N690 Steel used for Benchmade 10300 blade?

U

UnknownVT

Joined
Feb 15, 2003
Messages
2,575
I'm a little confused by the N690 "steel" used for the blade of the Benchmade 10300 MonoChrome model -
http://www.benchmade.com/products/product_detail.asp?model=10300

QUOTE:
Blade Material: N690 Stainless Steel
Blade Hardness: 58-60HRC
UNQUOTE

BUT according to
http://www.canit.se/~griffon/knives/text/steel-designations.html

N690 C: <0.04 Cr: 28-31 Mn: <0.5 Si: <0.5 Ni: 57-63 Cu: <0.5 S: <0.015 Fe: 7-11

This means N690 is MOSTLY Nickel (57-63%),
and not Iron (Fe: 7-11%)

See Crucible's own pdf file designation at:

http://www.cruciblecompaction.com/docs/N690.pdf

Iron is only 7.0 to 11.0%!!!
and Carbon is only 0.04%

So I can't see how this stuff can even make a blade, much less 58-60HRc

Or am I looking at the wrong N690?

--
Vincent

http://UnknownVincent.cjb.net/
http://UnknownVT.cjb.net/
 
I think you're looking at the wrong N690. Crucible doesn't make it, it comes from Austria or something...
 
That is correct the steel is made by Boehler in Austria, they have a website at:

www.bohlersteel.com

but it's one of those corporate websites where they talk a lot about "branding" and "opportunities" and other crap but finding information about what is actualy sold is tough. Finally in the German language section I located a PDF with the Data sheet:

C 1.07
Si 0.40
Mn 0.40
Cr 17.30
Mo 1.10
V 0.10
Co 1.50

The German Material nmber is 1.4528
DIN X105CrCoMo18-2

It's not CPM S90V but is should make a good blade.
 
From what I've read and heard, N690 is basically 440C with a different name, kinda' like AUS6 and 440A. At least that's what I've come to understand.
 
N690 is different from 440C. I have used many knives made of 440C also custom. Now I use several Extrema Ratio's made of N690 and I consider this steel more better than 440C . It is not high end steel but in my opinion has better edge holding than ATS 34 - it is similiar to VG10.
 
I can't really compare my VG-10 blades, which are all thin, to my N690 Extrema Ratio Nemesis, which has a thick edge. But I was pleased with how well the N690 cuts, even as thick as it is. It also stayed sharp under some abuse, chopping branches.
 
J.Davey said:
From what I've read and heard, N690 is basically 440C with a different name, kinda' like AUS6 and 440A. At least that's what I've come to understand.
Click to expand...

Not exactly. 440C has the German material number 1.4125 and a different composition than N690 (1.4528). N690 contain vanadium which 440C does not. I'm too lazy to make the exact comparison, but I'd say N690 is closer to BG-42 than 440C.
 
I'd say it is a bit of a stretch to say that N690 is closer to BG-42 than it is to 440C. For the elements that really matter here, BG-42 has 4% Moly and 1.2% Vanadium, vs the 1.1% and 0.10% for the N690. BG-42 also has a little more carbon. On top of this, in real life the BG-42 is hardened somewhat higher than is the N690, which, combined with the greater vanadium and molybdenum carbide content and a cleaner metal, would make a very noticeable difference in performance. This assumes proper heat treat, of course.

Close to VG-10? Perhaps.
 
Whatever it [ n690 ] emulates, it takes a good edge and holds it on the ER's under some exteme abuse without chipping.

Brownie
 
Cheked my steelcharts and N690 is almost identical to VG-10. Not as identical as ATS-34 and 154CM but very close.
 
When I heard that N690 was similar to VG-10 my ears perked up. Looking at the chart it seems to be a lot like VG-10 with a higher chrome content. I decided that it bore looking at.

I picked up a Monochrome at my local knife store. It was nice and sharp right out of the box. The general design of the knife is also appealing. The blade shape is good for general utility, hunting, and SD. The handle fits well in the hand, and its tapered shape fits very conveniently in the pocket. The fit is good, particularly the lock. The thumb stud is tucked partially behind the bolster when open and does not interfere with cutting. I like the blade shape better than on the Camillus EDC.

I have thin, hard arm hair that is difficult to shave. It is particularly hard to shave given the dryness where I live at over 7,000 foot elevation. The knife was sharp out of the box, but would barely shave my wrist. I resolved to see how good a shaving edge I could put on N690. I went through several passes of hand sharpening and it would do a reasonable job of shaving my forearm. I decided to go all the way with the blade. I thinned the edge down using a worn 220 grit belt on my belt sander. I would say I primarily reduce the angle down around 10 degrees per side. I deburred the edge and smoothed my bevel using 1000 and 4000 grit water stones. Then I stropped it to put a polish on the bevel. I finished it mostly at 15 degrees per side using my sharpmaker with just a few light strokes on the white rods at 20 degrees. Now it does a very nice job of shaving indeed. It does not take as fine an edge as VG-10, but it is close. I rate it as a very good steel for the price point.

Oh yeh, PS I also did a little light stropping with green chromium oxide on leather. This alloy, with this fine edge, responded well to stropping. Some harder alloys like BG42 or 440V have not responded as positively to stropping with the green stuff.
 
I remember that one article I read said this type of material is one very close to 440C. By analyzing its composition, I think this could be true. I guess that N690 could have better wear resistance because there's a little V. The stainless abilities should be equal since the composition of Cr is almost the same. The hardness should be close as the compositon of C is close.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top