Poll: Stainless Steel - What rocks the most!

What Stainless Steel do you like?

  • CPM S35VN

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • CPM 154

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • CPM S30V

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
Cpm154 all the way. The cpm154 nearly twice more tough than 154cm....that's pretty tough.
 
ive used all the afore mentioned steels in the field and love cpm-3V and elmax the best. Tough as nails and hold an edge like cray.
3V a bit more stain resistant than D2 while being tougher and great edge retention. Elmax good for close to body salt resistance.
 
strong said:
ive used all the afore mentioned steels in the field and love cpm-3V and elmax the best. Tough as nails and hold an edge like cray.
3V a bit more stain resistant than D2 while being tougher and great edge retention. Elmax good for close to body salt resistance.
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Thanks for helping out, your in-field experience is key.


Thanks everyone! I am still listening closely here. I really appreciate the input and have been researching daily. To me it is down to CPM154, S30V and Elmax.
 
I'll throw in my .02

Out of the steels in the poll, I like CPM 154 the best. CPM S30V I haven't used yet so I won't give an opinion. CPM S35VN, in the knives that I have owned (Sebenza, ZT 0550), I don't like.

It's a decent stainless but it can't seem to hold a fine edge to save it's life. I know ZT and CR temper their steels to a little softer then norm (57-59ish) but on a roughly 50deg. incl. polished convex edge, it does not seem to take hardly any use before the edge blunts, rolls, or occasionally even microchips.

The hardest cutting I put them through is making fuzz sticks from dried medium-hardness wood and while the ZT will get micro chipping and blunting, a Vic Hiker won't take any damage at all.

Not impressed at all with it.

Steels that I really like:
1084, 1095, 5160: 'Nuff said
CPM M4: I love this stuff, I have a Spyderco Gayle Bradley in this steel and a few knives-in-progress and it is one of my favorites. An outrageous cutter.
CPM 3V: This stuff is great. Tough as can be but still has pretty good wear resistance and takes a wicked edge.

That's all I can think of right now.
 
Ohh as an add, What ever Daniel does to his A2 is phenominal, the convex compound fixed has keept a screaming edge through a ton of use and still looks pretty enough to draw ooos and ahhs.
 
Bigfattyt said:
Supposedly, Scrapyard Knives bought up a crap load!
Click to expand...

Out of the listed steels in the poll, I only have CPM 154. I have done noting with it to really "test". Meaning nothing to cause any damage. Just paper, cardboard, and some feather sticks.

It definitely holds a sharp edge longer than some of my other generic stainless steels.

I have a lot of 1095, couple Queen D2, and 5160, L6 and a few others. 440 series, Aus8, and a few others.

CMP 154 seems to hold the edge better. But, I don't have any blades with exactly the same grind or geometry to be sure.
 
ive found that with stainlesses the chromium in the cheaper stuff tends to mess up edge holding and bend resistance, and higher performance blades need more fancy heat treatments and vacuum environments and cryo quenching and high temp tempering for days ect ect. BUT if none of that is a problem...

Ive found that VG 10 has great edge stability. i tested my spyderco stretch fairly thin profile held a shaving edge for over 300 feet of paperboard (still cut well just not shaving) and it took a while to strop back to shaving. also in my spyderco native in cpm s30v has much better edge holding than my leatherman charge tti s30v blade or my benchmade s30v blades. furthering other steels, N690 is one of my favorites, 154cm performs very well in point strength as far as stabbing steel and concrete and edge holding. im looking to expand my knife collection to test other kinds of steels and other brands of heat treat. Ive had sog, cold steel, crkt, benchmade, and ka bar aus 8 and all have their subtle differences in use. i personally make knives from 1095/1075 that i can heat treat with a camp fire and oil, but i bought some 154cm to have professionally heat treated
 
goodshepherdknives said:
ive found that with stainlesses the chromium in the cheaper stuff tends to mess up edge holding and bend resistance, and higher performance blades need more fancy heat treatments and vacuum environments and cryo quenching and high temp tempering for days ect ect. BUT if none of that is a problem...

Ive found that VG 10 has great edge stability. i tested my spyderco stretch fairly thin profile held a shaving edge for over 300 feet of paperboard (still cut well just not shaving) and it took a while to strop back to shaving. also in my spyderco native in cpm s30v has much better edge holding than my leatherman charge tti s30v blade or my benchmade s30v blades. furthering other steels, N690 is one of my favorites, 154cm performs very well in point strength as far as stabbing steel and concrete and edge holding. im looking to expand my knife collection to test other kinds of steels and other brands of heat treat. Ive had sog, cold steel, crkt, benchmade, and ka bar aus 8 and all have their subtle differences in use. i personally make knives from 1095/1075 that i can heat treat with a camp fire and oil, but i bought some 154cm to have professionally heat treated
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Sounds good! I can tell you have been thinking about this. :thumbup:

If you like 1095 and 1075 I bet you will really like 1084 too, it is great steel and doesn't need as fast of a quench. It depends what oil you have of course.

Great call on sending off the 154cm too, I use two kilns, Aluminum Plates and stainless wrap to ht steels like that.


I wrote this up on steel selection, it says for beginners but is really for anyone who has not tried some of the steels I mentioned.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...lection-for-Beginning-Knifemakers-My-Thoughts


Thanks again everyone!
 
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My favorite steels are AEB-L, CPM-154 and D2, depending on the particular application I normally can use one of these three steels. The only exception is for choppers which I have never made one. If I were to tackle a chopper I opt for 1084 or Cru-forge V.
 
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Great posts everyone!

I have used a lot of steels and it is interesting how they all work, awesome discussion! After using so many I have to say heat treat and edge geometry are key.

I'm pretty big on no compromises in the shop. I hand finished my first knives with a file as they looked great that way but bought a kiln and engineered oil as my first big knifemaking expense.
 
Great posts everyone!

I have used a lot of steels and it is interesting how they all work, awesome discussion! After using so many I have to say heat treat and edge geometry are key.

I'm pretty big on no compromises in the shop. I hand finished my first knives with a file as they looked great that way but bought a kiln and engineered oil as my first big knifemaking expense.
 
My vote went to other. I dont have any particular affinity for S30V and higher class steels like Elmax etc. If we're still ralking stainless, I lean toward AEB-L, 13c26, 425M, 420HC, etc. For a while, I carried a Kershaw in S60V. I did some edge holding tests and recorded them and was suitably impressed, until I was able to equal the results of those tests with another Kershaw in AUS 8. To be clear, I stop testing when the blade will no longer shave, split a grocery bag, or split/whittle one of my beard hairs. I dont consider the steels named in the poll tough, unless they are being compared to other steels of the same class (corrosive plastic mold steels) or to their non-cpm versions.
 
Stainless steels aren't my favorites but when I choose I like BG42/CTS B70 ( new CTS powder steel BG42)
S110V at high hardness like my Phil Wilson ( rc 63.5)
CPM 154
S90V
12C-13C for very sharp stuff.
 
I have both Custom & Production in the CPM154 in this Steel and it just seems like it just about runs circles around the other Steels as for staying sharp and more sharpening friendly ~~ although I do like the D2 & S30V <<<< but just not as well as the CPM154.!!**** Enough said *
 
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