Z50CD15 Steel?

[jpsmith]

Has anyone heard anything about Z50CD15 steel? I just bought a knife with this and i am curious about the steel. I love the knife, and I cannot seem to find much of anything about this steel. Thanks.

 

[2brothers]

I wonder if it is X50CrMoV15 which is used by many kitchen cutlery manfs?
That's what it sounds like. If it is, then it's not known for it's edge holding, but is almost maintenance free in terms of care.
It is still decent though.

What kind of knife did you buy?

 

[jpsmith]

It's a Mercury Large Stag One Blade folding knife.

 

[2brothers]

Nice looking knife.

 

[rifon2]

I have an Italian knife (Maserin) with a similarly named blade steel - IIRC it's made by Sandvik, but I'm not sure.

 

[2brothers]

It's a German steel (almost exactly 1.4116) from what I can find.
How do you know your knife steel is made by Sandvik, does it have some kind of info about it?

 

[knarfeng]

"Z50CD15" does not fit the Sandvik nomenclature system.

http://www.mercurycut.it/jump/fast/k/en/eur/products/v/9K90AIB
Different knife, same steel.
Hardened to 54-56HRC, kind of on the soft side.

I see they use the same on several models.

My best guess is that "Z50CD15" is Mercury's name for whatever alloy they use. If so, there is no way to determine the composition. But it does sound like they run it on the soft side.

Edited to add:
I stand corrected. Found this site:
http://www.ingprom.ru/_BGH_/ru_stabstahl_neu.pdf

It equates Z50CD15 to 1.4116 alloy, which is roughly the same as 420HC.

 

[rifon2]

It's a German steel (almost exactly 1.4116) from what I can find.
How do you know your knife steel is made by Sandvik, does it have some kind of info about it?

When I bought the knife - a Maserin Wind - a few years ago, I remember researching the blade steel which is Z70CD 15. IIRC I found a source saying it was a Sandvik steel, more or less equivalent to 440B.


But I"ve just done a quick search and don't see that information.


So I'm going to withdraw my earlier post.

 

[jpsmith]

Thanks for the info and effort peoples. I am going to assume that it is comparable to 420HC until i notice significant evidence(in use) otherwise. Just a bit of side info. I have bought both a Linder Stag handled pocket knife and this one by Mercury. They are extremely similar. From what i can tell...if there is a better of these two companies, it is Linder, but the Mercury came significantly sharper out of the box. anyway, thanks again.