ProCut, new steel, it’s a good one 👍

[DevinT]

I've got 4 bars ordered a couple days ago...

Not super how close to 15n20 this will be?

I like 15n20, 8670, Wolfram....
It will be interesting how it compares?

At 1625’ the toughness numbers are very close.

Pro cut has a much broader austenitizing range. 15n20 has a very narrow heat treating range.

Finer grain, better edge holding. There’s a lot to look forward to.

Hoss

 

[Cypress Creek Knives]

Just finished up a matching set in ProCut for myself. I'm looking forward to testing this steel out. It looks very promising!

1475* F austenituze with a 400*F temper

 

[Larrin]

We have put together a datasheet with the data we have thus far: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0220/0308/9472/files/Pops_Procut_datasheet.pdf

 

[Stuart Davenport Knives]

Looking at the chart at the very bottom, left hand corner, after normalizing and annealing vs as received condition.

Question: Why the recommended temp of 1550°F when it looks like 1475°F gives 66HRC+, as does the normalized annealed condition (which the chart shows 66HRC+ at quite low hardening temps after norm/anneal)

Is it because the nickel requires higher heat to be put into solution to offer its toughness benefit? If that's the case, why is 15n20 recommended to be hardened at 1475°F intead of higher?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Larrin]

Looking at the chart at the very bottom, left hand corner, after normalizing and annealing vs as received condition.

Question: Why the recommended temp of 1550°F when it looks like 1475°F gives 66HRC+, as does the normalized annealed condition (which the chart shows 66HRC+ at quite low hardening temps after norm/anneal)

Is it because the nickel requires higher heat to be put into solution to offer its toughness benefit? If that's the case, why is 15n20 recommended to be hardened at 1475°F intead of higher?

Thanks for the help!

If you look at the toughness chart next to it you will see that the toughness is lower at 1475F than it is at 1500-1575F. That temperature range is roughly similar but I have a single temperature so no one asks where in the range they should use. Nickel is not the limiting factor since it isn’t found in significant amounts in the carbides.

 

[mooniesdl3]

Ordered a bar to do some kitchen knives, looking forward to trying it and comparing it to the 26c3 and MagnaCut I've been using, also looking forward to MagnaMax for the same.

 

[Stuart Davenport Knives]

If you look at the toughness chart next to it you will see that the toughness is lower at 1475F than it is at 1500-1575F. That temperature range is roughly similar but I have a single temperature so no one asks where in the range they should use. Nickel is not the limiting factor since it isn’t found in significant amounts in the carbides.

I am trying to understand the mechanism where toughness increases by raising the aust temp.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Better carbide and chromium distribution?

 

[Larrin]

It is from dissolving more carbides. I will show when I publish my article on the steel.

 

[DevinT]

I am trying to understand the mechanism where toughness increases by raising the aust temp.

The greater the carbide volume the lower the toughness but the better the edge holding. Dissolve the carbides and improve toughness.

The carbides pin the grain boundaries while heating up to prevent grain growth. This steel has really good fracture grain size.

This steel may have an austenitizing range of ~250’f , from 1425’-1675’ possibly, making it a good choice for forge heat treating.

Hoss