What would H1's ratings be?

S

stillshot2

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Jun 6, 2014
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I noticed on knife steel nerds Larrin does not directly post ratings to H1 or H2 steel in his charts. Just curious what you guys think that it would score in plain edge form? Toughness 9.5, edge retention 1.5, corrosion resistance 11? Perhaps serrated edge would gain some points for edge retention?
 
Back when H1 was a happening thing , IIRC , the serrated Spyderco's , at least , were supposed to be somehow much better hardness ?

Something to do with "work harding" this steel ? IDK . :confused:

I've asked about this before , but don't recall ever getting a straight answer .

Probably better to ask this on the Spyderco forum . 🤷‍♂️

Maybe I got mislead ?
 
DocJD said:
Back when H1 was a happening thing , IIRC , the serrated Spyderco's , at least , were supposed to be somehow much better hardness ?

Something to do with "work harding" this steel ? IDK . :confused:

I've asked about this before , but don't recall ever getting a straight answer .

Probably better to ask this on the Spyderco forum . 🤷‍♂️

Maybe I got mislead ?
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It seems to be a miscommunication turned into a myth. All H1 is cold worked to increase hardness, but it's still fairly soft. Grinding on the other hand can actually lower hardness. Combine that with the fact that serrations increase edge retention and somehow it became "serrated H1 has higher edge retention and toughness than all other steels."
 
The benefit of the serrated H1 knives is due to the very thin edge, not the serrations themselves, although they help on fibrous materials. A user on Spyderco home forum used to promote serrated H1, but later switched back to plain edge running very thin edges and course finishes.
 
I have found that H1/H2 when serrated, holds a workable edge longer than when it is not...which should be no surprise. My butter-soft 20 year old steak knives made of mystery stainless have held an edge well enough to drag through some meat across ceramic plates a lot longer than they would have if they were plain edged.

I like the steel for its intended purpose. I have a couple that I keep in my beach bag just to have something won't require me fuss over it when it gets wet and sandy. I really like my ARK for this.

Other than that, I would much rather have something in Magnacut if I want corrosion resistance AND performance.
 
Synov said:
Grinding on the other hand can actually lower hardness.
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I read somewhere since only one side of the blade was ground a serrated blade, it allowed the other side to retain its hardness? Is there any truth to this? Because I am far from an expert on this science.
 
Synov said:
It seems to be a miscommunication turned into a myth. All H1 is cold worked to increase hardness, but it's still fairly soft. Grinding on the other hand can actually lower hardness. Combine that with the fact that serrations increase edge retention and somehow it became "serrated H1 has higher edge retention and toughness than all other steels."
Click to expand...
Having sharpened them both, I think there is something the serrated being work hardened or improved in some other way. The serrated H1 takes a lot longer to sharpen. Even accounting for the different methods required.
 
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