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

Well Ankerson, thanks to you I'm $195.00 more broke. :-) As you probably know or have seen by most of my posts and tests, I'm FAR more of a Spyderco guy than a Butterfly guy, but that 810 Contego in M390 was/is too sexy to pass up. Couple that with how well it did in your testing, the fact that M390 is about my favorite steel, and it was a no brainer. I wasn't surprised that it did so well, but in your video you said it did "very good". I don't see you throw that around much.

I tend to sharpen to a mirror, and I know you are a 400-600 grit guy, but I had to see. I put it on the WE and set it at 15 dps. Took it to .6 microns on the ceramics. It's freaky sharp, as you can imagine.

Just wanted to drop you a line and let ya know, I blamed it on you when the wife asked. :)

Haven't talked to you in a bit. Hope all is getting better with you. Talk soon.
 
Vegas Blade said:
Well Ankerson, thanks to you I'm $195.00 more broke. :-) As you probably know or have seen by most of my posts and tests, I'm FAR more of a Spyderco guy than a Butterfly guy, but that 810 Contego in M390 was/is too sexy to pass up. Couple that with how well it did in your testing, the fact that M390 is about my favorite steel, and it was a no brainer. I wasn't surprised that it did so well, but in your video you said it did "very good". I don't see you throw that around much.

I tend to sharpen to a mirror, and I know you are a 400-600 grit guy, but I had to see. I put it on the WE and set it at 15 dps. Took it to .6 microns on the ceramics. It's freaky sharp, as you can imagine.

Just wanted to drop you a line and let ya know, I blamed it on you when the wife asked. :)

Haven't talked to you in a bit. Hope all is getting better with you. Talk soon.
Click to expand...

Awesome, that 810 is a really nice blade. :)

Yeah and another wife that has added me to her list. LOL :D

As far as the other stuff goes, it's the same, nothing has really changed....
 
Do you think there is any cutting test difference or catagory in the cts-204p with the Southard vs the PM2 you tested?

Thx.
 
sir_mike said:
Do you think there is any cutting test difference or catagory in the cts-204p with the Southard vs the PM2 you tested?

Thx.
Click to expand...

Couldn't really say as I only tested the PARA 2 and the Southard is pretty thick.... Had one in hand the other week....
 
Thanks for continuing these tests Jim! I've always liked thin blades, now I'm motivated to look for one in ZDP that has great edge stability.
 
Gunsnknives said:
Thanks for continuing these tests Jim! I've always liked thin blades, now I'm motivated to look for one in ZDP that has great edge stability.
Click to expand...

The Endura did well, not much edge damage due to the high hardness (65), just normal wear.

ZDP-189 really excels with a coarse edge, just have to keep the edge geometry matched to the intended use.
 
I'm still amazed that M390 or its equivalents at about 60-62 Rc will hold an edge longer than ZDP-189 at 65 Rc, but Jim's results seem pretty consistent.
 
Twindog said:
I'm still amazed that M390 or its equivalents at about 60-62 Rc will hold an edge longer than ZDP-189 at 65 Rc, but Jim's results seem pretty consistent.
Click to expand...

They don't, at least not consistently. Here's Jim's results from post 1:

CTS 204P - 420 - Para 2
ZDP -189 - 420 - Endura 4 - 65 RC
M390 - 400 - Benchmade 810-1401 Contego 60-62 RC
M390 - 380 - Military - 61 RC
Click to expand...
 
I've been lurking for months, and I have to say: this is an amazing thread. I am relatively new to this interest of ours, and as my knowledge of it grows, I get more and more out of this thread when re-reading it.

I really appreciate the knowledge you all are sharing.

And to think, I lived in Raleigh for years, before moving out of there in '11...
 
OK. I have a humble request: Mr. Ankerson, could you test some low-end steel too?

We've all been there at some point, or we know others who are still there: "Isn't steel, steel?" It would be very helpful as a reference to know exactly where some of the bad stuff stands. It would also be helpful as we spread the enthusiasm for this hobby (profession!) - I would love to be able to refer to this to explain to folks why a $5 Walmart special is so different from even a $50 knife.

I appreciate seeing the Buck 420HC. But the elephant in the room is 8Cr13. Could you test a few varieties and makes of this steel? I bought a dozen or so of models with this steel, thinking "good enough" before realizing there was a difference worth paying for. My first knife was even a Gerber Grylls with "mystery meat metal", simply because Amazon users said it was awesome. I quickly followed it up with a $12 Ka-bar 3Cr model, when I could have spent ~$5 more and got one of their overachieving AUS8 Dozier models.

The good thing, is that I don't think testing will require as much effort as, e.g., an S100V Manix with >1000 cuts. ;)

(Any bets on whether 8CR will make it over 100? 3Cr? Gerber Mystery Metal?)
 
Ankerson said:
Couldn't really say as I only tested the PARA 2 and the Southard is pretty thick.... Had one in hand the other week....
Click to expand...
I have a Paramilitary in CPM D2 now on it's way to me. I thought I had read about it in here somewhere. I just looked and can't find it. Did you test this knife, and if you did, can you please tell where did it rank amongst the others?
Thanks. :)
 
Ballenxj said:
I have a Paramilitary in CPM D2 now on it's way to me. I thought I had read about it in here somewhere. I just looked and can't find it. Did you test this knife, and if you did, can you please tell where did it rank amongst the others?
Thanks. :)
Click to expand...

It's in Cat 5.....
 
Jim,

What is so great about Elmax? Your categories make it seem "not great".

The Elmax HEST Folder is almost running out of stock, I was looking to see if I could find one at a reasonable price. Everyone has it for $300 vs $150 for the D2 version. It's limited in production and has fancy logos on it. I can't imagine it's worth double the price performance-wise.

Thanks!
 
Doughnut said:
Jim,

What is so great about Elmax? Your categories make it seem "not great".

The Elmax HEST Folder is almost running out of stock, I was looking to see if I could find one at a reasonable price. Everyone has it for $300 vs $150 for the D2 version. It's limited in production and has fancy logos on it. I can't imagine it's worth double the price performance-wise.

Thanks!
Click to expand...


It's an excellent steel, it ranked right were it should be based on alloy content/hardness/knives tested.

Performance in right even with or higher than S30V/S35VN usually, like it should be...

So it depends on what you are comparing it to really....
 
8Cr13Mov is comparable to Aus-8... That is its a decent steel for cutlery that when used and heat treated properly is superior to no name steels and knives like one buys in Walmart or other typical generic sporting goods stores.

Its not a super steel expect something like 100-150 ish cuts depending on variables.

What bears repeating is that even steels in Category 5 or below are still superior to most generic knives out there that are the common basis for comparison for the average person. Its only knife crazies like us who are pushing for superior performance and are willing to deal with extra effort in sharpening and willing to pay the $$$ necessary to get the performance. Something like S110V, or K390 that can do 800-1000+ cuts on manila rope and still be sharper than many average users' knives is a steel that would hold an edge for decades in average user's lives.

I interact with "average" folks who use knives and they are amazed at how sharp it is, when I'm thinking geez my knife needs sharpening.



dZeak said:
OK. I have a humble request: Mr. Ankerson, could you test some low-end steel too?

We've all been there at some point, or we know others who are still there: "Isn't steel, steel?" It would be very helpful as a reference to know exactly where some of the bad stuff stands. It would also be helpful as we spread the enthusiasm for this hobby (profession!) - I would love to be able to refer to this to explain to folks why a $5 Walmart special is so different from even a $50 knife.

I appreciate seeing the Buck 420HC. But the elephant in the room is 8Cr13. Could you test a few varieties and makes of this steel? I bought a dozen or so of models with this steel, thinking "good enough" before realizing there was a difference worth paying for. My first knife was even a Gerber Grylls with "mystery meat metal", simply because Amazon users said it was awesome. I quickly followed it up with a $12 Ka-bar 3Cr model, when I could have spent ~$5 more and got one of their overachieving AUS8 Dozier models.

The good thing, is that I don't think testing will require as much effort as, e.g., an S100V Manix with >1000 cuts. ;)

(Any bets on whether 8CR will make it over 100? 3Cr? Gerber Mystery Metal?)
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top