N69Oco steel

gine

gine

Joined
Sep 2, 2007
Messages
1,169
Does anyone know about this steel made in italy?
If so what steel would it be most similar to?
I was considering a jerry hossem dayhiker fixed blade.
Extrema ratio uses it but haven't heard how it compares
to other steels or if it's worth buying.:D:D:):confused:

thx gine
 
N690Co is not an Italien steel - it's an Austrian Steel from Böhler. You will find a lot of informations in the forums about the performance of N690Co :)
 
taken from wilson tactical:

Q. What is N690C?

A. N690C is an Austrian made stainless steel, which is comparable to 440C in performance and value. It has keen edge qualities with excellent corrosion resistance.

Q. What is 440C?

A. 440C is an excellent, high chromium stainless steel that resists rust well. It is fairly ubiquitous, and is generally considered the penultimate general-use stainless. 440C takes a nice edge and is fairly easy to sharpen.
 
N690 is not the same as VG-10... somewhat similar but not the same.

N690 is substantially BETTER than 440C, no real comparison there.

N690 is an excellent steel that makes a fairly ough blade with excellent edge holding and cutting ability. I've made 100s of blades from N690 and find it to one of the best all purpose steels on the market.
 
Kevin Wilkins said:
N690 is not the same as VG-10... somewhat similar but not the same.

N690 is substantially BETTER than 440C, no real comparison there.

N690 is an excellent steel that makes a fairly ough blade with excellent edge holding and cutting ability. I've made 100s of blades from N690 and find it to one of the best all purpose steels on the market.
Click to expand...

thx for responding!!
What would you compare it to?
Is it tough or on the brittle side
if it compares to 440c it not good enough for a 9.5 '' fixed blade
I think it would break in half if chopping things!!:D
 
I'd say N690 is very similar with the ATS-55 Spyderco used at some of their models (like the FRN Delica / Endura).
ATS-55 is a very good steel, even according to nowadays standards. I would never hesitate to get (and use) an ATS-55 blade.
 
What is the difference between N690Co and standard N690? I mean you can find N690 on lower budget knives like Benchmade Monochrome and N690Co on much more expensive knives like Ontario XM-1, so they probably aren't the same, are they?
 
ATS-55 and N690 are substantially differrent alloys... even a quick check shoud show that.

N690 is N690, it contains 1.5% Cobalt. There are not two steels, just two different ways of marking the products.

Go to Boehler's website and download the data sheet if you want accurate information.
 
There is no difference between N690 and N690Co - both names referr to the same alloy,
the ending Co is just meant to stress the Cobalt content in N690, see below the details and the coding for German industry standard

N690 , 1.4528
C Si M n Cr Mo V Co
1,o7 0,40 0,40 17,00 1,10 0,10 1,50

DIN 1.4528 X105CrCoMo182
 
Kevin Wilkins said:
ATS-55 and N690 are substantially differrent alloys... even a quick check shoud show that.

N690 is N690, it contains 1.5% Cobalt. There are not two steels, just two different ways of marking the products.

Go to Boehler's website and download the data sheet if you want accurate information.
Click to expand...

I know that the composition is different. N690 has more Cobalt and some Vanadium, while ATS-55 has Molybdenum and Manganese instead.
The Carbon and Chromium proportions are not very different though.
What I was reffering to was the behaviour. I have knives with both steels and they perform pretty close in terms of edge retention, easiness of sharpening and corrosion resistance.
 
benchmade also claims it is very similar in performance to 440c
there are a couple very knowledgable companies who use this steel and agree it is similar to 440c
 
Kevin Wilkins said:
N690 is a better perfoming steel than 440C. But you can believe whatever you want.
Click to expand...

In our testing, 440C had better corrosion resistance. N690Co had better edge retension and would hold up better with a very thin edge. Given the choice, we would use N690Co instead of 440C unless corrosion reistance was more critical (such as he whale blade).

sal
 
I'm sure happy with the N690Co Fox made Volpe that Spyderco put out. Folks really missed the boat by not getting one of those.
 
Sal Glesser said:
In our testing, 440C had better corrosion resistance. N690Co had better edge retension and would hold up better with a very thin edge. Given the choice, we would use N690Co instead of 440C unless corrosion reistance was more critical (such as he whale blade).

sal
Click to expand...

Sal,

Thanks for the info. How about toughness when used for chopping? I'm thinking of the Forager and Forester. There's nothing currently in the Spyderco forums on these knives. I'd search the archives but that's not currently possible. I like the handles on these two- nice and big, and ought to fit my hands.

Thanks,
Bill D.
 
Sal Glesser said:
In our testing, 440C had better corrosion resistance. N690Co had better edge retension and would hold up better with a very thin edge. Given the choice, we would use N690Co instead of 440C unless corrosion reistance was more critical (such as he whale blade).

sal
Click to expand...

great info Sal. I am finishing up a knife I made from N690 now , how thin would you recommend the edge before sharpening ? will it hold up well if ground to .020 ?

thanks and see you at SHOT.
 
My kitchen knives made from N690 are ground to about 0.3mm (0.012") before sharpening. (So are the Becut blades) There have been zero problems with any of those, actually just the opposite! They cut great. Pocket knife blades depending on the design might be OK at 0.4mm or so.
 
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