M4 vs S90 which has better all around edge retention ?

My thing is I'm looking for a blade edge that will hold up very well, be it construction tasks, skinning, jobs at work consisting of cutting through material like car seats, airbags , clothing and if I hit metal while cutting hard I wouldn't have to worry about a dull knife afterwords . I'm currently using a Strider with S30 and just wanting something better for hard everyday use. Was considering a GB with CPM 4 or a blade with S90. I'm completely open to other options for great knife steels not just those two, I go weeks being away from home and really do not like having to worry about a knife going dull on me.
 
M4, it will work better for the tasks you do and be easier to keep Sharp. FYI, no blade steel can hit metal and not need to be repaired.
 
knifenut1013 said:
M4, it will work better for the tasks you do and be easier to keep Sharp. FYI, no blade steel can hit metal and not need to be repaired.
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I'm not saying it wouldn't dull a little, but not be completely dull just because you drug the edge on a metal frame of a truck trying to cut something else.
 
The Para 2 in CTS-20CP is still avaible also, that's Carpenters vers of S90V.

I would recommend that over M4.
 
knifenut1013 said:
M4, it will work better for the tasks you do and be easier to keep Sharp. FYI, no blade steel can hit metal and not need to be repaired.
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I have one M4 knife. I've used it hard, using it to cut metal in various forms, among other things.
IMG00045.jpg

IMG00426.jpg

IMG_5393.jpg


If you can do things like that with a knife, and then still do this;
IMG_5402.jpg

then you are using a good steel, IMO, and you most likely won't need anything else.

Just for fun, maybe someone should try doing the kind of cutting I've done with M4 on a comparative basis, just to see how the other steels hold up. Use them to cut some sheet steel, some steel tape, that kind of thing.

Andy
 
Andrew Colglazier said:
I have one M4 knife. I've used it hard, using it to cut metal in various forms, among other things.

If you can do things like that with a knife, and then still do this;
IMG_5402.jpg

then you are using a good steel, IMO, and you most likely won't need anything else.

Just for fun, maybe someone should try doing the kind of cutting I've done with M4 on a comparative basis, just to see how the other steels hold up. Use them to cut some sheet steel, some steel tape, that kind of thing.

Andy
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You mean you cut sheet metal, but was still shaving sharp after?
 
singularity35 said:
You mean you cut sheet metal, but was still shaving sharp after?
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To bring it back to shaving all I had to do was touch up the edge a bit. By that I mean, I steeled the edge then polished it on a ceramic rod. The blade was still sharp enough for cutting purposes before I did that.

I have a thread in the Spyderco forum talking about the uses I have put this knife to. The only thing I have done to do any noticeable (visible) damage to the edge was when I used it to pry carpet staples out of some floor sheathing, and that was because I used poor technique.

Andy
 
Andrew Colglazier said:
To bring it back to shaving all I had to do was touch up the edge a bit. By that I mean, I steeled the edge then polished it on a ceramic rod. The blade was still sharp enough for cutting purposes before I did that.

I have a thread in the Spyderco forum talking about the uses I have put this knife to. The only thing I have done to do any noticeable (visible) damage to the edge was when I used it to pry carpet staples out of some floor sheathing, and that was because I used poor technique.

Andy
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I did see and follow that thread Andy and that was awesome. I do use my GB a lot on work chores too(not as hard as yours) and I agree about the edge holding of CPM-M4. I was just a bit surprised that, which I thought you meant, that it was still armhair shaving after the sheet metal. This clarifies things.Thanks
 
Ankerson said:
That's going to depend on hardness and how thin the edge is, to get something you must give up something else to get it.

No free lunch with steels.
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well you say m4 at 65 is roughly comparable to s90v at 60, with s90 taking the lead in edge holding. but at that the given hardness, isn't m4 still tougher? allowing for a thinner grind and thinner edge? so while the s90v would be "sharper" and shave, cut tp etc better, the thinner profile of the said m4 knife would make it SEEM sharper in rl cutting.

at least thats how my understanding of the steels' qualities works
 
SpartanSaint said:
well you say m4 at 65 is roughly comparable to s90v at 60, with s90 taking the lead in edge holding. but at that the given hardness, isn't m4 still tougher? allowing for a thinner grind and thinner edge? so while the s90v would be "sharper" and shave, cut tp etc better, the thinner profile of the said m4 knife would make it SEEM sharper in rl cutting.

at least thats how my understanding of the steels' qualities works
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That's 62.5 HRC, you won't see M4 at 65 HRC in production blades EVER or even close to it.....

M4 in that range...... That's customs and I would take 10V / K294 at 64-65 HRC for non stainless and S110V at 63-64 HRC for stainless in a hillbilly heartbeat without even thinking about it.

Yes, I would take S90V at 61 HRC in a Custom over M4 at any hardness and never even give it a 2nd thought, M4 isn't that much tougher than S90V......

Look at the Cruciable Sheet that compares the knife steels for a better idea of what the edge retention is of their steels.

http://www.crucible.com/PDFs/Knifemaker REV June 2010.pdf
 
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Michigan Fancyman said:
My thing is I'm looking for a blade edge that will hold up very well, be it construction tasks, skinning, jobs at work consisting of cutting through material like car seats, airbags , clothing and if I hit metal while cutting hard I wouldn't have to worry about a dull knife afterwords . I'm currently using a Strider with S30 and just wanting something better for hard everyday use. Was considering a GB with CPM 4 or a blade with S90. I'm completely open to other options for great knife steels not just those two, I go weeks being away from home and really do not like having to worry about a knife going dull on me.
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For truly hard use, CPM-M4 and 3V are by far better choices than any other stainless steel. The GB is an outstanding heavy duty folder, you can't go wrong with it.
 
Seems like every new generation of blade steel that comes out, threads like these get started. I've yet to see any real, practical, in your pocket experience that proves that in every day use, any of these whizbang magic wonder steels have any real advantages over one another. Marketing at it's finest.

-Freq
 
I fully plan on buying a 3v knife and putting it though its paces.... do a google search and you a see the difference. Ankerson also does testing so watch those videos too!
 
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