T-15 tool steel in use?

hickman1

hickman1

Joined
Nov 26, 2009
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329
So I was messing around the other night and ran across a reference to "T-15" tool steel, high Tungsten high speed tool steel, max hardness of 67-69 RC, working hardnes of 64-66hrc recommended by Crucible, at 66HRC it wear resistance is FAR beyond even CPM M4.
carbidecontentwearv2.gif
Is anyone making any blades from it, from what I read the wear resistance is unreal, combined with a high RC, I'd imagine it would make a pretty good knife, the HT and likely the working itself is out of my skill range and the ability of my equipment for a while at least. Any thoughts on this steel? And who would be good to contact in reference to having a blade made from it?
Element Weight %
C 1.50-1.60
Mn 0.15-0.40
Si 0.15-0.40
Cr 3.75-5.00
Ni 0.3
Mo 1.00 (max)
W 11.75-13.00
V 4.50-5.25
Co 4.75-5.25
Cu 0.25
P 0.03
S 0.03
 
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It's been done. Edge retention was great...toughness wasn't.....and it's
anything but easy to sharpen....a bear to grind/finish.
I don't know of anyone who'se tried it and continued to use it.
 
Yes with 12 % W it will be fun to grind !!
Steel choice should consider ALL the properties.
 
Yeah, I agree, all the properties are important, but in this case i can sacrifice toughness for edge retention. The blade I want to make from it is quite simple. Fixed blade, about 2" blade, sheepsfoot or wharncliff, roughly 3/32 thick, full flat grind. Primary use would be cable skinning, truth be told, d2 does pretty good, but I think t15 would do better, and I'm not scared of tough to sharpen steels. The knife design I want to base it on is a Klein tools cable splicing knife. If I do decide to move forward and make one, who would be a good choice for heat treat?
 
I have a bunch of T15 planer blades around the shop somewhere.... I always meant to make straight razors with them.
 
I made a straight razor from a T-1 planer blade and I love it! use it every day, well, every day that I shave. Grant it I have never shaved with anything else, but Still I think its good.
T-15 has got to be impressive, it doesn't get much more intense than that, T-15 will make an awesome blade if done right and used carefully.
 
I would pick a steel like 10V instead. Its much more well known and has exceptional properties. I honestly can't imagine any cutting task someone could do that would require more wear resistance than 10V. If you need more edge retention than that you're probably using the wrong tool.

10V is as tough as D2 and cuts like a hacksaw. It's a really exceptional steel that has great qualities for a knife blade. Another steel to consider is K390. It has similar edge retention to 10V but is tougher. I've ground one small blade out of it but haven't Heat treated it.

Big Chris is a maker here on the forums who works with 10V and will make just about any design you can dream up.
 
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Just a little background on the cables I strip on a daily basis, I strip amercable Gexol bronze armored cable, as well as okonite clx aluminum armored cables, this puts the cutting edge of my blade into contact with other metals quite frequently. As I said above, d2 does well in this application, I just want something even better at retaining its edge. The knife I have gone to using primarily is my benchmade 913 in d2, it does pretty good, but after a day or 2 depending on the cable size and type, it has dulled considerably, not dull, but no longer "sharp". Yeah. I know a utility knife would make more sense for what I do, but having to cut Manila rope, as well as tyraps, and occasionally small wires, a utility knife is not my first choice. I may look into 10v or k390, as if I remember correctly that is very close to m390 which is one of my current favorite steels, unless I get a piece of t15 to play with... Thanks for all the input guys, I'll definitely consider all of it. My biggest concern with trying this steel is my limited equipment in the quality department, and my overall lack of experience in working tool steels.
 
About the most abrasive cutting I do on a regular basis is cutting sand paper sheets into strips. I have a 10V knife I use for this. It is 1" wide and about 6" blade sharpened on a blue DMT Diamond stone.
I have done this with other steels and almost all others would would wear a groove where I slide the knife and dull incredibly fast. The 10V has not been touched to a stone in about 3 months, and there is no considerable sign of wear.
Not real familiar with the T-15, but I do know that 10V is no slouch.

On a side note about toughness, I have pondered about making a 8" or 9" bowie/camp knife from 10V just to do it. The machining cost would be great from belt wear, but the steel definitely has the toughness and edge retention to be a performer.
 
I wish crucible would make a 10V/1V San Mai laminate. I think that would be my choice for the ultimate knife steel. I know they have been experimenting with a s90v/ CPM 154 laminate, maybe we'll see some really high performance combos on the future.
 
We have more S90V/CPM 154 coming soon. It may become a more regular item depending on how it goes. We have talked to Crucible about more combinations and the only limiting factor (besides the price tag) is the heat treat compatibility. Both alloys have to have a similar hardening range to fully utilize the alloy's potential. If the ranges don't overlap, then one of the grades would suffer.
 
nsm said:
We have more S90V/CPM 154 coming soon. It may become a more regular item depending on how it goes. We have talked to Crucible about more combinations and the only limiting factor (besides the price tag) is the heat treat compatibility. Both alloys have to have a similar hardening range to fully utilize the alloy's potential. If the ranges don't overlap, then one of the grades would suffer.
Click to expand...

I am interested in this combo. Any idea of availability time, thickness, and pricing?
 
I wonder if we could get a 10V core clad with 3V? Their heat treats are close enough that it may work. That would make some crazy awesome knives.
 
^^^^That would make a super blade:) I wonder if S7 would work with a high Vanadium steel?
 
According to what nsm said above I doubt it because S7 heat treats at such a lower temp than the "super steels". I think S7 would see massive grain growth since it would be overheated by about 300 degrees.
But I am no metallurgist, I could be totally wrong.
 
Your probably right, you know more then me. I was just blade dreaming:yawn: Here is another, 15V and 3V.
 
Sorry for the delay guys. The billet should be here in June and available in sheet 6 weeks after that. We only have about 1,500 pounds of billet coming and we have orders for at least half of it. If this goes well, then it is something we will always try to keep on hand. Pricing is still being developed and is based on our final yield and cost of the billet. You can expect it to be in the $75 per pound range give or take a few. We honestly do not make much on this program (No snarking allowed.) so please don't think we are some evil cooperation trying to grab every cent possible. It was just a cool idea that we wanted to try out and it has worked so far. We know it won't be a big volume product due to the cost but we are excited at the potential to develop some new combinations and see if it works.

We'll keep track of the suggestions. 10V/1V has some overlap in the hardening temperatures so that's a possibility. 15V/3V can work at 2050F since it is the top of the 3V range and bottom of the 15V range. S7 hardens down around 1700-1800F so that probably won't work with most CPM alloys. We have also considered CPM M4 in the middle of a stainless CPM grade or 3V.

Thanks for your support.
 
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