- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,955
Thanks. Truthfully I can't really comment much on brittleness in the ZDP189 steel except to say I have owned some blades of it yes. I have read that even at the hardness its at around 64Rc that it is not reportedly brittle though and that is really all I know on that one. I do still currently have one TiZDP189 Leek that I did use some to see what I thought of it right after getting it but certainly not as a beater. The knives I have kept with blades of ZDP189 steel ended up so collectible that I don't use them enough to really even let the use show on the knives in fact so no, you would not recall hearing me complain about brittleness there since they haven't been used enough to even know the answer to the brittleness question if it were asked of me. Yes you are correct in that I would not put any of the ZDP blades I own in the class of a beater just for the highly collectible value they have and the price point of the folders when I bought them which was usually way late by the time they spiked in price. Most of these (had I kept them) are worth more now than when I bought them just because they were always done in limited quantity runs. 13C26 is not even in the same category of a 'collector' or highly sought after steel by efficinados to my knowledge.
Anyway, if the 13C26 steel is cheap as it has been reported, if it is tough even when thin at a higher hardness with excellent corrosion resistance why then is it not a good 'beater' steel? Something isn't adding up to me here particularly when you look at where it is being applied in the market. Everything I read says it is a good steel for the applications I see it being used in by Kershaw and the EKA knives as well as other Swedish knives I've seen it used in. All of which are relatively cheap beater priced knives by the way usually never any more than $50 US if that.
STR
Anyway, if the 13C26 steel is cheap as it has been reported, if it is tough even when thin at a higher hardness with excellent corrosion resistance why then is it not a good 'beater' steel? Something isn't adding up to me here particularly when you look at where it is being applied in the market. Everything I read says it is a good steel for the applications I see it being used in by Kershaw and the EKA knives as well as other Swedish knives I've seen it used in. All of which are relatively cheap beater priced knives by the way usually never any more than $50 US if that.
STR