Top five stainless steels for wear resistance?

G

Grapevine

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Which five stainless steels has the highest wear resistance? Doesn't have to be a ranking of 1-5 unless you want to rank them, I'm fine with you naming just a group of five that stand above the others.
 
Heat treat also has a large part of how well a steel will perform. Edge angle also will play a big part. IMO, there isn't a clear cut answer to what you are looking for.
 
If there is a stainless steel better than cpm s110v, I haven't heard of it....and want to. s90v (cts 20cp) is pretty darn good. Shouldn't shake a stick at m390 (cts 204p, Duratech 20cp) either. That should get the arguments started. LOL
 
pretty sure some of the REX steels have even higher wear resistance than cpm s110v

but have only been used in few knives
 
Assuming optimal HT

1.)CPM S125V
2.) CPM 110V
3.) CPM S90V/ CTS-20CP
Big drop in retention
4.) Bohler M390, CTS 204P, Duratech 20CV
5.) This is a tough one. I think maxed out ELMAX (62) goes here.
 
goodeyesniper said:
pretty sure some of the REX steels have even higher wear resistance than cpm s110v

but have only been used in few knives
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I know the REX steels have excellent edge retention, but didn't realize any were stainless. This might require some investigation.

Also, I've been kind of on the lookout for a knife in s125v for several years, but without success. I don't believe any productions models have used it. Anyone know of where I might look?
 
oh, good call on the stainless bit. stainless is such a non issue for me I always neglect to think about it.
 
drichardson67 said:
I know the REX steels have excellent edge retention, but didn't realize any were stainless. This might require some investigation.

Also, I've been kind of on the lookout for a knife in s125v for several years, but without success. I don't believe any productions models have used it. Anyone know of where I might look?
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Something in S125V is going to be a Custom and there are not many that will work with the steel, it's hard to get, very wear resistant (Hard to work with) and expensive.

So taking all of that into consideration you would have to decide on what you would want as in folder or fixed blade, specs etc.
 
Something in S125V is going to be a Custom and there are not many that will work with the steel, it's hard to get, very wear resistant (Hard to work with) and expensive.
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Yep.

The small run Hardheart talked Fantoni into and imported here for sale some years back are the only ones I'm aware of. They were ran at rc 62.5, and were expensive as one would expect. IIRC there were 13-20 total or something close. The thread he posted here to sell them is in the archives.

They aren't very common on the secondary market.

Also, the Rex steels are not stainless. KalEl's list is pretty good too as far as what we have seen in actual knives. Have the Maxmet Kershaws been released yet? If they have I'd include that steel due to the carbide fraction and composition, and potential hardness. Like S125V I'd imagine there are as many or more that don't pass QC or just plain self destruct during production. If I was making the knives I'd try to use S110V and replicate Phil Wilson's heat treat/cryo as best as I could and be done with it. No matter the steel chosen it will be difficult to make a better knife for cutting, slicing, caping, skinning, etc.

Joe
 
Supracore/MPL-1 anyone? I doubt more than a handful of blades have been made out of it. 3.75% Carbon(!), around 9% Vanadium, 24%Cr, 3% Mo, and some Tungsten and some Sulphur for easier machining (no, seriously).

This would probably be somewhere around S125V depending on hardness.

It would probably be easier to make a blade out of solid, natural diamond. I hear if you buy a bar, it comes with its own Crucible employee to laugh at you and say, "I told you so."
 
TriviaMonster said:
Supracore/MPL-1 anyone? I doubt more than a handful of blades have been made out of it. 3.75% Carbon(!), around 9% Vanadium, 24%Cr, 3% Mo, and some Tungsten and some Sulphur for easier machining (no, seriously).

This would probably be somewhere around S125V depending on hardness.

It would probably be easier to make a blade out of solid, natural diamond. I hear if you buy a bar, it comes with its own Crucible employee to laugh at you and say, "I told you so."
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Actually it would be closer to S90V based on the alloy content, S125V is really in it's own league at full hardness in the 65 HRC range.

Likely the performance might be between S90V and S110V depending on actual HT and tempering.
 
KalEl said:
Assuming optimal HT

1.)CPM S125V
2.) CPM 110V
3.) CPM S90V/ CTS-20CP
Big drop in retention
4.) Bohler M390, CTS 204P, Duratech 20CV
5.) This is a tough one. I think maxed out ELMAX (62) goes here.
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I think this post did the job I was looking for. I was NOT aware of the large chasm separating the top three classes from #4.
I'm happy that I've put away a few of the Spyderco 2013 Forum knives in S110v; hardness tested by Sal and Jim Ankerson to be 63. There is some scuttlebutt that Sal will be introducing some new models in that steel, with CF, in the hopefully near future.
We live in lucky times.
 
These super high wear resistant steels obviously weren't designed for the cutlery market.

Anyone know what each application each steel was manufactured for?
 
Strigamort said:
These super high wear resistant steels obviously weren't designed for the cutlery market.

Anyone know what each application each steel was manufactured for?
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The only fact that I can state is, Crucible lists applications on their spec sheets. Typically the market for their steels is cutting machine manufacturers.

I do have a story about that… Think of a machine that does nothing more than cut sections of plastic thousands of times a day. It pays to hold an edge in this application. It costs to shut down a line for maintenance. It’s best to have it run all day and then re-sharpen/maintain during off hours. I've never met the guy who does this for a living. I have met the guy who calibrates the meters and he told me there is a guy who maintains the mechanicals. Point is, they typically work in the middle of the night.

My two cents... Cutting is cutting... I think a steel that can stand up to that level of repetition is worth looking into for a knife steel.
 
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