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- Sep 10, 2010
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I am having a custom nessmuck made with a 4.3 inch blade that is about 1.8 tall and will likely be cut from 3/16th stock with the goal of having it be around ~.165-170 thick
I would only like for people who have experience with these steels to comment.
This knife will be used as a companion blade to a big chopper and will be used for general bushcraft/ utility, skinning, game processing, and food processing. I want it to be strong enough that I won't have to worry about it breaking while also having the absolute best cutting ability possible. The toughest task this knife will be doing is very light batoning and the harder parts of processing game like popping out hip joints and splitting rib cages.
I chose a very broad/ tall Nessmuck blade shape and combination with a Full flat grind to get the best cutting performance in terms of Geometry while still being .165-.170 thick for adequate toughness.
So here is the question,
What steel should I use for maximum edge retention during game cleaning and bushcraft tasks that will still provide adequate toughness?
The steel will be heat treated likely by Peter's and not the maker.
For me, keeping the Razor edge is more important than keeping an edge that cuts forever. For this reason I have narrowed the choices down to CPM M4 and Bohler M390.
If I go with either choice, what hardness should I request so that edge retention will be maximized without significant loss of toughness? I am thinking 63-64 for M4 and 61 for M390.
Thanks!
Here's the knife
I would only like for people who have experience with these steels to comment.
This knife will be used as a companion blade to a big chopper and will be used for general bushcraft/ utility, skinning, game processing, and food processing. I want it to be strong enough that I won't have to worry about it breaking while also having the absolute best cutting ability possible. The toughest task this knife will be doing is very light batoning and the harder parts of processing game like popping out hip joints and splitting rib cages.
I chose a very broad/ tall Nessmuck blade shape and combination with a Full flat grind to get the best cutting performance in terms of Geometry while still being .165-.170 thick for adequate toughness.
So here is the question,
What steel should I use for maximum edge retention during game cleaning and bushcraft tasks that will still provide adequate toughness?
The steel will be heat treated likely by Peter's and not the maker.
For me, keeping the Razor edge is more important than keeping an edge that cuts forever. For this reason I have narrowed the choices down to CPM M4 and Bohler M390.
If I go with either choice, what hardness should I request so that edge retention will be maximized without significant loss of toughness? I am thinking 63-64 for M4 and 61 for M390.
Thanks!
Here's the knife
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