Ranking of Steels in Categories based on Edge Retention cutting 5/8" rope

Thanks for the additions, I've been following this thread closely even before I joined. CPM 3V looks very impressive especially for the toughness you get. Any idea on the hardness it is run at?
 
lionsden said:
Thanks for the additions, I've been following this thread closely even before I joined. CPM 3V looks very impressive especially for the toughness you get. Any idea on the hardness it is run at?
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Dunno for sure, but yes 3V is a nice steel.
 
Thanks for the time and effort to test my knives. I have wondered where 3V would fall and actually expected it to be in cat. 5.
I will get the knives tested when I get them back so you can add hardness values.

Thanks again
 
3V really seemed to perform with some of the big boys of steel. Add the fantastic toughness and it might be one of the very best all-around steels. Very few compromises with excellent edge retention and relatively decent corrosion resistance.

I really love my 3V knives and it's good to see more production companies using it and putting it in the hands of the masses.

I'd like to see the knives you supplied for the testing Chris. I'm really enjoying the S90V one you made me.
 
Big Chris said:
Thanks for the time and effort to test my knives. I have wondered where 3V would fall and actually expected it to be in cat. 5.
I will get the knives tested when I get them back so you can add hardness values.

Thanks again
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It was pretty thin behind the edge, that helped it some too, both knives cut very well. :)

Will spec them out when I do the full review, both together. :)
 
PB Wilson said:
3V really seemed to perform with some of the big boys of steel. Add the fantastic toughness and it might be one of the very best all-around steels. Very few compromises with excellent edge retention and relatively decent corrosion resistance.

I really love my 3V knives and it's good to see more production companies using it and putting it in the hands of the masses.

I'd like to see the knives you supplied for the testing Chris. I'm really enjoying the S90V one you made me.
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Blade and edge geometry helped it a lot and since there aren't any testable production knives in 3V available I went ahead and tested a Custom from Big Chris.

Don't expect a production knife in 3V to do as well as one of his or you will be disappointed.
 
Iam shocked that Dozier is so far down on the list ..........I thought he would of done better than that , being that he heattreats his own etc.
 
djdawg said:
Iam shocked that Dozier is so far down on the list ..........I thought he would of done better than that , being that he heattreats his own etc.
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It ranked right were D2 should, and the knife is .025" behind the edge, that's the same as most production blades.

Look at the other steels in that Category, it did well, but we can't ask for miracles based on the alloy content, if it was thinner behind the edge in the .015" range or thinner it would have done better.

Category 5

S30V (60)
VG-1
CPM - D2 (62)
N690
ATS-34 (59)
CPM-S35VN (59)
N680
ELMAX (58.5) Mule
D2 - Dozier K2


Look at the photo, that's at 15 degrees per side, you can see how thick the blade is behind the edge based on the bevel.

DSC_3580.JPG




Compared to this knife that is at 15 Degress per side and .010" behind the edge.

DSC_3364.JPG
 
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That looks about right, when I've compared CPM D2 to D2, the CPM would do about 10% better on rope. You can't take the edge on D2 down much thinner or it will chip out badly. Thin primary grind is fine, but not the edge.
 
sodak said:
That looks about right, when I've compared CPM D2 to D2, the CPM would do about 10% better on rope. You can't take the edge on D2 down much thinner or it will chip out badly. Thin primary grind is fine, but not the edge.
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Likely the reason why it also had a 20 Degrees per side edge on it before I reprofiled it.
 
Could someone please tell me what page the results are on? I'd love to see them but don't feel like sifting through 50 pages to do so. Thanks.
 
Ankerson said:
Likely the reason why it also had a 20 Degrees per side edge on it before I reprofiled it.
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Roger that. Dozier has his blades profiled perfectly for D2, thin primary and thicker edge. I've done some baaaad things to D2 when I took it down to 10 per side. Learned my lesson.

I really like the fact that you are adding more and more steels. It's confirming some that I've already loved, and also surprising me with others, both good and bad. But that's ok, knowledge is ALWAYS good, sometimes bad surprises force us to re-evaluate our beliefs and become more critical thinkers.
 
sodak said:
Roger that. Dozier has his blades profiled perfectly for D2, thin primary and thicker edge. I've done some baaaad things to D2 when I took it down to 10 per side. Learned my lesson.

I really like the fact that you are adding more and more steels. It's confirming some that I've already loved, and also surprising me with others, both good and bad. But that's ok, knowledge is ALWAYS good, sometimes bad surprises force us to re-evaluate our beliefs and become more critical thinkers.
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They are coming in slower now, but adding them as they come in. :)

Just remember this is just a general guide and the results aren't set in stone. :)
 
Ankerson said:
Blade and edge geometry helped it a lot and since there aren't any testable production knives in 3V available I went ahead and tested a Custom from Big Chris.

Don't expect a production knife in 3V to do as well as one of his or you will be disappointed.
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Bark River is making more and more 3V knives. Anyone know how thin they grind their blades? I recall more than a few threads about them taking the edge pretty thin, maybe not as thin as Big Chris' knife, but the limited experience I have had with a few of their blades was positive.
 
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