Steel question

[Wild Willie]

I've been pretty impressed with the knives I have in 8670 from David Mary . Edge retention (which is something I actually pay very little attention to) is beyond acceptable, and toughness is really good.

Edited to add: I've also been very impressed by 15n20.

 

[EngrSorenson]

I've been pretty impressed with the knives I have in 8670 from David Mary . Edge retention (which is something I actually pay very little attention to) is beyond acceptable, and toughness is really good.

Edited to add: I've also been very impressed by 15n20.

And this man cuts down trees for a living, so you know he’s telling the truth.

Maybe one day he’ll stop using his knives and graduate to a chainsaw, but I won’t judge.

 

[Wild Willie]

And this man cuts down trees for a living, so you know he’s telling the truth.

Maybe one day he’ll stop using his knives and graduate to a chainsaw, but I won’t judge.

Sheesh, that would make for even longer days. I'd still be whittling on this maple, and I took that down back in May.

 

[Delta-v]

The cruwear listed is the old ingot style. If you want the results for powder steel Cruwear ( pretty much all Cruwear used now is powder version best I can tell) look at the results listed in that chart for Z wear. It is CPM Cruwear sold by Zapp steel . Ingot Cruwear goes way back all the way to Vasco Pacific "Vascowear" which is no longer made and the company is out of business. The Gerber Sportsman 2 had a version they called "V" steel which was Vasco Pacific's Vascowear. They folded ( Vasco Pacific) and Crucible began making it as Cruwear. Later I believe Sal from Spyderco brought us the powder steel version and it caught on so well that now several companies make knives with it.

Z wear
and
PD#1
are the same composition and are also powder steel

Spectrumwear is the same composition but made using the old ingot process I believe.

Also the chart is a bit dated. Larrin's later chart has M390 just below 5 ft-lbs at 62HRC. I think original chart was based on an industry number whereas the second chart was based on Larrin's own testing. Seems I read that somewhere on Knifesteelnerds.com.

EDIT: In Larrin's article on M390, he attributes the suspiciously high toughness figure in the original chart to an improperly high heat treatment leading to excessive retained austenite.

 

[Chronovore]

I'll throw in another recommendation for David Mary . He makes amazing fixed blades in a variety of steels. I like a hedge against corrosion so I prefer stainless. While AEB-L is very tough, I prefer either 14C28N or MagnaCut (with an honorable mention for LC200N). Assuming good heat treatments, here are some ratings from Larrin.

 

[justjed]

I'm not generally one to try to break my knives, but hey, if that's your thing..? But for tough, and cheap, the Cold Steel Drop Forged Survivalist is 8" of 52100 ball-bearing steel, with a good heat-treatment, coated for corrosion resistance, and, being one piece of steel from tip to butt, it isn't likely to break.. Noticeably tougher than 440C, and about $80. Hell, get two! One to beat on, one to use as a knife. Wrap the handle with tape or a boot lace when it's cold.

 

[DangerZone98]

I'm not generally one to try to break my knives, but hey, if that's your thing..? But for tough, and cheap, the Cold Steel Drop Forged Survivalist is 8" of 52100 ball-bearing steel, with a good heat-treatment, coated for corrosion resistance, and, being one piece of steel from tip to butt, it isn't likely to break.. Noticeably tougher than 440C, and about $80. Hell, get two! One to beat on, one to use as a knife. Wrap the handle with tape or a boot lace when it's cold.

Only problem is actually finding one of the dang things, lol. Shoulda grabbed one when my local vendor still had stock.

 

[scdub]

+1 on the old (and hopefully current) CS Drop Forged line.

(52100 is listed on the chart I posted earlier btw…)

I got the small Bowie for my son years ago and based on the edge retention/resistance to damage over time, it’s very tough stuff (and very high-value due to the production method).