Why does CPM-M4 dominate in national cutting competitions?

Nebulae said:
It would be interesting though to learn what exactly goes into INFI
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Ingredients are pretty well known: .5 C, 8.5 Cr, .36 V, .95 Co, .74 Ni, 1.3 Mo, .11 N

It's the proprietary heat treatment process that is kept secret.
 
cotdt said:
Do you have any pictures of the Spyderco Gayle Bradley folder? I've been eagerly awaiting this knife, I would even buy it w/o ever having seen pictures of it!

I have my CPM-M4 Mule at 8 degrees per side and have chopped wood with it, the edge holds up just fine. It's a really strong steel, basically M2 with better edge retention. It takes as fine an edge as 52100, though 52100's edge wears more smoothly.

I would love a straight razor made out of CPM-M4. According to Crucible the pitting resistance is really good, unlike CPM 3V.
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I have no pics of the Bradley, I figured Spyderco, Gayle Bradley, and M4 is good enough for me to buy it blind. I trust it will be a very good knife with those three attributes behind it.

Mike
 
In my experience, INFI is missing the one characteristic of a steel that matters most to me - the ability to handle thin, sub 15 degrees per side, edges. INFI has way more toughness than I'll ever need and also from my experience has wear resistance on roughly the same level as A2. So far my experience with M4 has been exceptional. My Spyderco Mule just doesn't seem to lose it's edge after ridiculous amounts of work. It is currently at about 8 degrees per side and I've used it roughly in seasoned maple, torquing the edge laterally while pressing hard into a cut. No edge deformation whatsoever. Today I batoned the Mule through a 2 3/4 - 3 inch thick piece of seasoned maple and at one point I only had a 1/2 inch of very, very thin knife tip to hit. While that is not particularly impressive in and of itself, I did this with a rock :eek: I know M4 isn't supposed to be particularly tough, but from my experience today I have decided that it has plenty of toughness for my purposes. But yeah if I need to cut up a tank I will definitely be reaching for the INFI :D
 
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A 10V chopper? Farid does it his way doesn't he. He advertised T-1, 15V and MPL-1 for a while. I've never seen any of them though except the T-1 folders on E-bay the last few years.

Neo, That's a very nice knife there. Maker?
 
Already posted in Mike's cutting comps thread but everybody likes pics so
here's one by Bailey Bradshaw MS.
Forged CPM 3V.

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Doug
 
I think farid likes to experiment

Still makes knives from CPM 15V


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He made also a bushcraft knife from D6 tool steel


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aluminum

I machined a piece of aluminum to 14mm dia, set my D6 blade in a milling vice and put it under my 15 ton hydraulic press. It went through around 80% and the aluminum split open.
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Neo, that's one of the more amazing pictures I've seen here. Thanks!

That 15V is some pretty wear resistant stuff. More wear resistant than T15, which is pretty amazing if you think about it.

I've seen D3 knives, but never D6. I've always wondered why more people didn't make knives from the D series ( 3,5,6, etc) I guess if you make knives for a living and need a decent income from it things that take extra time, supplies and work that don't directly add to the income stream aren't going to be high on the priority list.

There are the occasional guys , like Phil Wilson, Farid, and a few others that will go over the top and do it for reasons other than mere business.

I've always admired that.
 
Those are wonderful knives in wonderful steels. How tough is CPM 10V? T15?

Anyway I've been thinking, how about adding these tests to the competition:

1. Slice a photo of Mr. Obama cleanly without cutting the picture of Miss Megan Foxx underneath.

2. Chop the apple placed on a volunteer's head in a single stroke without hurting the volunteer. The ancient samurai did this with a small peice of rice and a katana.

3. Shave a dog after chopping the last 2x4" to ensure blade still razor sharp.
 
Hi folks,

i just made my cutting certification with my own knive here in Holland,

perhaps a smart remark but, everbody is talking about the knive and the steel.

but cutting skills are more important

you can make the best and sharpest blade, but iff the skills are not there it's not going to win on it's own

gr, martin
 
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