- Joined
- Jul 9, 1999
- Messages
- 3,316
I had some time to kill today so I thought that I would do a little comparison.
I was wondering how three different steels with convex edges would stack up cutting some 3/4" manila rope. This exercise is done just out of curiosity and although I'm sure at least one of you has undertaken this task before, I can't seem to find it here on the forum. Sooo I thought maybe this should be shared to satisfy any curiosity that might be out there.
The subjects for this exercise are:
1. Blackjack Trail Guide A-2 steel Rc 58-60(?) I'm unsure about the hardness. Anybody know? Please advise.
2. Marble's Plainsman 52100 steel Rc58-60.
3. Spyderco's Moran Featherweight VG10 steel Rc60-62.
The rope was placed in a brace not unlike the one that appears in Cold Steel's PROOF video.
The rope was cut in the same manner as is seen in PROOF. With a straight down cleaving type cut (the type of cutting they used when testing the Trailmaster). The cutting for each blade concluded when the edge would barely scrape hair from my forearm with relatively heavy pressure. I saw no use in taking it any further. The aggressive cutting action was gone. Each knife had a factory edge and each knife was hair popping sharp at the start. The Marble's and the Featherweight are recent acquisitions and the TrailGuide was purchased and put into the collection several years ago and was never used.
The TrailGuide made 121 cuts.
The Marble's made 124 cuts.
and, The Featherweight made 88 cuts.
Now, the results IMO are outstanding. I must emphasize that if you try this yourself: YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY. No two knives of the same make and model are exactly alike. Too many variables involved. The knives' position in the heat treat oven, who was manning the sharpening station at the time, the grinding process, so on and so forth.
That being said, does anyone have ideas as to why the Spydie which has the highest Rc made the fewest cuts. Please do not think that I am down on this steel(VG10)as it is one of my very favorite stainless steels. And rightly so. It is that good.
Any input would be most welcome! Thanks!
I was wondering how three different steels with convex edges would stack up cutting some 3/4" manila rope. This exercise is done just out of curiosity and although I'm sure at least one of you has undertaken this task before, I can't seem to find it here on the forum. Sooo I thought maybe this should be shared to satisfy any curiosity that might be out there.
The subjects for this exercise are:
1. Blackjack Trail Guide A-2 steel Rc 58-60(?) I'm unsure about the hardness. Anybody know? Please advise.
2. Marble's Plainsman 52100 steel Rc58-60.
3. Spyderco's Moran Featherweight VG10 steel Rc60-62.
The rope was placed in a brace not unlike the one that appears in Cold Steel's PROOF video.
The rope was cut in the same manner as is seen in PROOF. With a straight down cleaving type cut (the type of cutting they used when testing the Trailmaster). The cutting for each blade concluded when the edge would barely scrape hair from my forearm with relatively heavy pressure. I saw no use in taking it any further. The aggressive cutting action was gone. Each knife had a factory edge and each knife was hair popping sharp at the start. The Marble's and the Featherweight are recent acquisitions and the TrailGuide was purchased and put into the collection several years ago and was never used.
The TrailGuide made 121 cuts.
The Marble's made 124 cuts.
and, The Featherweight made 88 cuts.
Now, the results IMO are outstanding. I must emphasize that if you try this yourself: YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY. No two knives of the same make and model are exactly alike. Too many variables involved. The knives' position in the heat treat oven, who was manning the sharpening station at the time, the grinding process, so on and so forth.
That being said, does anyone have ideas as to why the Spydie which has the highest Rc made the fewest cuts. Please do not think that I am down on this steel(VG10)as it is one of my very favorite stainless steels. And rightly so. It is that good.
Any input would be most welcome! Thanks!