VG-10 is GOOOD!!! (knife testing)

N

Nimravus Nut

Joined
Jan 17, 2003
Messages
202
I finally made up my mind and bought a Fallkniven A1 and I was excited to put my current favorite knives together and did some side by side testing.

3 test knives A1(59HRC), Benchmade Nimravus in 154CM (58-60HRC), and Entrek Jaguar 440C (57-58HRC).

First, cutting test with some cotton fabrics 10 cuts each. 100 lumen flashlight shined onto the edge to check for edge degration.
Nim: no edge degration
A1: no edge degration
Jaguar: little edge degration, seeing reflection along the length of the edge.

Then, made another 20 cuts.
Nim: showing edge degration, also seeing little microscopic dents (shiny spots along the edge). Under the microscope it showed micro-chipping.
A1: little edge degration, the edge is shining from the light, but don't spot any micro-chips. The edge is showing smooth spots and no significant dents and no chips.
Jaguar: more edge defration, edge is really shiny with lots of micro-chips. Under the microscope it was not really chips, but more like dents, the dents have smooth bow shaped indention.

Third, putting a flat head screw in a piece of board. Tip strength testing. Bending the tip of each knife inside the slot. Only 1/16" of the tip is tested.
10 degrees:All three returned to true.
20 degrees:All three took a bend and not breaking yet.
around 30 degrees: Nim's tip broke off.
between 36~40 degrees: A1's tip broke off.
around 45 degrees: Jaguar's tip broke.

Last, a chrome plated brass rod dropped at 8" above the edge. (at 6" not enough damage was done to be be seen by eye:D ).
Nim: chipped out.
A1: smooth, rounded dent about 1/16" wide.
Jaguar: smooth, rounded dent a little wider and deeper than A1, around 3/32".

Summary: 440C is the most plastic for toughness, but edge does not perform as well as the other two, it will also have secondary edge deformation (7 or 8 compression lines below the edge when striked, which could cause edge failure later even if properly sharpened). 154CM is just plain brittle and edge perform about par with VG-10, I would say more extensive use would result in severe micro-chipping that would require a long time on the benchstone to repair. VG-10 is not as plastic as 440C but it had little deformation below the striked surface (3 lines).

Guess which knife is in my bug-out bag.:D
 
Thanks for sharing your test results. There's nothing like real world data to brighten the day.

Were all three sharpened at the same angle?

What do you use to sharpen them?

Were they all pretty much the same sharpness to begin with?

And how much usage had they seen prior to the testing?

Thanks,
Knarf
 
knarfeng said:
Thanks for sharing your test results. There's nothing like real world data to brighten the day.

Were all three sharpened at the same angle?

What do you use to sharpen them?

Were they all pretty much the same sharpness to begin with?

And how much usage had they seen prior to the testing?

Thanks,
Knarf
Click to expand...

I mostly keep them at the closest angle possible and before I test them. I sharpened them with 1200 grit Japanese waterstone, and shine light on the edges to make sure I don't spot any reflections before I proceed to test them. Even though A1 is 1/4" thick, Jaguar at 3/16", and Nim at 1/8" it really came down to the edge because the rolled up cotton fabric is only 1/4" thick. I didn't cut any cardboard so there is no friction along the whole sides of the blade, and that's when blade thickness affects the amount of force being used.
 
Thanks for the info.
knarf
 
Thanks for the infos. VG-10 is also my favorite steel. I even preffer it to other higher ranked steels like S30V or ZDP-189.
 
Nimravus Nut said:
Summary: 440C is the most plastic for toughness, but edge does not perform as well as the other two, it will also have secondary edge deformation (7 or 8 compression lines below the edge when striked, which could cause edge failure later even if properly sharpened). 154CM is just plain brittle and edge perform about par with VG-10, I would say more extensive use would result in severe micro-chipping that would require a long time on the benchstone to repair. VG-10 is not as plastic as 440C but it had little deformation below the striked surface (3 lines).
Click to expand...

Very nice work, this would be expected given the general hardness of the steels. I thought that Benchmade generally ran their 154CM at 60+ HRC. But it was years ago I asked on their forum.

-Cliff
 
VG-10 is excellent stuff -- it has more 'bite' than ATS-34 (Buck/Strider), in my experience. I'm having fun playing with an H1 in laminated VG-10 and remain highly impressed with this steel.
 
Cliff Stamp said:
Very nice work, this would be expected given the general hardness of the steels. I thought that Benchmade generally ran their 154CM at 60+ HRC. But it was years ago I asked on their forum.

-Cliff
Click to expand...

I don't actually know the hardness of the steels, but the info were directly from the manufacturers.

If Benchmade was indeed 60+ RC then that could explain the brittleness but i'm a little concerned that it didn't have an extraordinary cutting ability compared to VG-10. I have 4 Nim's and their performance has been so-so, but I'm really starting to like Fallkniven's heat treat.:thumbup:
 
Fallkniven are all around solid knives, they are actually used based not CAD designed and it shows.

-Cliff
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top