newer steels.

[Ben Dover]

Does anyone have hands on experience ELMAX, M390, CTS20CP, or any other new steel?? I woulde appreciate your impressions and experiences.

Ben

 

[zyhano]

M390: I have been rocking the benchmade 710 in M390 for about 2 weeks now.

I like it better than S30V so far since it comes back to sharpness pretty easy on the strop and seems to stay sharp longer. Be aware that I don't approach this scientifically in daily use. I like the bite on the edge, I've only honed it with a spyderco UF rod and my dmt diapasted strop, so no mirror edges yet etc. I whittle hair after just a minute on the spyderco UF and a minute on the dmt diapaste of 6 micron.

So far it's been about cutting tape, cardboard, letter opening, tie thingies, food prep, fruit prep, and cutting rubber tubes today. It's pretty good on the cardboard from what I can tell and my left arm has bald spots again

the strange thing is that I do not have that same experience on my duratech 20CV hinderer xm-18's (same composition as CTS-204P and M390). It dulled quickly, got sharp quickly enough. The angle of the hinderer is more obtuse though, so that could be a factor in it not feeling as sharp.

 

[Ben Dover]

Thank you! :thumbup:

 

[singularity35]

I have been using my grey para with 20CP for about two weeks now and I pretty much like this steel over the most of the steels I've tried(s30v, M4, vg-10). It holds that nice working edge for a looong time but as a consequence takes a little longer to sharpen though. I don't see anything else that I have kicking this knife out of my pocket permanently. Well, maybe until the blue para comes out but I'm sure they'll be sharing pocket time then.

 

[Ben Dover]

As I understand it, these knives were a "sprint run" by Spyderco. Do you happen to know if any are still available?

 

[singularity35]

As I understand it, these knives were a "sprint run" by Spyderco. Do you happen to know if any are still available?

I think the dealer who released the M4 G10/Ti millie still has the, albeit at an inflated price.

A few tend to pop up on the exchange at a better price than that dealer's.

 

[Ankerson]

Does anyone have hands on experience ELMAX, M390, CTS20CP, or any other new steel?? I woulde appreciate your impressions and experiences.

Ben

Just about all of the newer ones, what steels do you want to know about, and what do you want to know?

 

[Ben Dover]

Just about all of the newer ones, what steels do you want to know about, and what do you want to know?

Thank you for replying.

I am most interested in ELMAX, perhaps because information about it is somewhat limited.

I understand that Carpenter's CTS20CP is a "second generation" refinement of Crucible's S90V. Is this correct?

S35VN is alleged to be superior in abrasion resistance to S30V, but easier to sharpen, which seems counter intuitive. Is this possible?

And lastly, how does M390 compare to S90V and CPM M-4 for abrasion resistance and "toughness?"?

Thank you.

Ben

 

[Ankerson]

Thank you for replying.

I am most interested in ELMAX, perhaps because information about it is somewhat limited.

I understand that Carpenter's CTS20CP is a "second generation" refinement of Crucible's S90V. Is this correct?

S35VN is alleged to be superior in abrasion resistance to S30V, but easier to sharpen, which seems counter intuitive. Is this possible?

And lastly, how does M390 compare to S90V and CPM M-4 for abrasion resistance and "toughness?"?

Thank you.

Ben

ELMAX is a very strong, tough Stainless that will hold an edge for a long long time, it cuts very well. It's pretty easy to sharpen and it's fine grained and very corrosion resistant.

20CP is Carpenters vers of S90V, from my testing they are the same edge retention wise, but 20CP will take a slightly finer edge while S90V is slightly more aggressive.

S35VN isn't more abrasion resistant than S30V, although they are pretty much the same edge retention wise from my testing, in the same group.

M390 is above S90V when taken to 61-62 HRC edge retention wise, the same at 59-60 HRC above and well above M4 also. M390 should be slightly tougher than S90V and slightly less than M4.

M390, S90V, 20CP, ELMAX and S30V all do very well with a coarser edge finish right around 16 Microns, that takes advantage of the carbide content in the steels and makes for a very efficient slicing and great edge retention.

 

[peppercorn]

I have a ZT 0551 with ELMAX which, from a steel perspective, I am very impressed with. This knife had a recurve that measured about 1.5 inches from choil forward that I wanted to straighten out from the get go.
So, I spent a couple of hours on an extra course DMT continuous plate and then moved through the higher grits once the recurve was fixed. From this perspective I can say that the steel is extremely tight grained, hones fairly easily and takes a hair whittling, freehanding at the factory angle, edge sooner than say S30V. Edge retention is better than my S30V blades , which are CRKs at HRC 58-59, when cutting cardboard. I only mention cardboard since this is all I have cut with it so far this week.
I really like this steel so far and it will be interesting to see how it holds up to a variety of other cutting tasks.

 

[Ben Dover]

Thanks to all of you.

Ankerson, that was exactly the information I was seeking. Now, all that remains is to find suitable knives in these steels, and convince the accounting department (wife ) that I need them! :thumbup::thumbup: