The Carpenter steels

[bchan77]

Excuse me if this had been covered elsewhere, but I am not familiar with the Carpenter steels. Can the steel experts brief me on the differences between CTS-XHP, CTS-20CP and CTS-204P? It would be helpful if you can give the names of other steels that are close to be their equivalents. Thanks!

 

[Popsickle]

cts xhp would be a stainless D2
20cp - S90V
204P i have no idea because idont think its been used yet. i could be wrong though.

 

[neuron]

CTS-204P is Carpenter's version of Bohler's M390. So, adding those to what Popsickle said, you get:

CTS-XHP - stainless D2/440C with greater hardenability (it's commonly described both ways)
CTS-20CP - CPM-S90V
CTS-204P - M390

Oh, and a couple of bonuses. CTS-BD30P -- which Spyderco is currently using in a Manix 2 sprint run -- is Carpenter's version of CPM-S30V. CTS-B75P is their powder metallurgy version of BG-42.

 

[bchan77]

Thanks brothers for the replies. Is it possible to have a rough ranking of these steels according to their edge retention abilities?

 

[The Mastiff]

There's a rough chart here with that info: http://www.cartech.com/whatsnew.aspx?id=3684

and cts- B52 =52100
- 40c = 440C
- 40CP = powder process 440C
- BD1 = Gingami gilver paper "gin 1" steel
- BD30P = S30V

and a few more.

Joe

 

[bchan77]

Thanks Mastiff for the pointer.

 

[Gator97]

- BD1 = Gingami gilver paper "gin 1" steel
Joe

Thanks! Good catch on that one, I'll put them in the same group this evening.

 

[neuron]

Thanks brothers for the replies. Is it possible to have a rough ranking of these steels according to their edge retention abilities?

Unless the maker really messes up on the heat treat, their relative wear resistance would likely be as follows (from highest to lowest):

1. CTS-20CP
2. CTS-204P
3. CTS-XHP

CTS-BD30P and CTS-B75P would be in the same neighborhood as CTS-XHP, with properly heat-treated BD30P probably taking over the third spot behind 20CP and 204P.

(These are all rough rankings and, with the exception of 20CP and XHP, which I've used on Spyderco sprints, are based on experience with their analogs from other companies [e.g., M390 for 204P, S30V for BD30P].)