- Joined
- Oct 22, 2012
- Messages
- 314
I've heard a lot about Elmax over the years, primarily about its toughness while retaining edges fairly well, but lately I've been researching and what I've found has really piqued my interest. It seems this steel is usually (in production blades) only hardened to about 58-59Rc, which makes it very tough, but "only" comparable to S30v in edge retention. From what I've read, proper heat treatment can take Elmax to 61-62Rc and at this level, it's on par with M4 and M390 in edge retention, and still as tough as S30v at 58-59Rc! I've always though of Elmax as a good steel, but if these claims are true, I would go out on a limb as to say it's likely one of the best EDC steels available today, due to it's price.
So I've been looking around for the last couple of days, and the Scrap Yard ELMAX has really caught my eye. 3.75" Elmax blade, .90" stock, 60-62HRC, .008-.010 behind the edge... It seems a great platform to test a steel like Elmax, and even on the secondary market, much more affordable than a custom. I also know of the Speedform II from Kershaw, which is even less expensive, but from what I've heard, Kershaw and even ZT run Elmax in the 50's HRc, and I would really like to see it at or above 60.
So, for those of you out there who have experience with Elmax and/or the Scrapyard ELMAX, what do you guys think? Is this a good introduction to the steel? Are there other knives you would recommend?
So I've been looking around for the last couple of days, and the Scrap Yard ELMAX has really caught my eye. 3.75" Elmax blade, .90" stock, 60-62HRC, .008-.010 behind the edge... It seems a great platform to test a steel like Elmax, and even on the secondary market, much more affordable than a custom. I also know of the Speedform II from Kershaw, which is even less expensive, but from what I've heard, Kershaw and even ZT run Elmax in the 50's HRc, and I would really like to see it at or above 60.
So, for those of you out there who have experience with Elmax and/or the Scrapyard ELMAX, what do you guys think? Is this a good introduction to the steel? Are there other knives you would recommend?