Spyderco Forums

sal wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 24, 2020 10:48 pm

Hi Larrin,

Excellent, as usual. I think that as a forum group, we have many here that are truly interested in blade steels and why they do what they do.

sal

And that's exactly why I share here!

Bill1170 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 24, 2020 8:21 pm

You did a good job using language, which is linear/sequential, to describe the complex interrelated properties of various alloying elements, which is most definitely not strictly linear. That is tough to map onto language.

Thanks!

I've had S110v at rc 64.5 and the highest S90V hardness I've tried was around rc 59 ish. I had always thought the S110v was designed to perform at the higher hardnesses. It's one of the few stainless steels I really respect and has been since I bought a high performing custom from Phil at http://ww...

JD Spydo wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 24, 2020 12:11 pm

It's been nothing short of incredible to see how blade steels are evolving since I became a devout Spyderhead with my first one back in 1995. Since then it's been astounding to see the progress made in this area of technology.

Hopefully the advancements keep coming!

"However, this steel has high hardness and corrosion resistance which can mean excess retained austenite which sometimes leads to inflated toughness values. This behavior was seen with M390 when austenitizing too high. And with some users reporting difficulty in deburring S110V (usually means high ...

Thanks guys I'm glad you liked it. Lots of semi-complicated descriptions of alloy element effects so I'm glad it is making sense to some people.

A new article finishing off the series on very high edge retention stainless knife steels. I wrote about the history of the steel, the design including why it has cobalt and niobium, and then show my tests on the steel including hardness, corrosion resistance, toughness, and edge retention. I also c...

Yes I think a steel like 4V need a super thin edge and high hardness to show off its toughness. Low toughness steels like ZDP-189 start to have chipping issues.

Has anyone used this steel enough to get an idea of how corrosion resistant it is? Compared to s30v for example? Reading about the steel I would guess that the higher nitrogen, lower carbon makeup might offer some improvement over s30v in this area but I have not had the chance to use the steel yet...

So if I read correctly, at 1 point higher on the HRC scale, s125v is barely outdone by m398 in toughness, while holding an edge for reasonably longer. I feel like at that higher end wouldn't more folks be interested in s125v? Also with lower carbide volume, it may be less tough, bit perhaps it will...

sal wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 28, 2020 8:30 am

Thanx Larrin,

Very informative, as usual.

FYI, we have almost 5,000 lbs coming in different thicknesses.

sal

I hope it works out well!

M398 was developed as a plastic mound steel. So it would be more correct to say it was developed for wear resistance above all else. Though that translates to edge wear as well.

Heat treatment can only do so much to overcome the inherent effect of microstructure. If the steel is already 30% brittle carbides even making the other 70% tougher isn’t going to work miracles. This question popped into my head this afternoon when I was reading your article... or maybe it was one ...

Great write-up Larrin. Thanks. Maybe the knife-makers of the world will find a heat treatment strategy to unlock a better toughness/edge retention balance, but from your initial results it doesn't seem like it will immediately supplant the more familiar steels. The corrosion resistance seemed prett...

Hey Larrin I got a question to ask you. I would have PMed you about this but this is something I think that the rest of the gang will also be interested in as well. It mentions that Niobium is one of the alloys in this M398 blade steel. I've heard of Niobium before and I've seen it on the periodic ...

It doesn't surprise me that this M398 is good. Because I sure love my M390 Military model. It's been a dream of an EDC folder. I'm going to have to make it a point to test drive a blade made with M398. I do hope that they make a C-36 Military model or a Para2 model with it. I'm sold on Bohler-Uddeh...

New article summarizing a whole range of experiments I performed on the new Bohler M398 steel. I tested edge retention, toughness, corrosion resistance, heat treatment, and hardness. And I included some discussion on how it compares to other steels in its general category including S110V, S90V, S125...

Ankerson wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 20, 2020 5:17 pm

Now things like using contractions is not however acceptable in literature.

It’s a good thing I’m not writing literature!

I updated the book by correcting typos and adding conversions to Celsius throughout the book. I would call it a "revision" rather than a new edition. Purchases from Amazon are now the new revision. How did it make it past the Publisher with typos? Nobody proof read it before printing? Unfortunately...

I updated the book by correcting typos and adding conversions to Celsius throughout the book. I would call it a "revision" rather than a new edition. Purchases from Amazon are now the new revision.