Why m4?

Hey, I own super steels too. Nothing against them or their aficionados. I'm just saying that for most of us, super steels are beloved toys and not requirements for daily living.

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Spyderco Police 4 Lightweight in K390. Just in case I'm called upon to deconstruct an oil rig. It could happen.
 
powernoodle said:
I've carried knives daily for 40 years, and never required "extreme edge retention" and "toughness" in a blade. Hecky, even "the greatest generation" won WWII with cheapy carbon steel traditionals. Are you guys using your EDC blades in lieu of wrenches to rebuild cruise ship engines? I guess I could see an oil platform worker or roofer wanting that kind of blade (though a utility blade is supreme on the roof), but most of us are using them to open Amazon packages. Seriously, unless you are prying up manhole covers, under what circumstances does a blade steel have to be "tough", and why not use a hammer or pry bar instead?

Kids, these days!
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I'm 40, and love M4. But one of my favorite knives is my BK16, made out of 1095cv! Holds an edge pretty well, all things considered. Easy to sharpen and touch up. And takes an amazing edge.
 
powernoodle said:
I've carried knives daily for 40 years, and never required "extreme edge retention" and "toughness" in a blade. Hecky, even "the greatest generation" won WWII with cheapy carbon steel traditionals. Are you guys using your EDC blades in lieu of wrenches to rebuild cruise ship engines? I guess I could see an oil platform worker or roofer wanting that kind of blade (though a utility blade is supreme on the roof), but most of us are using them to open Amazon packages. Seriously, unless you are prying up manhole covers, under what circumstances does a blade steel have to be "tough", and why not use a hammer or pry bar instead?

Kids, these days!
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I'll let op answer so ya get the right deal, but im guessing he wanted edge retention so he didn't have to drag a sharpener along with him on his vacation. no its not that hard to toss in a dmt diamond diafold, but maybe he didnt want to.

he had 2 of the three things to make cutting stuff less things to bring along..... edge retention and toughness. just not corrosion resistance. 420hc would have given him toughness and corrosion resistance, but not edge retention. hence the sharpener might be needed. something like a s30v or such would have balanced it out a bit better.

where he was at the coastline is aggressive on steels. that salt air eats everything on the coast. if he had been inland in florida he wouldn't have seen as much corrosion.
 
I have just one non stainless steel blade, a Michael Morris friction folder. The blade is oxidized? I am curious how this is done. Are there other makers doing this? I have no rust problems with this blade and live by the ocean. I would be interested in a M4 blade done like this.

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I’m not cutting a Buick in half on a daily basis. I don’t need the best of the best however…. I always want the best! I buy what appeals to me and knives that I like and can afford. I know how to sharpen good enough to suit my needs.


In fact I am waiting for my custom CPM Magnacut fixed blade.
 
This is why I generally just do a forced patina when I get a knife that I'm going to use/carry a lot that is in a steel that is known for corrosion. It's not usually a big problem for me here in Colorado though, as it's pretty dry here. But I do travel to more humid environs occasionally, and haven't had any issues.

John, I'll text you a video I made for a buddy of mine showing how I do my mustard forced patina. Hope you're having fun in FL!
 
SpyderPhreak said:
This is why I generally just do a forced patina when I get a knife that I'm going to use/carry a lot that is in a steel that is known for corrosion. It's not usually a big problem for me here in Colorado though, as it's pretty dry here. But I do travel to more humid environs occasionally, and haven't had any issues.

John, I'll text you a video I made for a buddy of mine showing how I do my mustard forced patina. Hope you're having fun in FL!
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Post the video. I've always found M4 to be tougher to get a patina on vs. some of the other tool steels.
 
Mister Coffee said:
Is it just a claim? Or is there science behind it? I'm following your posts on this patina-rust-black oxide issue with interest. I genuinely would like to know more about it. For instance, are you suggesting that the presence of black oxide inhibits the formation of red oxide?

Thanks. :)
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I can attest to the effectiveness of forced/black patina. The knife pictured below is the first knife I forged and is made of rust-prone 5160. I made it around 2009 and have carried it daily while on duty since then. I forced a patina with vinegar and mustard after I made it and it’s never had a rust problem. I work on NorCal beaches primarily and just wipe the blade down every month or three…
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Danke42 said:
Post the video. I've always found M4 to be tougher to get a patina on vs. some of the other tool steels.
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I'll need to do another. I'm not comfortable posting it for general public consumption for a number of reasons. (ETA: It's just plain yellow mustard lightly dabbed onto the blade with the tip of my finger.)

In my experience, CPM M4 doesn't take a forced patina as heavily as some other steels do, but it still protects the steel just fine. Generally, it just shows light rainbow-like coloring similar to unclekurty unclekurty 's pic above (hard to photograph, have to get the lighting *just* right). Usually only a small amount of gray staining.

CPM-M4:

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M4 with a couple others (Maxamet and Rex45):

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Close up of the other two:

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Another one, 52100. It seems to patina more than most.

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K390 as well (it patinas pretty heavily too, but not quite as much as 52100):

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A
Bob Denman said:
Truthfully: they don't make Buicks like they used-to...
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Amen
SpyderPhreak said:
This is why I generally just do a forced patina when I get a knife that I'm going to use/carry a lot that is in a steel that is known for corrosion. It's not usually a big problem for me here in Colorado though, as it's pretty dry here. But I do travel to more humid environs occasionally, and haven't had any issues.

John, I'll text you a video I made for a buddy of mine showing how I do my mustard forced patina. Hope you're having fun in FL!
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thank you! I’m trying. All these dead fish are depressing
 
Barman1 Barman1 nothing is eating them- they are just sitting there. Looks like puffer fish and eels a along the beach on the island. Really sad.
 
My sweat goes right through black oxide on Z-Wear, but hasn’t done anything to my Gayle Bradley. I started using it in food prep to force a patina and even that was tougher than I thought. I was using it a a pizza parlor to prep tomatoes for sauce and toppings. I would cut hundreds of tomatoes in half each day I worked, and I still wasn’t getting significant staining.
 
Murdamook said:
My sweat goes right through black oxide on Z-Wear, but hasn’t done anything to my Gayle Bradley. I started using it in food prep to force a patina and even that was tougher than I thought. I was using it a a pizza parlor to prep tomatoes for sauce and toppings. I would cut hundreds of tomatoes in half each day I worked, and I still wasn’t getting significant staining.
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I've tried 3 times to get a good, dark patina on my Gayle Bradley 2, and it's just kind of gone grey. Mustard twice and vinegar once. Not to mention the tomatoes I've cut and left the juice on the blade. I'm just going to call it good and see what happens, but I have had rust appear overnight. Sweated in my sleep (I'm a heater, and so is my son...) and had rust mostly around the laser etching. I'm just going to deal with it lol

I really do need to try and mustard patina the BK16 I just stripped. I'd like to get it nice and dark. 1095 should take to it much better.
 
soc_monki said:
I've tried 3 times to get a good, dark patina on my Gayle Bradley 2, and it's just kind of gone grey. Mustard twice and vinegar once. Not to mention the tomatoes I've cut and left the juice on the blade. I'm just going to call it good and see what happens, but I have had rust appear overnight. Sweated in my sleep (I'm a heater, and so is my son...) and had rust mostly around the laser etching. I'm just going to deal with it lol

I really do need to try and mustard patina the BK16 I just stripped. I'd like to get it nice and dark. 1095 should take to it much better.
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My GB2 is the same, the patina stayed low level, even though I used it for food processing. OTOH I am not protecting it with anything and there is no red rust either. It's doing okay all by itself I guess.
 
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