I was looking in an old issue of Tactical Knives an article featuring the Starmate, and the author mentioned the edge easily chipped when pressed to a soft brass rod, which meant though 440V has high abrasion resistance, it has low toughness. He also mentioned the steel was at Rc 59-61, I believe.
But an article by Jeff Randall last year in TK on the Military indicated he had no problems with edge chipping even when used beyond straight cutting chores.
In one of the catalogs, the Military is listed at 56-58, but in the 2001 dealer's catalog is listed at 56-57. Has Spyderco purposely lowered the Rockwell hardness of the CPM-440V to lessen possible brittleness and increase toughness? (It also seems that earlier on, the Starmate was at a higher Rc than the Military, although both use the same steel).
Jim
But an article by Jeff Randall last year in TK on the Military indicated he had no problems with edge chipping even when used beyond straight cutting chores.
In one of the catalogs, the Military is listed at 56-58, but in the 2001 dealer's catalog is listed at 56-57. Has Spyderco purposely lowered the Rockwell hardness of the CPM-440V to lessen possible brittleness and increase toughness? (It also seems that earlier on, the Starmate was at a higher Rc than the Military, although both use the same steel).
Jim
