VANAX 37 steel (No, not 35)

dirc said:
is it better than nitrobe 77 ?
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Different. Nitrobe 77 can have more strength, higher hardness.
Vanax will be more rustproof, more toughness, more wear resistance.

Both sharpen easy but if you're an edge FREEK and geeked out on Waterstones You'll enjoy the Nitrobe 77 slightly more.
Takes a slightly crisper edge and sharpens faster.

The Vanax is a more well rounded steel. It has the highest balance of any steel created so far.
 
I just hope that either one has some pricing discounts soon as volume and use increases. The current cost (which seems to be higher than even damasteel) is really too high. I wonder what a bulk order direct from Bohler Uddeholm would cost?
 
Vanax 37 (i.e. Super clean) was sold by AKS for a while at a pretty reasonable price. Last year I ordered a piece of 11.5 x 2" that was .174" thick for $69. A piece of damasteel that size would have been over $300.

Edit: chuck at AKS just informed me they will have more in about 2 weeks for anyone interested.
 
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dirc said:
I just hope that either one has some pricing discounts soon as volume and use increases. The current cost (which seems to be higher than even damasteel) is really too high. I wonder what a bulk order direct from Bohler Uddeholm would cost?
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The heat treatment is complex and requires ln2. So it likly wont be main stream in the least.
 
dirc said:
I just hope that either one has some pricing discounts soon as volume and use increases. The current cost (which seems to be higher than even damasteel) is really too high. I wonder what a bulk order direct from Bohler Uddeholm would cost?
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No, it's not higher in cost then Damasteel.


It's naturally always going to cost more because of time, raw material cost and special processes needed just to make a it into a bar of steel let alone a knife. So it will always a luxury product. Understand that It is not cost effective to add nitrogen in high amounts into the iron. It doesn't want to stay in the steel.

They have to use a special process in an oxygen free environment to nitride the raw powdered steel after gas atomizing and cooling and before Hot Isostatic pressing it, annealing and rolling it to useable barstock.

The HT can be tricky and the nitrogen tries to leave the surface when Austenizing so it has to be heat treated at full thickness.

The HT needs to be executed with precision that is not really possible to due 100 at a time and will turn out better if Heat treated one by one. Again, not helping with cost.

All of these factors are reasons why mass production is not savory and why you don't see it.

It's really just a custom knife maker steel right now.

If you want low cost, go buy a knife in 420hc, AUS8, 8cr13mov, VG10 fresh off the assembly line. Knife is a knife.

If you want more VALUE in performance and enjoyment in use then the Vanax and Nitrobe 77 will provide that long after the high price of the intial buy in is forgotten.

So I'd rather have a few good knives then a mountain of budget blades where the only thing I enjoyed was the low cost that is forgotten when using.

Just an opinion, no one's wrong for disagreement. I welcome it. Just knives at the end of the day.
 
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razor-edge-knives said:
Vanax 37 (i.e. Super clean) was sold by AKS for a while at a pretty reasonable price. Last year I ordered a piece of 11.5 x 2" that was .174" thick for $69. A piece of damasteel that size would have been over $300.

Edit: chuck at AKS just informed me they will have more in about 2 weeks for anyone interested.
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Bless you Josh, thanks for the Heads up Dawgy. Definitely buying more. Vanax kicks most of the S30v, S35vn and Elmax stuff in the balls. Its just a lot tougher and easier to sharpen without a loss in edge holding and is rustproof. Extremely balanced, Some real future steel stuff.

I like the N77 as well, just different but also expensive if not more and also slightly more exotic and soon to be gone for good.
 
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I love my N77 knife, it tied Aeb-l for taking the finest edge I ever got. It cut hairs gliding over the skin and couldn't even feel it and any paper thrown at it was cut with no problem. Still trying to get a Vanax blade, I have a Tilt and it's decent but I'm more interested in 35 or 37/SC.
 
LC200N is like a mid point between Vanax and 14C28N, you get to experience the overall character of a nitrogen steel but without the extremes of price and not quite as high performing.
 
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