What happened to BG-42?

[tiguy7]

High vanadium content is not the be all end all for knives. Sure, it's great for knives that are used for cutting abrasive material. But for simple daily use for a variety of tasks, other steels will do just as well if not better. I like BG-42. I only have one example:

I am saying that high Vanadium content is most likely the be all and end all for wear resistance at the present time. Next week there may be a new steel or other material with even better wear resistance. I have several BG42 knives, and they work just fine, but they need more frequent sharpening than the S125V stuff.

 

[CARRERA50]

I have one BG42 blade and it's on a knife you'd never expect to see it on...

Once you get an edge on it, it lasts forever, doesn't chip out like VG10 either, tough like D2 and a pain in the butt to sharpen but it'll scare the hair off your arm from 10 feet away , in all seriousness though it'll whittle hair, slice news print off the paper and cut the glue off a free hanging sheet of rice rollin' paper. When it's sharp

This and ATS 34 were 2 of my favorites in the 80s

I have one of these; mine has a feature that allows the user to vary the tension on the pocket clip. Never used it really, pretty much NIB. Interesting design, though, and super sharp.

 

[somniloquist]

This is a great thread. I knew I could count on BF to explain this one to me. Thanks guys!

 

[jdm61]

According to Chuck at Alpha Knife Supply, the biggest problem with BG42 for knives was not the steel, but the company Latrobe. They apparently were damn near impossible to deal with if you were a small company, so people moved on when other options became available.

 

[Cobalt]

According to Chuck at Alpha Knife Supply, the biggest problem with BG42 for knives was not the steel, but the company Latrobe. They apparently were damn near impossible to deal with if you were a small company, so people moved on when other options became available.

This explains a lot. Why a great up and coming steel just literally disappeared

 

[jdm61]

Oh, yeah. You contrast that with companies like Crucible, Carpenter, Voestalpine/BU and even the smaller German mills like Lohmann, Bestar and Zapp which seem to go out of their way to help out our little industry.

This explains a lot. Why a great up and coming steel just literally disappeared

 

[nsm]

I know I'm really late in responding to this thread, but we still process some BG-42 for Carpenter once in a while. I'll try to find out where it's going.

 

[Davor]

I have a small CRK sebenza I still carry made in 98 bought from a dealer in 2010. Nice knife and blade and it is still going on strong along with the titanium frame.

 

[wensynch]

^ A BG-42 Sebenza?

Pics please.

 

[Davor]

1st pic is when I initially purchased the knife.
Last two are the recent ones. Great knife I bought off of mooreknives.

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[symphonyincminor]

It's a shame that the industry moved away from BG-42 to a (in my opinion) inferior steel with S30V.

As others have mentioned, Carpenter now has a powder metallurgical analog to BG-42 in CTS B75P (datasheet). Strider, Zero Tolerance, and Olamic Cutlery are some of the manufacturers that have released knives in CTS B75P. Other than that, it seems like the industry prefers CTS XHP and CTS-204P (both steels make fantastic blades) for their higher wear resistance.

BG-42 @ 60-61 RC runs on that very fine, balanced line between a combination of high wear resistance, superior edge stability at acute angles, and sharpenability. I have "better" steels that are an absolute agony to sharpen once they get past a certain point (I'm looking at you, vanadium). CPM 154 seems to be close to finding that delicate balance that I described, so I tend towards that in customs and mid-tech's, for now. But there is always something better on the horizon.... or is there?

 

[dbw]

Is anyone able to advise where BG42 steel can be purchased from?
I'm looking for 12" x 2" x 3/16"

 

[Petunia D. Feeble]

Is anyone able to advise where BG42 steel can be purchased from?
I'm looking for 12" x 2" x 3/16"

Holy jewel-encrusted necro-posts Batman! Good luck with your search. I haven't seen it offered anywhere in some time.

 

[dirc]

More importantly, if he read the thread, he should be asking for CTSB75P instead the particle replacement should actually be better with the more thorough mix https://www.alphaknifesupply.com/zdata-bladesteelS-CTSB75P.htm