Question for Sal.

wade7575

wade7575

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Apr 3, 2013
Messages
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I really like steels like Maxamet and M4 but what I'm not a fan of is the corrosion resistance and I know my suggestion would drive the cost up but I know I'd be be willing to pay any difference in price if it would stop the corrosion.

What I suggest is why not put a cladding of stainless stain over the M4 or Maxamet or any other steel that can corrode easily,I know Sukenari does with their knives done in ZDP-189 and I'm not saying it would have to be fancy the way they do it I'm talking about just a single thin sheet of stainless over top of the blade after it has been ground down to it's final shape.
 
wade7575 said:
I really like steels like Maxamet and M4 but what I'm not a fan of is the corrosion resistance and I know my suggestion would drive the cost up but I know I'd be be willing to pay any difference in price if it would stop the corrosion.

What I suggest is why not put a cladding of stainless stain over the M4 or Maxamet or any other steel that can corrode easily,I know Sukenari does with their knives done in ZDP-189 and I'm not saying it would have to be fancy the way they do it I'm talking about just a single thin sheet of stainless over top of the blade after it has been ground down to it's final shape.
Click to expand...
You forgot the question, amongst your suggestion.
 
I think the question is why aren't more carbon steel blades offered with cladding.

Spyderco does do this, mainly on Japan-made blades where San Mai steels are more common. They are also releasing more carbon steels with a dlc coated blade, based on requests.

Aside from availability, a lot of users seem to prefer the look of a patina'd solid carbon steel blade to a laminated one. Due to the unique heat treat requirements on these blades, the stainless layer is also often much softer and prone to scratches, which puts off some users.

I guess it's possible that more and better options may be developed, but the costs and depth of the market for it are unclear.
 
It is a case of some customers loving the laminating and some loving the patina. Some love coated blades, some don't. You cannot please everyone.
 
Personally I hate cladding I will take a coating before cladding I want my blade to be 1 single steel. I am not opposed to them offering uncoated, coated, clad, and non-clad. The key word in that statement is and I may have my preference and prefer to see it more but I know that my taste are not the only ones that matter.
 
Hi Wade,

We're a production house. Steels do not happen easily. I think doc said it.

First, I'm all bout the edge. It's the edge that rusts first because it's exposed on two sides. Some people like the edge that carbon steels give them. The trade off is maintenance. Some people like stainless steels for less maintenance, but maybe the edge is not as crisp. Some people like cladding, some people don't.

The only "custom" foundries are blade-smiths. Many of the steels that we offer are not that easy to obtain, are very expensive, are difficult to convert into a blade, or are just a PITA to work with. If a foundry decides to make M4 with cladding, we'll try it.

sal
 
I’m in the camp of letting it patina. Wish there were more models in the knife business with this option.

Sal hit the nail on the head with the “crisp” description.
 
With the amount of expertise in the knife maker's/ services group on the forum I would have to think you could find someone to adapt a knife how you would like, for the added cost you mentioned.

For M4 specifically, I have a camp/bushcrafy knife made by a forum maker and it hasn't rusted at all despite a fair amount of use in the rain and my lack of oiling. I do wipe it down and let it air dry. The maker acid etched the steel so that the knife was corrosion resistant. Obviously, this limits the looks if you want to acid etch this type of stuff but it certainly rust less than my A2 blades without a finish (shows all the grind lines).
 
I don't know how you produce your knives but if you use the stock removal process that remove all the cladding from what I understand about the way cladding is done I was just thinking it would be nice just to have a 1 or 2 thousands of stainless on the blade are the blade was ground to it's final shape.

Sal Glesser said:
Hi Wade,

We're a production house. Steels do not happen easily. I think doc said it.

First, I'm all bout the edge. It's the edge that rusts first because it's exposed on two sides. Some people like the edge that carbon steels give them. The trade off is maintenance. Some people like stainless steels for less maintenance, but maybe the edge is not as crisp. Some people like cladding, some people don't.

The only "custom" foundries are blade-smiths. Many of the steels that we offer are not that easy to obtain, are very expensive, are difficult to convert into a blade, or are just a PITA to work with. If a foundry decides to make M4 with cladding, we'll try it.

sal
Click to expand...
 
To me cladding is purely decorative. The edge still rusts if it is going to because there is no cladding on the sharpening bevels whether or not there is cladding on the sides of the main bevel. I can do without cladding.
M4 for ever. :thumbsup: ;)
 
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