Question on H1 Steel

DavidZ · Dec 29, 2009

I was just reviewing the steel guide chart on A.G. Russell's site, and I noticed that the hardness for H1 was listed at Rc65. That seems high to me. Does anyone know how hard Spyderco's H1 is hardened to? How does this steel perform compared to let's say VG-10 - one of my favorites!

BTW - I love the steel guide on A.G. 's site

yablanowitz · Dec 29, 2009

H-1 work hardens during grinding, so the actual hardness varies across the blade. I seem to recall Sal posting once that they had measured hardnesses as high as Rc 67 at the edge on some serrated blades, with Rc 65 average and Rc 63 on the plain edge models. It is quite tough and holds an edge well, but it is not as wear resistent as VG-10.

randomlooker · Dec 29, 2009

DavidZ said:
I was just reviewing the steel guide chart on A.G. Russell's site, and I noticed that the hardness for H1 was listed at Rc65. That seems high to me. Does anyone know how hard Spyderco's H1 is hardened to? How does this steel perform compared to let's say VG-10 - one of my favorites!
BTW - I love the steel guide on A.G. 's site

My experience is that it can take an even finer edge than VG-10, but (In PE) doesn't hold it as long. It's tougher -- like a carbon steel, H1 will roll or bend instead of chipping, and completely rust-proof. Where it really shines is in serrations... H1 work hardens -- the more it's machined or sharpened, the harder it gets, and the extra grinding on a SE does wonders.

Naga99 · Dec 30, 2009

It's worth pointing out that the work hardening at the edge creates a knife that is differentially tempered, like the Samurai blades, so while the RC on an SE blade is up around 65 at the edge, it's in the 50s at the spine. PE blades are of course the same at the spine, the RC on a plain edge is not as high at the edge because not as much grinding is done to the blank to create the plain edge, compared to the grinding/cutting required to create the SEs. This of course makes the whole blade shock resistant (flexing at the spine) with good edge holding (extra hardness at the edge).

And the whole thing just plain will not, ever, rust or corrode. Frikken' cool. I go with H1 and INFI. I wish they made H1 kitchen cutlery

.

forcedestrike · Dec 30, 2009

H1 as said before me is not actually "hardened" by traditional means but the hardness of the edge is directly affected by the grinding applied to it.

It is super tough, I remember seeing a photograph of an H1 blade bending by over 40 degrees, it appears to have similar properties to carbon steel in terms of toughness (flex before break) and its edge holding abilities are way above acceptable!

Just get one, or two..or three... and dont worry about the hardness.

DavidZ · Dec 30, 2009

Thanks all for the information - hard and flexible and rustproof. Sounds like the perfect steel!

Haze · Dec 30, 2009

Aye, it's defo. great stuff. I use plain edge and serated Salts on the boat and when I'm just doing silly
things in water. I have one that lives clipped to my wetsuit and a couple that live on the boat.

I would reccomend getting some H1 with teeth, those knives are great cutters on any sort of rope or sheeting, be it natural or synthetic.

:thumbup:

randomlooker · Dec 30, 2009

Naga99 said:
And the whole thing just plain will not, ever, rust or corrode. Frikken' cool. I go with H1 and INFI. I wish they made H1 kitchen cutlery .

Oh, it can corrode. Exposure to concentrated chlorine (Like you'd put in a swimming pool) will do the trick. http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39008 has pictures. Even then, once the knife was all cleaned up, the damage didn't look all that bad.

sweet_hitch-hiker · Dec 30, 2009

randomlooker said:
Oh, it can corrode. Exposure to concentrated chlorine (Like you'd put in a swimming pool) will do the trick. http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39008 has pictures. Even then, once the knife was all cleaned up, the damage didn't look all that bad.

i would like to see that test done on other steels too for comparison

choombak · Dec 30, 2009

randomlooker said:
Oh, it can corrode. Exposure to concentrated chlorine (Like you'd put in a swimming pool) will do the trick. http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39008 has pictures. Even then, once the knife was all cleaned up, the damage didn't look all that bad.

Doesn't seem like corrosion -- pitting maybe. I think this is still an "extreme" test for an H1.

-Amarendra

Naga99 · Dec 31, 2009

randomlooker said:
Oh, it can corrode. Exposure to concentrated chlorine (Like you'd put in a swimming pool) will do the trick. http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39008 has pictures. Even then, once the knife was all cleaned up, the damage didn't look all that bad.

Okay, I stand corrected. I wonder what the nature of that reaction was? It almost looks like it melted the H1, but it seemed to leave the edge (harder part) alone. I'd like a physicist or chemist to weigh in on this.

What would the pure chlorine do to me, I wonder? I bet it would be lots more uncomfortable than salt water...

Haze · Dec 31, 2009

Naga99 said:
Okay, I stand corrected. I wonder what the nature of that reaction was? It almost looks like it melted the H1, but it seemed to leave the edge (harder part) alone. I'd like a physicist or chemist to weigh in on this.

What would the pure chlorine do to me, I wonder? I bet it would be lots more uncomfortable than salt water...

Chlorine is a pretty powerfull oxidant, I don't know what the pH would be of liquid chlorine used in swimming
pools or for cleaning. I bet it's acidic enough to cause a few problems if it's ingested or gets on your skin.