Recommendation? Thoughts on 80crv2

Justin Schmidt

Justin Schmidt

Joined
Feb 18, 2016
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So I'm gonna order my first "large" knife steel order. And by large I mean like 8ft. I originally planned on getting AEBL from AKS but there's been a few too many issues lately for me to be comfortable with it. So now I'm thinking 80crv2 or 52100. 80crv2 has a better price but 52100 has better history. I plan on ordering from AKS regardless I've had good business with chuck. And this will be for stock removal. I'll be making 7.5 in EDC knives and maybe some pairing knives. Probably .110 stock.
And yes these will probably end up being my first real knives. Thank you all for your time and help
 
80crv2 is a euctoid steel, super tough. 52100 is a hypereuctoid steel, not as tough, but great for fine edges. Are you making slicers (52100) or chopping tools (80crv2)? Either can be nudged either way, but it’s easier to pick a steel suited for the purpose.
 
There's been a few posts on AEBL and warping issues. Jt didn't you say you were having issues with it during heat treat? If not I apologize.
Willie71 Willie71 I'd rather have more of a slicer. Sounds like 52100 would be better suited. How do I know if the steel is euctoid or hypereuctoid? I really need to study up in this stuff
 
for first knives, I would go with the 80CrV2. main thing would be ease of heat treat. no reason to normalize, just into a 1500F furnace for 5 or 6 minutes, quench and temper. 80CrV2 is euctoid with just enough chrome and vanadium to make it thru harden and have very fine grain.
 
scott.livesey said:
for first knives, I would go with the 80CrV2. main thing would be ease of heat treat. no reason to normalize, just into a 1500F furnace for 5 or 6 minutes, quench and temper. 80CrV2 is euctoid with just enough chrome and vanadium to make it thru harden and have very fine grain.
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Thanks Scott, I'm gonna have JT do the HT. I'm not set up for it and I trust his work with ht better than my own ;)
I've read some really good things about 80crv2
 
In recent years, people have discovered that 52100 is a fair bit tougher if you use the lower temperature for austenizing. You give up some abrasion resistance, but you also get that very high fine edge stabilty.
 
valknut said:
There's been a few posts on AEBL and warping issues. Jt didn't you say you were having issues with it during heat treat? If not I apologize.
Willie71 Willie71 I'd rather have more of a slicer. Sounds like 52100 would be better suited. How do I know if the steel is euctoid or hypereuctoid? I really need to study up in this stuff
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Euctoid is carbon from 0.75 to 0.85%. Higher carbon is hypereuctoid.
 
If you're going to give knives to people who won't take care of carbon steel, use the AEB-L. Most average people are used to stainless knives. I say this even though I personally prefer non-stainless carbon steel because it's so easy to sharpen up to crazy sharpness and refresh the edge when needed.
 
I planned on telling them how to take care of it just to be safe.
So would 80crv2 still be useful in a EDC roll and I know of at least 1 person that will use it for processing deer.
 
I have a Winkler II Hunting Knife in 80crv2 that has field dressed many a whitetail or feral hog ... and I love it ... its one of three hunting knives that see the most use for me on deer sized or larger game ... just cleaning it drying it well and a bit of food grade mineral oil and it's good.
 
JJ_Colt45 said:
I have a Winkler II Hunting Knife in 80crv2 that has field dressed many a whitetail or feral hog ... and I love it ... its one of three hunting knives that see the most use for me on deer sized or larger game ... just cleaning it drying it well and a bit of food grade mineral oil and it's good.
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Awesome man that's great to hear. More I read about it the more I like it
 
valknut said:
I planned on telling them how to take care of it just to be safe.
So would 80crv2 still be useful in a EDC roll and I know of at least 1 person that will use it for processing deer.
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We overstress steel choice. A good heat treat is more important than the differences in steel composition. Most knife steels will make a fine knife. Some can be pushed farther in geometry, edge stability, or toughness making them better suited for different tasks. That said, an edc can be made out of almost any knife steel and deliver great performance. It’s when you go for those last few percentage points of performance will steel selection play a bigger roll.
 
Willie71 said:
We overstress steel choice. A good heat treat is more important than the differences in steel composition. Most knife steels will make a fine knife. Some can be pushed farther in geometry, edge stability, or toughness making them better suited for different tasks. That said, an edc can be made out of almost any knife steel and deliver great performance. It’s when you go for those last few percentage points of performance will steel selection play a bigger roll.
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I will have to agree with that. The differences in steel is kinda small. But i think the name of that steel (3v for example sounds better than 1084) Carey's more weight
 
That's two different things, buyers perception and reality. Reality is most users, a lot of makers, won't realise a difference between 1075, 1084, 1095, w1, 80crv2, w2. They'll realize the difference in that you're making ( hopefully) a knife with better geometry and better heat treat than a similar factory knife.

Other than the performance jump from regular carbon to PM steels, the differences are very nuanced and require some pretty good testing to objectively recognise.

I realize someone might read this and say wait a dang minute kuraki, I know for a fact that my favorite steel is better at X than that other junk because I tested it and it will shave a gnats balls. I worked really hard catching gnats to figure that out.

And I'll say, that's really cool, I wasn't taking about people who catch gnats and try shaving them. I'm taking about everyone else.

Start a thread on a non-knife forum, a hunting fishing or camping forum and you'll see what I mean. People who love 420 for no good reason and hate 1095 because that one factory knife they got was 54 RC and refuse to even entertain a PM knife because they've never heard of diamonds and their granpappys soft arkansas can't even touch a vanadium carbide.
 
kuraki said:
That's two different things, buyers perception and reality. Reality is most users, a lot of makers, won't realise a difference between 1075, 1084, 1095, w1, 80crv2, w2. They'll realize the difference in that you're making ( hopefully) a knife with better geometry and better heat treat than a similar factory knife.

Other than the performance jump from regular carbon to PM steels, the differences are very nuanced and require some pretty good testing to objectively recognise.

I realize someone might read this and say wait a dang minute kuraki, I know for a fact that my favorite steel is better at X than that other junk because I tested it and it will shave a gnats balls. I worked really hard catching gnats to figure that out.

And I'll say, that's really cool, I wasn't taking about people who catch gnats and try shaving them. I'm taking about everyone else.

Start a thread on a non-knife forum, a hunting fishing or camping forum and you'll see what I mean. People who love 420 for no good reason and hate 1095 because that one factory knife they got was 54 RC and refuse to even entertain a PM knife because they've never heard of diamonds and their granpappys soft arkansas can't even touch a vanadium carbide.
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Haha I'm gonna use that in my sig line when I get an account that's great.
But I see what your saying like i said 3v sounds better than 1084 etc. I plan on making EDC CUTTING tools. Im of the belief that knives are made to cut, and sometimes stab but they're not a screw driver, prybar, hammer, axe, etc. So that's what steel choice I'm more going for is cutting ability
 
kuraki said:
That's two different things, buyers perception and reality. Reality is most users, a lot of makers, won't realise a difference between 1075, 1084, 1095, w1, 80crv2, w2. They'll realize the difference in that you're making ( hopefully) a knife with better geometry and better heat treat than a similar factory knife.

Other than the performance jump from regular carbon to PM steels, the differences are very nuanced and require some pretty good testing to objectively recognise.

I realize someone might read this and say wait a dang minute kuraki, I know for a fact that my favorite steel is better at X than that other junk because I tested it and it will shave a gnats balls. I worked really hard catching gnats to figure that out.

And I'll say, that's really cool, I wasn't taking about people who catch gnats and try shaving them. I'm taking about everyone else.

Start a thread on a non-knife forum, a hunting fishing or camping forum and you'll see what I mean. People who love 420 for no good reason and hate 1095 because that one factory knife they got was 54 RC and refuse to even entertain a PM knife because they've never heard of diamonds and their granpappys soft arkansas can't even touch a vanadium carbide.
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My best customer’s favorite kitchen knife is made from 15n20. He has knives made from aeb-l, 52100, hitachi blue, W2, and S35VN. He says he “might” have to sharpen it more often than the others, but he uses it more too. He can tell the difference with z-wear in the skinners he has. It’s a much more noticeable jump in performance.
 
15n20 seems like a pretty under rated steel. I know JT loves the stuff. There's a few other makers I've heard that like it too.
So what is it that's noticeable? Edge retention so he can go longer without sharpening?
 
valknut said:
15n20 seems like a pretty under rated steel. I know JT loves the stuff. There's a few other makers I've heard that like it too.
So what is it that's noticeable? Edge retention so he can go longer without sharpening?
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You can go super thin (z-wear), like 0.002-0.003” behind the edge, and it’s stable at Rc64/65 for kitchen use. You can go 2-3x as long between sharpening compared to the other simpler steels.
 
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