3V or 4V Steel in a folder.

[Sharp Guy]

^ @ Chad, I didn't ask all those questions but I sure do appreciate you taking the time to provide such well thought out answers.

[Pelagic]

..Im curious what you think of the 3V Strider and Hinderer folders. Do you think they are more marketing than anything else? It seems those knives have the geometry that would allow their other steels like S35VN to be tough like in your testing.

Hi Steelcity16,

Sorry for the delayed response. I don't get a lot of time to visit the Forum lately. Lot's to unpack here :) .

What I think of Strider and Hinderer folders boils down to my personal opinion about what knives are for and therefor how they should be made to optimize their usage. In my opinion a folding knife is for cutting the usual stuff that comes up in life (not fighting or cutting metal) and it is a tool of practicality that helps a person accomplish cutting tasks in their everyday life. All of the Striders and Hinderers I have seen (and I own 3 Hinderers) are totally over-built and could be used to do things folding knives are usually not intended to do (like chop nails) regardless of the steel they are made from (I'm not suggesting anyone do this with their Striders or Hinderers). They also don't cut as easily as I prefer because they're thick behind the edge and usually thick at the spine too. They are bad-*** tough, no doubt! If I was in the military and wanted a folding knife I could shove through an enemy's jacket and chest cavity and expect it not to break when he flails violently, I would strongly consider carrying a Strider or a Hinderer or something similar. I am not, and have no plans to do any knife fighting at any point in my life :) so those designs do not make sense for my idea of what a knife is used for. For me, a folder is a small knife for small cutting tasks and I believe it should be designed for what it will actually be used for.

Would you rather be over prepared or under prepared? That is the main question that should be asked.

[JD Spydo]

I've given this idea a great deal of thought. And I've come up with an old-school model that I believe would really do well with one of those blade steels. The 2004 era IMPALA model I do believe would be a great folder for either 3V or 4V blade steel.

Think about it for a second>> most blades you see them use that steel with are outdoor type fixed blades. So why not an outdoor folder? And the IMPALA model was one of the very few that I actually liked the Guthook that they had on one variation of the model.

[The Mastiff]

I'm enjoying this thread. There are a bunch of smart and experienced people here.

Joe

[Pelagic]

This is far from apples to apples, but I thought I'd just leave this here.

https://youtu.be/02OHL-DsOpQ

[Tucson Tom]

This is a great thread. I just tripped over it doing Google searches on 4V steel. There is some back and forth fussing between various parties early on, but then some really tremendous information about geometry versus steel composition comes out. I think I learned more from this discussion than anything else I have read here in some time. All to get a handle on how to think about the 4V steel in the "Fradon Lock" exclusive Manix I just picked up.

[steelcity16]

Its been too long since the last 4V folder! St Nick's, where you at and what is next? How bout a Manix XL, Native, and Military?? :D

[youmakemehole]

This is a great thread. I just tripped over it doing Google searches on 4V steel. There is some back and forth fussing between various parties early on, but then some really tremendous information about geometry versus steel composition comes out. I think I learned more from this discussion than anything else I have read here in some time. All to get a handle on how to think about the 4V steel in the "Fradon Lock" exclusive Manix I just picked up.

I throw pieces of this stuff called "binchotan charcoal" in my drinking glass and water dispensers to help with taste and purification. The stuff is very hard and difficult to break into pieces, especially when it gets small. I've tried everything short of pounding on it with hammer(not a good idea in a small bedroom in a house with roommates) including whacking it with knives, tools, squeezing it with pliers, most of those methods resulted in just creating a lot of coal dust or not piecing out the stuff like I wanted it to.

The other night I thought I'd try and see if I could baton it with my 4v Manix. To my surprise, not only did it make much less noise than some of my other attempts, it also was able to very precisely and effortlessly split the charcoal exactly where I intended it to. After I was finished, I wiped off the blade and everything still looked brand spankin new!! A quick pass for each side on my ruby rod and the edge was even sharper than when I started I daresay. Hopefully this adds a little more stoke to your fire as you anticipate your own model coming in the mail! I think this sprint is just ridiculously underrated and only a matter of time before its recognized as one of Spyderco's all time greats. 4v is also way more practical with a strong lock mechanism, as a 4mm thick 4v blade is not likely to fail before even the strongest lock types. It might be good to see Spyderco come out with a 4v model using their power lock once they are confident the public perception has changed enough to allow a decent reception of it. I believe that lock can take a good 3-400 lbs of force in most directions as opposed to 100lbs for their compression lock and 150-200 for the BBL. Tough folders really aren't so useless as long as you choose not to make them useless!

[cycleguy]

Getting back to the title, sounds like two good ideas to me. But I can get by with current offerings til then. Now, which model(s)?

CG

[steelcity16]

Getting back to the title, sounds like two good ideas to me. But I can get by with current offerings til then. Now, which model(s)?

CG

All of them...now, which order?? :D

[cycleguy]

Ha Ha ... good one!

CG

[youmakemehole]

Ed Schempp 3v framelock?

[steelcity16]

Gayle Bradley 1 and 2 with Peel Ply G10 and DLC 3V??

[youmakemehole]

thread could use a little discussion material – video here is of 3v tested with the standard recommended CPM heat treat and a 3v blade with a custom heat treat:

https://youtu.be/6imZ4Vo8iwA

[marty_bill_]

Good video

[Xplorer]

The heat treat video above is a very good example of just how important the heat treat protocol is. This applies to all steels. Changes within the heat treating protocol dramatically affect the steel's performance. When discussing the differences in performance between steels that are similar (e.g. 3v,4v,CPM CruWear) the heating protocols have the potential to account for more of a difference in performance than the differences in steel composition. When buying a knife made of any steel the most important factor a buyer should consider is how it was heat treated. One of the reasons Spyderco has been so successful with the extremely wide range of steels they offer is because they are so very careful to get heat treat right.

[Deadboxhero]

thread could use a little discussion material – video here is of 3v tested with the standard recommended CPM heat treat and a 3v blade with a custom heat treat:

https://youtu.be/6imZ4Vo8iwA

Here is CPM 4V tested with custom heat treatment

[Xplorer]

Thank you Shawn! I appreciate the time and effort you put into this! You've shown clearly what would otherwise take a million words to explain.

[dogrunner]

That was great :)
I'm not going to cut through nails with my knives, in the spirit of using them better :)
But glad you did!

[Deadboxhero]

:p :p :p





:D :D :D