Z-Tuff Chopper

Darrin Sanders

Darrin Sanders

Knifemaker
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A while back Chuck Bybee sent me a piece of Z-Tuff which is a new steel from Zapp. It is supposed to be as tough as S7 with the edge holding of A2. I hardened it to HRC=62 and gave it a full flat grind with a satin belt finish. It has a ~8.5" cutting edge, is 1 & 7/8" wide, & is .283" thick. Overall length is ~13.75". The handle scales are natural canvas Micarta bolted up with SS Corbys and sealed with Acraglass. I still need to make a sheath and may have it Ceracoated but not sure about that since I may wanna evaluate the corrosion resistance while testing.
If anybody wants to get on the list of testers give me a call and I'll go over the requirements with you.
Comments and questions welcomed.
 

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Nice. Looking forward to what you think of it at that hardness. I have a couple of belt knives in it that I haven't had time to put to work, but I'm excited too. Mine were done to about 61.
 
Darrin Sanders said:
A while back Chuck Bybee sent me a piece of Z-Tuff which is a new steel from Zapp. It is supposed to be as tough as S7 with the edge holding of A2. I hardened it to HRC=62 and gave it a full flat grind with a satin belt finish. It has a ~8.5" cutting edge, is 1 & 7/8" wide, & is .283" thick. Overall length is ~13.75". The handle scales are natural canvas Micarta bolted up with SS Corbys and sealed with Acraglass. I still need to make a sheath and may have it Ceracoated but not sure about that since I may wanna evaluate the corrosion resistance while testing.
If anybody wants to get on the list of testers give me a call and I'll go over the requirements with you.
Comments and questions welcomed.
Click to expand...

Sounds really interesting. Do you mind me asking how hard it was getting it to 62? Their sheets kind of max out around there. Either way, 62 RC for a big, tough chopper sounds like it'd be killer.

Oh. And I'm curious about how thin it is behind the edge. With it being as tough and as hard as it is I wonder if it could support something between .015 and .020 behind the edge. I think this steel is supposed to be not just tougher, but significantly tougher, than 3V, right?
 
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Darrin Sanders said:
A while back Chuck Bybee sent me a piece of Z-Tuff which is a new steel from Zapp. It is supposed to be as tough as S7 with the edge holding of A2. I hardened it to HRC=62 and gave it a full flat grind with a satin belt finish. It has a ~8.5" cutting edge, is 1 & 7/8" wide, & is .283" thick. Overall length is ~13.75". The handle scales are natural canvas Micarta bolted up with SS Corbys and sealed with Acraglass. I still need to make a sheath and may have it Ceracoated but not sure about that since I may wanna evaluate the corrosion resistance while testing.
If anybody wants to get on the list of testers give me a call and I'll go over the requirements with you.
Comments and questions welcomed.
Click to expand...

Darrin,

Does that knife come with a wheelbarrow to carry it around? :D

Jim
 
(To lazy to look up) Does z tuff have any relation to z wear?
 
shinyedges said:
(To lazy to look up) Does z tuff have any relation to z wear?
Click to expand...

Its made by the same company, Zapp. The composition is;

Carbon=........0.70%
Chromium=...7.50%
Vanadium=....1.00%
Molybdenum=2.00%
Nickel=.........1.50%
 
Darrin Sanders said:
Its made by the same company, Zapp. The composition is;

Carbon=........0.70%
Chromium=...7.50%
Vanadium=....1.00%
Molybdenum=2.00%
Nickel=.........1.50%
Click to expand...



This is an interesting steel and it is the closest formula that I have seen to INFI and johannings old modA8.
 
deskil said:
Could you post the composition of INFI, for comparison ? I've never seen it.
Click to expand...

Here is my analysis of new and old INFI. Carbon content is 0.5- 0.6 and Nitrogen is at 0.1%. Neither show up on these tests,

20151011_091806.jpg


The newer INFI is closer to Z-tuff than old INFI although all three are different. Z-tuff looks to be a really good steel if HT'd properly.

The above shows modern INFI as
C.......0.6%
Cr.....7.6%
Mo....1.5%
V.......0.6%
Mn....0.5%

Z-tuff
C....0.70%
Cr...7.50%
Mo...2.00%
V....1.00%
Ni....1.50%

So the difference between the two is Mn and Ni. And of course slightly different quantities of the other elements. The other element in INFI is Nitrogen but It cannot be detected by the method I used. So I have no idea if it is still part of the new INFI. I would assume so since it was a big deal in the original INFI.
 
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Hey Darrin: I would be interested in a test & trial.... Since i have a similar shaped knife in 3V... I could compare the two side by side. Please let me know, I presume & hope you still have my email on hand.
 
Looks like this thread died out without a follow up. How did this steel turn out? I'm really interested!
 
Your all over this forum, have you tried this? It looks similar to infi, which is very interesting.
 
I haven't tried it. I called Zapp today to see if they had any thin sheets in but the thinnest they had was .207. Looks like a great steel for a really hard use blade.
 
I was thinking a machete. For a big chopper with a thicker spine, 3V looks like it would be superior just based on the alloy content but if this stuff can keep a thin edge at 62 it could be an amazing performer.
 
I'd be interested to see. I'm not on your level yet. I'm not sure I want to attempt a big knife just yet. I may end up giving it a shot though. Maybe build 3, one from nitro-v, on from z-tuff, and one from 3v. Maybe when funds allow!
 
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