UDDEHOLM VANADIS® 4 steel

Neo

Joined
Sep 12, 2002
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Has anybody experience with this steel?
How does it compare to cpm 3v?
Do you know of knives made of vanadis 4?

Questions, questions and questions :D
 
Neo
IIRC when I talked to the factory rep about it, he said that it was similar and in fact was superior to CPM3v (yea I know...:)

problem is the thickness...I am pretty sure that the thinnest they offer is .500"

I may be wrong
 
Uddeholm? That sounds like a swedish village name or something.

:D http://www.uddeholm.com/

From the brochure
Uddenholm was established more than 300 years ago in Stjärnsfors central Sweden in 1668, today Uddenholm can be found in more than 100 countries has more than 4000 employees and works with over 100,000 customers

or from: http://www.bohler-uddeholm.com/english/26_ENG_HTML.php

1991
The Austrian Böhler Group and Swedish Uddeholm Group merge to form the BÖHLER-UDDEHOLM Group, creating the world’s largest tool steel manufacturer with a dedicated sales network for specialty steel products.The beginnings of the production sites of Böhler and Uddeholm date back a number of centuries.
 
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Googled a bit, but didn't found many knives made out of vanadis 4

v4_crist.jpg
 
I was involved in a discussion about Vanadis 4 recently but I can't remember which forum. In any case it has about twice as much carbon as CPM3V so 3V will be much tougher [I'm having a knife made of 3V ]. From what I gather vanadis 4 is rarely used in knives , especially in the USA.
When somebody says their steel is better, ask 'in what way' .
3V would have better toughness with high wear resistance while Vanadis 4 would have higher wear resistance but lower toughness.
 
Vanadis 4 was replaced by Vanadis 4 Extra (which I assume is what you're talking about). Mete is right about it being lower in toughness but higher in wear resistance than 3V. Vanadis 4 Extra has around 8% carbide volume where 3V is around 5%. In my opinion, Vanadis 4 Extra has a good combination of wear resistance and toughness, it's also possible to heat treat it to a wide range of hardnesses.

It would be more popular if it were available in a greater range of sizes, was more available in the U.S., and a few makers pushed it, but none of those things have happened. Uddeholm doesn't often offer their steels in knife sizes.
 
Thank you both.
Yes I meant vanadis 4 extra.
To what other steels would the toughness of Vanadis 4 Extra be comparable?
I believe Brusletto will bring out a new knife "Ty" in this steel and I'm quite interested.
(I assume now this steel would be available in better sizes?)
 
A major manufacturer will be debuting some models with new steels from Uddeholm this weekend.

I can't wait to get my hands on some!
 
A major manufacturer will be debuting some models with new steels from Uddeholm this weekend.

I can't wait to get my hands on some!

Would that be the new Vanax 75 steel by any chance? Quite a lot of nitrogen to form super finegrained vanadium carbonitrides.

//Rickard//
 
Here are some pdf's (for the experts)

UDDEHOLM VANADIS 4

UDDEHOLM VANCRON 40

BOHLER K360

VANCRON®40 1.1% C, 1.8% N, 0.5% Si, 0.4% Mn, 4.5% Cr, 3.2% Mo, 8.5% V3.7% W

VANADIS 4 Extra 1.40% C, 0.40% Si, 0.40% Mn, 4.70% Cr, 3.50% Mo, 3.70% V.

K360 ISODUR 1.25% C, 0.90% Si, 0.35% Mn, 8.75% Cr, 2.70% Mo, 1.18% Mo, + Additions

Vanax 75 is to new

All comments are welcome
 
Vancron 40 is designed for a specific use and not very suitable for blades.
K360 would be OK for blades though not a powder metallurgy steel.
I hope some of you going to the show will post info about Vavax 75 and any other new steel.
Crucible will be introducing two new ones ,CruForgeV and the one [name escapes me] that Chris Reeve is starting to use.
 
It's S35VN .Jerry Hossom will have a knife made of this at the show.The Chris Reeve kitchen knives use this.
 
Vancron 40 is designed for a specific use and not very suitable for blades.

Mete, other than having a high carbide fraction what would make this unsuitable for knives as opposed to 10V/A11, S110 etc? Lack of toughness? Thanks, Joe
 
It's S35VN .Jerry Hossom will have a knife made of this at the show.The Chris Reeve kitchen knives use this.

Why use a steel like this for kitchen blades? Wouldn't it do well in small and mid non kitchen fixed blades? Isn't it tougher than S30V? Also, what is the RC on those kitchen blades? I'm curious about this since it may be more available, affordable, and in dimensions sought after by knifemakers. I'm very much interested in the other steels mentioned from UDDEHOLM but availability and pricing makes me think it will be hard to obtain for the little guy.
 
S35VN would be improved S30V with Niobium.
Niobium is a grain refiner and carbide former.
I'm told European steels already use it for years.
Examples: Becut, Niolox, RN15X ...
Seems to be like the RWL34 - 154CM story
 
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