Serrated H1

A

ak585479

Joined
Jun 9, 2014
Messages
326
Hi all,

Not sure if I should post this here or in the Spyderco forum (don't know if anyone else uses H1) but I have a question about H1. I've read online, here and elsewhere) that H1 is a work hardening steel and as such the serrated H1's outperform the plain edge models by a long shot. I read the SE blades have close to a zdp189 level hardness but not suffering from being brittle like zdp can sometimes be. My question is how much, if any, truth is there to this? I have a SE Pacific Salt and I absolutely love it but I have no other full serrated blades and no other h1 blades to compare it to in any way. I also haven't needed to sharpen it yet despite pretty extensive use it's still extremely sharp leading me to believe what I've heard about the hardness and edge retention of h1 on a se. Any info would be greatly appreciated as always. Thanks guys and gals. Have a great night :D
 
Hi.

I also love serrated H1. I have and use a SE Tasman, Pacific, Salt 1, H1 Spyderhawk, Dragonfly, Atlantic, etc. My most-used being the Pacific and Tasman. They do not need REsharpening often at all...my Tasman has yet to need it after a few years. I don't know about the steel work-hardening over time; some say yes, others say no. But it is clear that serrated H1 holds its edge WAAAY longer than plain edge H1. That's actually true of virtually any steel...SE VG-10 will hold its edge longer than PE VG-10, etc.

One thing I have noticed it that SE H1 can roll if it contacts something hard. I've had to re-straighten some serrations that rolled on occasion. It's easy to do, lightly, with a Sharpmaker. Rolling can also happen to a blade tip, especially a finer, narrower one like the Tasman's. I've had to straighten my Dragonfly 2's tip once when it dropped tip-first onto the floor. It was very subtle, but the very tip was bent. After re-straightening the tip, it looks and feels like it never bent at all.

H1 is amazing stuff. When I use serrated VG-10, it "feels" harder, but IME the serrated H1 seems to remain sharper longer over time. But I can't be 100% sure if it's only an impression.

Jim
 
This is true, SE H1 is usually in the high 60's HRC, while, PE is close to 57-58. This is due to work hardening, (grinding) this is also the reason why H1 isnt FFG, it starts getting to hard to grind. Now using, a knife or sharpening with a stone, but sharpeng on a grinder will, a little at a time.
 
Here's something Sal posted on the Spyderco Forum about plain-edge and serrated H1 blades.

CATRA testing on abrasion resistance puts the plain edge in the AUS-8 range. The serrated H1, such as the Jumpmaster, in CATRA tests, have shown to be exceptional with better performance than plain or serrated steels of any that we've tested. Field tests have shown this to be true as well.
Click to expand...
 
Wow all very encouraging to hear :) especially the CATRA testing straight from Sal. Time to get some more SE H1's :cool:
 
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