Rockwell Hardness Tester

Random question for yall in here. I’ll have a bit of money tomorrow when I get paid, and I’d be open to purchasing a knife based on yalls recommendations. I would obviously be running a Rockwell hardness test on the blade. Is there any brand/steels that are obviously missing from my data so far? Ideally something like $300 or less
 
TaylorHardness said:
Random question for yall in here. I’ll have a bit of money tomorrow when I get paid, and I’d be open to purchasing a knife based on yalls recommendations. I would obviously be running a Rockwell hardness test on the blade. Is there any brand/steels that are obviously missing from my data so far? Ideally something like $300 or less
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How about a Razor Razor belt sword? 😃

 
Most of the knives I purchase are going to cost somewhat more...and personally, I'd be more interested in USA made knives than imports, except for the ones that are known for their reputation for producing high quality blades within the price limitation you set.

I'd look for obvious gaps in your lineup, especially since you're spending your own money. How about something you have a hankering for which hasn't been tested yet?
 
Blues said:
Most of the knives I purchase are going to cost somewhat more...and personally, I'd be more interested in USA made knives than imports, except for the ones that are known for their reputation for producing high quality blades within the price limitation you set.

I'd look for obvious gaps in your lineup, especially since you're spending your own money. How about something you have a hankering for which hasn't been tested yet?
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I personally planned on getting a Stretch 2 XL in K390 relatively soon to add to the data pool, though not USA technically, I'm very interested in the style and the hardness due to its reputation and the other results.
 
Skylark427 said:
I personally planned on getting a Stretch 2 XL in K390 relatively soon to add to the data pool, though not USA technically, I'm very interested in the style and the hardness due to its reputation and the other results.
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Oh, I definitely appreciate knives from outside the USA...and some of the Taiwan made pieces from Cold Steel, Spyderco and Demko are proof of their high quality. And plenty of other choices from Europe, etc.
 
Blues said:
Oh, I definitely appreciate knives from outside the USA...and some of the Taiwan made pieces from Cold Steel, Spyderco and Demko are proof of their high quality. And plenty of other choices from Europe, etc.
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So far I've gotten decent results from Seki and Taichung Spyderco models, but not a range technically. Just one sample tested as they're my own knives. So far I'm a fan, just haven't tried their K390 yet that's talked very positively about 🙂.

I've only had a few Cold Steel knives in my lifetime, one I really loved before the burglary of mine and my late wife's house, was the original Chaos Stiletto, the tri-bladed 4140(if I'm remembering right) trench knife. That thing was very unique. Still haven't been able to locate another one.
 
TaylorHardness said:
Random question for yall in here. I’ll have a bit of money tomorrow when I get paid, and I’d be open to purchasing a knife based on yalls recommendations. I would obviously be running a Rockwell hardness test on the blade. Is there any brand/steels that are obviously missing from my data so far? Ideally something like $300 or less
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Italian knives really shine in the 200-300$ range. Check out Lion Steele & MKM knives. They make really great knives & they are less costly than American made.
 
Blues said:
I gave away my older Cold Steel knives but for maybe a traditional pocketknife and a couple of mountain man style fixed blades. The newer ones are all Demko designs 3V and S35VN.
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I've been interested in trying Cold Steel's 3V, mainly because of my love for that specific steel. I still actually owe Larrin some ISO 148-1 sub size charpy specimens that'd I'd machine and get heat treated for him to test as he offered in that Q&A video a few months ago(I can't heat treat a knife at work in our furnace, nor would we have plate quenching set up, they'd flip out on me). Things in life just keep popping up.

Your comment may have pushed me into trying their 3V. It's affordable enough to give it a chance 🙂.
Blues said:
Sorry to hear about your wife, S Skylark427 . Especially so young.
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Thank you... I really appreciate that. It's been a bit over a year now, but it's still something that I'm struggling with, we'd been together since high school(I'm 30 now). Especially with how sudden it was. That's part of why I got back into knives again, we both loved, collected, and tested knives in various ways. It was one of our "things."

I truly appreciate the kindness, thank you.
 
TaylorHardness said:
For what it’s worth, I do have access to Charpy impact machines at my place of work. I’m just admittedly not a machinist by any stretch. But if anyone had the capability to machine a set of whatever steel charpy they want to see tested and send them my way, I could test them.
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Taylor and Skylark,

first, thank you for your work. Having outside independent testing is interesting and helpful.

Noss, who I referenced above, ran a webpage knifetests.com testing hard use/"survival" style for durability.

He really put the knifes to some harsh and even abusive uses. Some big knives quickly failed. Some lessor known brands and makers emerged with striking results.

His work is what generated my interested in Busse Combat knives. Sadly and inexplicably, he took the website down, but pieces of videos resurface now and then.
 
jeffbird said:
Taylor and Skylark,

first, thank you for your work. Having outside independent testing is interesting and helpful.

Noss, who I referenced above, ran a webpage knifetests.com testing hard use/"survival" style for durability.

He really put the knifes to some harsh and even abusive uses. Some big knives quickly failed. Some lessor known brands and makers emerged with striking results.

His work is what generated my interested in Busse Combat knives. Sadly and inexplicably, he took the website down, but pieces of videos resurface now and then.
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Thank you for the support, it's appreciated.

I'll have to see if I can dig up some of those older videos, just out of my own curiosity.

I've also heard pretty good things of Busse, but haven't tried them myself.

Thank you for the information 🙂
 
TaylorHardness said:
Random question for yall in here. I’ll have a bit of money tomorrow when I get paid, and I’d be open to purchasing a knife based on yalls recommendations. I would obviously be running a Rockwell hardness test on the blade. Is there any brand/steels that are obviously missing from my data so far? Ideally something like $300 or less
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I’d love to see Buck’s Magnacut.
 
Alright thanks yall. I’ve written down all of the suggestions so far. I’ll price them all out, and see what I can make happen. Do you guys hold any negative thoughts in regards to the validity of my testing if I purchase knives on the secondary market(s)? It definitely can help me save some money that can be put towards further testing.
 
TaylorHardness said:
Alright thanks yall. I’ve written down all of the suggestions so far. I’ll price them all out, and see what I can make happen. Do you guys hold any negative thoughts in regards to the validity of my testing if I purchase knives on the secondary market(s)? It definitely can help me save some money that can be put towards further testing.
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You buying them new in completely unaltered condition is a must have to remove any questions about changes after it leaves the manufacturer’s hands.

One friendly suggestion, change the title “Leader Board” and any talk about “scores” as the word choices create the impression that hardest is “the best” or most desirable trait. Different intended uses of a blade require different designs which need different steels with different hardness for optimum performance for the intended use. It is not a competition. You are reporting scientific test results.

My thin and hard Rex 121 skinning knife is optimized for that task as is a 10V. Another in 20cv at even lower hardness is my most used hunting knife out of thirty or more to choose from. A really big, but soft, Busse is my go for clearing brush and chopping sides of ribs off a pig’s spine. The Rex 121 would break in short order chopping bone. The Busse will not have great edge retention for skinning compared to the others. One is not better than the other. They are different tools for different tasks and best for their intended uses despite hardness being more than +/- 10 - 12 apart in hardness.

Having said that, your testing helps the buyer make better informed decisions about whether certain steels and blades match optimized results advertised by the maker.

So by all means, please keep up the work.
 
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jeffbird said:
You buying them new in completely unaltered condition is a must have to remove any questions about changes after it leaves the manufacturer’s hands.

One friendly suggestion, change the title “Leader Board” and any talk about “scores” as the word choices create the impression that hardest is “the best” or most desirable trait. Different intended uses of a blade require different designs which need different steels with different hardness for optimum performance for the intended use. It is not a competition. You are reporting scientific test results.

My thin and hard Rex 121 skinning knife is optimized for that task as is a 10V and another in 20cv at even lower hardness is most used hunting knife. A really big, but soft Busse is the go for clearing brush and chopping ribs off a pig’s spine. The Rex 121 would break in short order chopping bone. The Busse will not have great edge retention for skinning compared to the others. One is not better than the other. They are different tools for different tasks and best for their intended uses.

Having said that, your testing helps the buyer made better informed decisions about whether certain steels and blades match optimized results advertised by the maker.

So by all means, please keep up the work.
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I will take your suggestions into consideration.
 
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