Burnt Orange Rex 45

[Calicoast]

I've got a military on preorder. In my head I'm trying to summarize what I've read. The predictions are that this steel will be tough like cruwear, more abrasion resistant than m4 and as easy to sharpen as hap40?

^^^
= It appears so.
Only time will tell.

C

[attila]

I've got a military on preorder. In my head I'm trying to summarize what I've read. The predictions are that this steel will be tough like cruwear, more abrasion resistant than m4 and as easy to sharpen as hap40?

^^^
= It appears so.
Only time will tell.

C

With very high carbide percentage and ~66.5HRC, Rex 45 is far more likely to be around the toughness of K390, maybe a bit more wear resistant than CPM M4, and possibly sharpen more like K390 than Seki City HAP40. If we're honest, they are so similar that such distinctions are barely perceptible between these high carbide tool steels. They all respond very well to sharpening.

CPM Cruwear has a far lower carbide percentage, so assuming ideal grain size in each of the steels, it will tougher and less wear resistant than all of the CPM M4/HAP40 through Maxamet steels.

It would be nice to have an actual metallurgist's predictions, as I'm just a guy who's done some reading and using.

[Pelagic]

I've got a military on preorder. In my head I'm trying to summarize what I've read. The predictions are that this steel will be tough like cruwear, more abrasion resistant than m4 and as easy to sharpen as hap40?

At 66rc it can't be as tough as cruwear.

[steelcity16]

I've got a military on preorder. In my head I'm trying to summarize what I've read. The predictions are that this steel will be tough like cruwear, more abrasion resistant than m4 and as easy to sharpen as hap40?

At 66rc it can't be as tough as cruwear.

I am skeptical of this claim as well, so it looks like I am going to have to buy a Rex45 for testing. Military, PM2, or Para 3...decisions, decisions :confused:

[HarleyXJGuy]

Any idea when these will drop?

[Pelagic]

I know I'm getting a pm2. I like my 2 Millies (s110v, 204p) a lot and I'm still geeking out over my first compression lock. Not to mention the Millies are my usual work knives where corrosion resistance is beneficial.

[Deadboxhero]

I've got a military on preorder. In my head I'm trying to summarize what I've read. The predictions are that this steel will be tough like cruwear, more abrasion resistant than m4 and as easy to sharpen as hap40?

At 66rc it can't be as tough as cruwear.

I am skeptical of this claim as well, so it looks like I am going to have to buy a Rex45 for testing. Military, PM2, or Para 3...decisions, decisions :confused:

Nah, usually a tool steel with high alloy, high hardness is less tough then a steel with lower alloy, lower hardness.

Cruwear on paper should be tougher as far as impact toughness.

As far as specific details about how rex 45 will perform we'll just have to wait and see.

[Pelagic]

we'll just have to wait and see.

But it's so hard! Lol

[Johnnie1801]

Any idea when these will drop?

I saw on a European dealers site they will be available from October. Don't know if that is written in stone however

[ThePeacent]

we'll just have to wait and see.

But it's so hard! Lol

yes about 66.5HRC :D

[koenigsegg]

Wow almost as hard as Maxamet but I would expect this is a fair bit tougher right?

[Pelagic]

Wow almost as hard as Maxamet but I would expect this is a fair bit tougher right?

I would assume so. And maxamet's toughness as exceeded expectations.

[steelcity16]

Wow almost as hard as Maxamet but I would expect this is a fair bit tougher right?

I would assume so. And maxamet's toughness as exceeded expectations.

Sounds pretty good to me! Now to decide which one. Probably going Military on this one. Maaaaaybe Para 3.

[attila]

Wow almost as hard as Maxamet but I would expect this is a fair bit tougher right?

I would assume so. And maxamet's toughness as exceeded expectations.

Sounds pretty good to me! Now to decide which one. Probably going Military on this one. Maaaaaybe Para 3.

Yeah, I'm having trouble deciding too, so I'll likely pick them all up. I expect to definitely keep the PM2 as I don't like liner locks and don't really desire another Para 3. The Military may stick around if I do get one, but I'm unsure as of this moment. What difficult times we live in...

[shunsui]

A Military and a Para2 for me.

[Pelagic]

I feel this run will do quite well. I sure hope it does. I'll bet everyone here would like to see a slough of spydies in burnt orange g10 (or frn!) and 66.5 rc tool steel. Especially with the price... $146 for a pm2 of this quality is excellent.

Imagine an orange frn police 4 in rex 45!

[TomAiello]

Does anyone know if there are any plans to expand the Rex45 offerings?

I'd love to see a Manix or Native in Rex45.

I'll probably get one of the first offerings (probably the P3) to try the steel, but I'd love to see it offered in one of my preferred platforms in the future.

[abbazaba]

Sounds pretty good to me! Now to decide which one. Probably going Military on this one. Maaaaaybe Para 3.

Sounds like you should go PM2 :)

Para3 and me don't fit well, but I'll be getting a PM2 and Military for sure.

[attila]

Due to unrelenting curiosity, I found some relevant data in the ASM Specialty Handbook: Tool Materials (1995). Hopefully, someone else finds this interesting too.

The following diagram shows a variety of tool steels. Wear resistance, toughness (CPM), and toughness (conventional) are the important aspects for pocket knife steels.



According to the diagram, CPM REX 45 is slightly tougher than conventionally produced M4, half as tough as CPM M4, and slightly more wear resistant than both (?). The wear mechanism in this comparison is in the context of cutting other, softer metals, so I think that means mostly adhesive wear. I also believe that the hardness of M4 and CPM M4 are likely around 64.5 in this comparison, and that of CPM REX 45 is probably about 2 point HRC higher. This isn't explicitly stated, but CPM REX 45's max hardness is 2 points higher than M4's, so without more data, I have to make that assumption.

I'm inferring, using the toughness diagram below, that this means that REX 45 will have toughness around that of CPM 10V @ 63 HRC.

[Pelagic]

I'm very intrigued by this. As spyderco enthusiasts we know all about high vanadium steels, but not many that have twice as much tungsten as they do vanadium.

It looks like m4, but a little less Vanadium, a little more Tungsten, and 8% Cobalt.