Why are Busse Knives made with SR 101 not sought after?

DennisM

DennisM

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Jerry Busse Jerry Busse
Can you shed some light on the differences between SR 101 and INFI steels? Can SR 101 hang with INFI? What are the pros and cons of each blade material? I am trying to understand why your knives made of SR 101 seem to "linger around" on the knife exchange whereas anything made with INFI sells. Is INFI really that much better than SR 101?
 
Different ≠ better

You’ll find SR-101 will generally have better edge holding than INFI, but less corrosion resistance. INFI is easier to sharpen, and steels well, and is a bit tougher than SR-101.

Search is your friend. This question has been asked here over and over and over and over and over……..
 
And now over again. Thanks 🫡

As far as people avoiding it - maybe just being misinformed? Or maybe with INFI being the newest available - kinda like Magnacut - and most wanting the newest thing?
 
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From my limited experience, I have found SR101 to have similar edge retention to INFI, but much lower corrosion resistance. I am sure toughness is also lower, but I have never damaged an SR101 blade severely. My assumption is that the cost difference is in steel cost and finishing/grinding labor. INFI is very wear resistant, more so, than Sr101. There may also be a difference in HT time. That likely explains the cost difference. My guess only.
 
I thought I read once that the processes for SR 101 were more costly too.
 
Maybe not that SR-101 is a collector's item....

Jerry Busse said:
SR-101 has left the building!

We must, for the foreseeable future, bid farewell to SR-101, the legendary steel used by all four of the Busse Kin knife lines over the past 20 years.

SR-101 requires a very advanced oil-hardening heat-treat protocol. This protocol includes a very specialized quench, coupled with a tempering protocol and deep cryogenic treatment. All of these processes were made possible by the use of custom-made furnaces and several other pieces of custom-made equipment designed specifically for the heat-treatment of SR-101 steel. The original manufacturer of this equipment, like so many others, did not survive the pandemic economy and parts and service are no longer available. As of now, key components of this protocol are no longer operable and/or repairable.

We are now left with only one small furnace that was designed for single, one-at-a-time, SR-101 knives or swords. This small furnace that has been used for one-off prototypes throughout the years. Many of you have observed the slow output of the OMG-15 Gladius, which was offered prior to the demise of our high-capacity hardening and tempering furnaces. These OMG-15s have cost us dearly in both time and money. Those of you who scored an OMG-15 have scored a blade that was sold well below our cost of manufacture! I congratulate you and ask that you pass the bottle of scotch to me immediately!!!!!

We have sent test batch SR-101 blades to several outside sources in the hope of keeping this great steel alive. Unfortunately, the results have been less than stellar and "less than stellar" just isn't our game. These blades have been destroyed and are buried in the back-forty!

So, onward, and upward my friends! Luckily, for years, we have been testing multiple heat-treat protocols on many different air-hardening grades of steel. These air-hardening grades, combined with our optimized heat-treat and tempering protocols, will easily maintain Busse Knife Group’s spot in the industry as the world leader in Extreme Performance Knives.

So, to those who have scored any of the tens of thousands of SR-101 blades over the past 20 years I congratulate you. And to those who wish to score the remainder of the SR-101 blades that were already in process before our equipment checked out, I know you will embrace the soon-to-be rarity of these high-performance blades.

Tonight, we salute you, SR-101, for your many years of extreme performance blades and we drink in your honor!

There will be a "One Last Hurrah" offer starting this Sunday night 10-16-2022 at 9:00 PM Eastern for finished SYKCO models in SR-101.

There are a number of Swamp Rat models in SR-101 that are still in process but are a long way from being finished.

There are NO new SYKCO models in process in SR-101.

Let's Drink!

Jerry
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DennisM said:
As far as people avoiding it - maybe just being misinformed? Or maybe with INFI being the newest available - kinda like Magnacut - and most wanting the newest thing?
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INFI is not “the newest thing”. SR-101 was introduced after INFI. The ads introduced it as “INFI’s cranky little sister” IIRC.

I have both and love both. I far prefer SR-101 in smaller knives (anything less than 6” of blade). It holds an edge longer in my experience. It does corrode, but not bad. It discolors and gets a patina but doesn’t rust easily.

I prefer INFI for big choppers because it tends to roll, blunt, or deflect rather than chip or blow out. Dust the bark off, sharpen it up, and keep on kickin’ ass. It’s the best for brutal work.

The battle grades were the true deals.
 
If I really like the knife design , I don’t mind which steel it comes in. Like mentioned above , I love my Boss Jack in sr101. And the Battle grade ASH. But when push comes to shove I will lean towards INFI. When Busse offers a piggy back deal I will get both. 😊🐷🐷
No matter which you choose Busse warranty covers you. 🙂
 
It may be as simple as ;

SR101 blades cost less = more people buy them = more available on the secondary market.

If I had to guess I would say over 90% of folks that have any Busse-kin have an SR 101 RMD

But I would guess the percentage would be less as far as the INFI- RMD goes.

I think supply and demand play a factor more than performance.

I personally have and have used quite a few of both.

I do think as far as using, design and grind angles will make more of a difference than steel.

Here is how I rank them.

Big Chopper = INFI w/ the exception of the BG War Train ( the geometry on that blade is just about perfect for chopping)

Medium size camp knife = about even SR101 and INFI

Small knives = Elmax, then Magnacut, then AEBL then SR101

Just my 2 cents.
 
This thread needs more pictures!
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