Salt FRN yellow series with LC200n blade?

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FrannaM

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Jan 29, 2020
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Tried to search, but couldn't really find anything. Are there any plans in the near future to bring out the yellow frn salt series with LC200n blade steel? I own a Salt 2 with SE and love it, but would love a Salt 2 with PE in LC200n. I know the chef has LC200n, but specifically looking for the Delica design salt series.
 
I think you probably already know this but in the off chance you do not, the Native 5 lightweight has a salt version with LC200N.
 
To get the most enjoyment from LC200N, you have to realize it’s different from other blade steels. Specifically, the edge of a new knife will roll and dent very easily. I’ve had light-reflecting rolls appear from cutting up a couple of light boxes, which was shocking. Also it sharpens faster and easier than 8Cr13MoV, making it seem to be very soft. But it seems to improve over time. My Caribbean seems subjectively about as good in edge retention now as 154CM. But there are edge retention tests showing it performs much better than that. Most likely it is very sensitive to loss of temper in belt sharpening. I speculate you must remove a lot of steel before you get highest performance. So if you don’t do your own sharpening, this steel would be problematic. Another possibility is that the temper loss is not that deep, it’s just that it sharpens so easily that you don’t remove much material.
A good feature is that you don’t need sophisticated equipment to get it screaming sharp. A Sharpmaker works as well as the best diamond plates.
Anyway don’t expect it to act like the supersteel of the hour, or even like S30V.
 
BTW, Knifesteelnerds testing puts LC200N very low in edge retention, below 14C28N and BD1N. But rope and cardboard tests on YouTube show it performing nearly as well as S30V, which is very good indeed. It’s almost like there’s an unknown factor in its performance. Sal has said H1 isn’t fully understood by its maker or anyone else. I suspect LC200N is in the same situation. Given all this, I’m not sure why all the wild enthusiasm for it. If you want high stainlessness, knifesteelnerds’ corrosion testing shows M390 and S110V are nearly as good, while having much better edge retention. As far as LC200N’s high toughness, it looks to me like the toughness test gives high numbers if the steel is either strong, or if it just deforms instead of chipping. I claim the Charpy toughness test is ambiguous for knives. LC200N is not tough in the common sense of the word. It won’t chip because it dents easily.
Caveat: I base this on one sample of the Caribbean, plus published test results. I could be wrong.
 
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Speaking of 8CR13MOV (nobody was, but that won’t stop me) I can’t help noticing that my Tenacious has the fit and finish of knives costing literally 5x as much. Also the thickness behind the edge is spectacularly good, <0.018”. On wood, this knife out cuts knives that are much more expensive. I don’t see any more flex in the pivot than Golden G10 knives, and less than Golden FRN’s. You can get a Resilience for $58; I wonder how it compares to a Police or Military. I think edge retention is overrated. I think I’ll buy one and find out how it does.
 
Sal Glesser said:
Hi FrannaM,

The plan for LC Salts is to use a green handle.

sal
Click to expand...

Please tell me that the Tasman Salt will be one of these. I love how my plain edge Tasman cuts (where the SE drags and tears), but the mediocre edge retention leaves me wanting. I can patiently wait though; I just picked up a H-1 Dragonfly hawkbill and I'm enjoying it.:thumbsup:
 
Mark Spark said:
BTW, Knifesteelnerds testing puts LC200N very low in edge retention, below 14C28N and BD1N. But rope and cardboard tests on YouTube show it performing nearly as well as S30V, which is very good indeed. It’s almost like there’s an unknown factor in its performance. Sal has said H1 isn’t fully understood by its maker or anyone else. I suspect LC200N is in the same situation. Given all this, I’m not sure why all the wild enthusiasm for it. If you want high stainlessness, knifesteelnerds’ corrosion testing shows M390 and S110V are nearly as good, while having much better edge retention. As far as LC200N’s high toughness, it looks to me like the toughness test gives high numbers if the steel is either strong, or if it just deforms instead of chipping. I claim the Charpy toughness test is ambiguous for knives. LC200N is not tough in the common sense of the word. It won’t chip because it dents easily.
Caveat: I base this on one sample of the Caribbean, plus published test results. I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

LC has better edge retention than H1 but on abrasive materials will dull quickly. That said, it’s not a good choice for that need and you should use a steel with more carbides for that type of work. LC also has a very low attainable hardness (around 60), testing on the SpydieChef has shown them to be 56-57, which explains why it doesn’t need a lock bar insert.

Good steel for the right applications but definitely never going to match up on edge retention to vanadium steels.
 
Sal Glesser said:
Hi FrannaM,

The plan for LC Salts is to use a green handle.

sal
Click to expand...
That's great! Saves me the trouble of dying them. Now hurry up! :D

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As for Lc200n. It is a great steel for the Salt line. I don't consider a steel "super" solely on edge retention. To me, LC is a super steel because of the sum of its parts. Take what knifesteelnerds has to say on the subject with a grain of salt. They test steel, not knives from companies in the rel world. That info is great on paper but can fall short in real life. I'll take what sal says and what my own experiences tell me, especially about H1, over their tests.
 
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