Spyderco Forums

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.

“Grindability” of steel is largely controlled by carbide volume, carbide size, and carbide hardness. More wear resistant steels are more difficult to grind. However, sharpening is not just grinding away material.

Larrin, I am pretty sure I got you wrong on this - ?: - You found that on a 400 grit CBN stone it takes about the same time and number of passes (or howsoever one chooses to measure this) to bring a knife from a certain "degree of dull" to a certain "degree of sharp" (again, howsoever one defines "...

With good, guided equipment and diamond stones nothing is out of the question, for me. However, I will say that even then, some steels just do not respond as well to sharpening as others. They take longer to get a sharp edge. For me the biggest difference was when deburring, which is not an issue o...

I guess I read this one wrong. I had assumed balanced meant the three common attribute of toughness, edge holding, and corrosion resistance. Re-reading the OP, I see the parameters are sharpening response and edge holding. As Larrin said above, with diamond or CBN stones, sharpening response should...

Larrin, I am pretty sure I got you wrong on this - ?: - You found that on a 400 grit CBN stone it takes about the same time and number of passes (or howsoever one chooses to measure this) to bring a knife from a certain "degree of dull" to a certain "degree of sharp" (again, howsoever one defines "...

The big surprise for me in my CATRA study is I could not tell the difference in sharpenability apart from deburring when using my 400 grit CBN stone. And deburring is more from heat treating than steel.

Great overview of steel development from the perspective of edged tooling. I think you're really doing well refining the themes that come through in each post. For the NioMax heat, did you work with a particular manufacturer? Part of me wonders if recent trending interest in proprietary/exclusive s...

sal wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 12, 2020 5:03 pm

Can we help?

sal

I will let you know.

sal wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 12, 2020 4:40 pm

Hey Larrin,

Excellent as usual.

I heard a rumor about a Larrin steel? Any thoughts to share? I want to put in for first dibs, if nobody else has?.

sal

Nothing yet!

Another excellent read, Larrin. I do have a question, though—and maybe it was addressed in the article & I just missed it—but what are the possible implications regarding cost with these proposed improvements to future PM stainless steels? I understand that economies of scale will probably ameliora...

The major loss in corrosion resistance is a problem from a business standpoint. Actually not just business, but if the edge corrodes, then that of course compromises the steel and accordingly decreases edge retention, requiring a new sharpening, which defeats the purpose of the larger carbide load....