Elmax Everything you need to know to buy the right knife for the job. Carpenter produces this powder steel. Also I notice 1095 looks like another underperformer as there doesnt look to be any reason to use it over 5160 which I cant imagine is any more expensive than 1095. It has excellent edge retention, corrosion resistance, and ease of sharpening. We all have our preference, but overall, preference leans towards the pocket knife with a clip. The choice between the two depends on your knife needs.
D2 vs 8Cr13MoV Steel: Understanding The Differences And Which Is Better Hi Larrin Youve occasionally mentioned cryo treatment in your posts, including here with LC200N. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. It was your original article on ratings that brought me to knifesteel nerds so its great to see your results put back into a form that will no doubt be distributed \ plagiarized widely, hopefully leading to more rational thought and better understanding by the knife consuming public (not that the misleading marketing will go away). Most steels use carbon to increase hardness, but 14C28N uses nitrogen, boosting hardness without the normal penalty of increased corrosion. Most low alloy tool steels and carbon steels also have fine carbide structures without powder metallurgy processing. And we list budget-friendly knives that have a professional style and grace to them. And Ive done a lot of experimental work on knife steels where I feel more confident in my own ratings. The maximum edge retention available in this group is not particularly high because most of the wear resistance comes from iron carbide, also called cementite, which is the softest of the different carbide types. Now that we know what each factor represents, we can see how the steels rank against one another. You said wood is not a particularly abrasive material and in absolute terms that is very true. Oh, thats great, thanks. Theyll be fully attributed to you with website and Patreon links, obviously. There one of the best reason that he is highly regarded as a knife designer. 52100 It is certainly possible for a knifemaker or heat treating company to do a heat treatment that will have suboptimal properties. 14C28N, designed by Sandvik at Kershaw's behest to have the edge properties of 13C26 but with increased corrosion resistance by adding nitrogen and chromium. I think they are complementary and you should watch/read both. Each test is done with 3 or more specimens to get a good average. It is among the best steel that will offer exceptional toughness while still maintaining excellent corrosion resistance. A2 knives need care taken to avoid rust and are often coated to inhibit corrosion. For example, increasing edge retention from Z-Tuff to 3V (100 mm in the CATRA test) led to a drop in over 10 ft-lbs, a similar drop is seen by going from 3V to CPM-CruWear. This is one of the fundamental tradeoffs in steel. Many knife enthusiasts are concerned with categorizing steels as excellent, good, poor, etc. I like it in the Seki City Spydercos, but I would like to know what ratings you would give it. It has a lower hardness and edge retention as compared to the 9Cr knife. Why wouldnt it be possible to make a damascus steel out of (say) AEB-L and s90V, or wouldnt that gain the best of both? As a result, there are no production knives with REX 121 steel, though Ferrum Forge used the steel early on in its custom knives and a Kickstarter knife from the Creely Brothers. Below shows a comparison of carbide structure between D2 and CPM-D2, and then toughness measurements between the conventional and PM versions of CruWear, D2, and 154CM. When it debuted, Sal Glesser described XHP as a combination of D2s hardness and 440Cs corrosion resistance.
14c28n Steel Is Good for Knife? Here's The Best Review For - Milkwood Its very hard, tough, and corrosion-resistant. are after the ratings. Furthermore, because of its ultrahigh hardness, Maxamet is very prone to corrosion, probably worse than 1095. Thanks! Because of the material difference, the blades differ in toughness, edge retention, corrosion resistance, and ease of sharpening. Steel softens as tempering temperature increases, but certain steels see an increase in hardness in a certain higher temperature range such as shown below for high speed steels that are designed for this type of tempering: This high temperature tempering can be done for several reasons, such as better resistance to overheating during grinding, or because a coating will be applied to the knife that requires a high temperature. W-2 Knife Steel Benefiting from 0.2 percent vanadium content, W-2 holds an edge well and is reasonably tough. It applies to both of course, hence why there isnt a separate label. . There are significant differences between them because 14C28N is stainless steel, while D2 steel is a semi-stainless tool steel. I was wondering if the 14c28n sample was also prequenched like the AEB-L toughness samples? For example, below is a video comparing a 1095 ESEE knife at 55-57 Rc and a MagnaCut knife at 62.5 Rc, both with the same edge angle. That mixture has one goal in mind: making a great steel for people worried about rust and corrosion. Old time 8670, 5160 (known to ignoramuses as 51shitty) and 52100 are excellent choices and arguably better choices than 80crv2. The line is only in the neighborhood of 5 of the datapoints. The edge retention numbers are normalized to the hardness of the closest toughness test. Generally seen as a slight upgrade to the 440C/VG-10/ATS-34 caliber of steel, its a decent all-around steel with good corrosion resistance, decent toughness, and only modest hardness.
Knife Steel - BladeReviews.com Thats why it easy to work and looks nice. This is a very important factor when selecting a steel for your knife blade, especially if you plan on spending a lot of time outdoors in an area with high humidity.. S30v is a higher ranked steel and considered a true Stainless Steel, with a 14% . 14C28N is a type of high-performance stainless steel used in knife-making. In a pocket knife the total amount of steel is rather small. While quite soft, the metal cuts even when it seems dull because, at the microscopic level, it has a roughness that performs much like a serration. Only a few years ago Elmax was pricey, but competition has driven it down to reasonable levels, making it a decent value. I wont go into detail about those here. The knives can be used in humid and wet environments without rusting. Most of the discussion of how the ratings were generated, various caveats and details, etc. Oftentimes steels that are reported to be difficult to sharpen are in fact improperly heat treated and challenging to deburr. Being stainless is not an on or off property, and some stainless steels are more resistant to corrosion than others. 14c28n vs. D2 Steel D2 is as rigid as 14c28n, thus has almost equal edge retention abilities. Fine-carbide knife steels. ), intended use will give you all the answers. : knife a with a toughness of 5 and an angle of 20 degrees will perform as well in edge retention as knife b with a toughness of 3 and an angle of 15 degrees. most knives are being made out of these and other mediocre steels like 14c28n, 420j2, 425m. However, in our testing there is a reduction in toughness by using the high temperature range rather than the low temperature range, such as was found with CPM-CruWear (Z-Wear) or CPM-10V. second it might be of importance which way you sharpened because if against the edge the steels might have reacted differently to the contamination remaining on the edge. SUS410 Its hard to imagine a more rust-inducing environment than saltwater and fish guts. Does that mean that companies like Tops, Kabar and ESEE would be better off using 420HC instead of 1095 on their fixed blades? Id think that line would be significantly to the left, more in the data swarm. Using controlled furnace heat treating resulted in toughness around 23-28 ft-lbs at 61-62 Rc, while the knifemaker heat treated specimens were 7 ft-lbs or below. I mean the box cutter type, with the replaceable trapezoidal blades. While 9Cr18MoV steel is highly corrosion resistant due to the addition of Cr, and Mo. If you want to learn more about a specific steel, you can click it in the sorted listings below. The bump in hardness comes from precipitation of fine carbides in the steel, which include chromium carbides. It doesnt hold an edge well, but its so easy to sharpen that you can get it back to razor sharpness in a few minutes. The most traditional models of pocket knives have different parts, such as the handle and cutting performance. 14C28N. One important concept I want to hammer home is that there isnt one property that is most important. Available in Kershaw knives (as of 2012) and in other . Stainless steels are more resistant to corrosion but remember that stainless steels stain less, and most of them will still rust in the right conditions. But if you want to know what the coolest blade material is, for my money, SM100is it. 14C28N steel also has excellent wear resistance due to its high chromium content. More expensive powder metallurgy steels in this category include M390, CPM-S35VN, Elmax, CTS-XHP, CPM-S30V, and CPM-154. Heres The Best Review For You (2021), D2 knife blade offers high edge retention, Dulls faster, Requires frequent sharpening.
All about 14C28N Steel - HDMD Knives Blog However the 14c28n steel would be great for an EDC knife with typical usage. 14c28n steel would be a great pick thanks to its high retention and corrosion, it would be great for a normal EDC knife. Water is a severe quenchant that can often lead to warping or cracking. Most of these steels are carbon steels, except for CPM MagnaCut (the fancy steel cooked up specifically for knives by Dr. Thomas), which has excellent corrosion resistance. Hi Larrin, thanks so much for writing this blog and putting so much reliable information into such an accessible form. No mainstream companies use SM100, and the niche makers that do usually charge more than $1,000 for knives with SM100 blades.
LC200N has similar properties to those two but with saltwater levels of corrosion resistance. Its hard enough, tough enough, and stain-resistant enough. 420HC, 420, and 5160 all offer off-the-charts toughness. Also, what kind of steel is used for utility knives? Any idea where it would be on the hardness and toughness scales? The brand Bark River uses A2 in many models. But in use, Ive found nothing that withstands the abuse that 3V can take. SG2 Continue with Recommended Cookies. 12C27 steel is extremely popular in the US knife market for its high hardness, high wear resistance, and great corrosion resistance. 14C28N steel holds good hardness. The D2, on the other hand, has a thicker and more durable blade that is better suited for tough tasks like chopping wood or prying open cans. AEB-L and 14C28N also have moderate edge retention though of course much lower than vanadium-alloyed powder metallurgy steels like S30V or M390. They represent the absolute best performers on the market in terms of their specific attributes. Due to its higher Chromium content, S30v is a lot less likely to corrode/rust than the D2 Steel.
Edge Retention Test! 14c28n vs VG10 blade steel comparison - YouTube .
Guide to the Best Knife Steel | Knife Informer Even though it has very high hardness, its also still decently resistant to corrosion and quite tough. AEB-L and 14C28N are the best in the high toughness group. Below shows Vanax tempered at 400F on the left and 1000F on the right after 1% saltwater for 24 hours: There are many other ways in which knife steel performance can be reduced through heat treatment but I cant cover them all in this article so hopefully these illustrative examples will be enough. 9Cr is the top end of the series and is quite good as good or better than AUS-8. When the blade gets messed up I just replace it. Id like to quote some of your toughness, edge retention and corrosion resistance for balanced midfield steels, including yours, in some data tables. Another very tough and highly wear-resistant steel grade is the D2. The value being slightly different doesnt mean its an outlier or measurement error. Powder metallurgy steels with low vanadium content like CPM-1V and Z-Tuff/CD#1 have extremely high toughness. Toughness is the resistance to chipping or breaking. By signing up for email newsletters, you agree to GearJunkie's, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window). This grade can be treated cryogenically to improve edge retention. There is no single category that means that a steel is more premium or better than another. The 14C28N, on the other hand, is tougher. The very good toughness of MagnaCut meant that it didnt chip despite this relatively high hardness and the difficulty of the test. Austenitizing is the process where the steel is heated to high temperature prior to quenching (rapid cooling) to harden the steel. Mostly it has been presented piecemeal with all of the studies that we have done on optimizing heat treatments of different steels like CPM-CruWear, AEB-L, 52100, etc.
Ruike Sandvik 14c28n vs D2 : r/knives - reddit The table shows combinations of knife steel properties for different classes of steel. Ease of sharpening refers to how difficult it is to remove material with a sharpening stone. This is a nitrogen steel that is extremely corrosion-resistant so much so that its used in knives designed to go in salt water, among the most difficult conditions knives are used in.