite serviceable.
 
I believe these are made in Italy - 440B is popular with manufacturers there. Absolutely nothing wrong with this, we're just really stuck on better steels on these forums.
 
The amounts of Mo and V should make this quite a nice steel—if heat treated properly. Sharpening should be similar to ATS34.

18% is an awful lot of chrome. Great stain resistance, but at what cost for structural integrity.

Thanks all for the info on LV-04.

David
 
Lone Wolf's steel chart included in their "Steel Chemistry - Lone Wolf Knives" PDF page also includes the properties for a steel labeled "440B - Modified" with exactly the same properties that are listed for LV-04.

What is the purpose of the identical entries if LV-04 was developed to exacting standards specifically for the Loveless fixed blades? Perhaps the steel was first designated 440B - Modified before being changed to LV - 04 and they just overlooked deleting the first entry when they changed the designation.

It just seems odd to see the two listings with identical properties.
 
I would prefer an alloy with less chrome and more vanadium (the molybdenum could go too). Something like AUS-10 or VG10.
 
440B Modified does not inspire confidence as a steel name.

I wonder if 18% chrome makes it easier to cast?

The same blade design in VG10 would be nice.
 
Thanks for all the information, much appreciated. I agree with Danbo, I too like the looks of this knife, I am partial to drop point and skinner blades. Will check out the sites suggested.
 
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