Steel Testing YouTube Videos

[jasonstone20]

As far as carbide tear-out goes, on the Wicked Edge Forum as well as BladeForums, the pictures shown are not showing carbides tearing out, but the deeper gouges of were the abrasive first digs into the steel and starts the scratch. You can follow these down to the edge. Todd Simpson of Science of Sharp has also shown Scanning Electron Microscope images and it shows that carbide tear out is very rare. Cliff Stamp also thinks it is something that rarely happens. I have posted a few threads on his forum discussing this matter.

[Tims]

Hi Guys I'm that G19guy that has tested a knife or two. My name is Kurt. What Steve has said is that Spyderco seems to heat treat a lot of different steels to the same hardness. I have not Rockwelled a ton of Spydies or a lot of their steels. He is sending more for me to test so we'll get a more complete picture. As of now, I have only tested VG-10, S30V (2), S35VN (2), M390 and ZDP-189 from Spyderco. All 5 knives in S30V, S35VN and M390, tested between 59.5 and 60. It will be interesting to see the how the others score.
As for Steve's testing, it is predominately for fine edge holding ability. His tests have showed that most of these steels don't actually fair better than many budget grade steels. His last test showed that even AUS-8 performed nearly identical to S90V. Where S90V kicked it's but was holding a working edge. His best performer to date is the ZDP Endura that almost doubled S90V. That knife read 63 HRC. His testing is starting to show patterns between HRC and fine edge holding ability but there is still a lot of tests to be done.

Hi Kurt, what are the chances of you getting your hands on an H1 serrated Spyderco for hardness testing?

[sal]

Hi Kurt, Steve,

Welcome to our forum and thanx much for joining and sharing. As I said earlier; I think all testing is good and we all learn from all of it. Absolutes in the blade industry are very difficult at best. There is no, "From God's lips to my ears" happening in this world of blades.

I think you will both enjoy your time here as most are intelligent, knowledgeable and most ave very civil.

sal

[u.w.]

Steve! Welcome. Good to see you here too, and thank you. Thank you for your time and efforts and sharing it with us. I appreciate it very much (same with Kurt - thank you).

u.w.

[Pelagic]

Hey guys,

I'm SuperSteel steve on YouTube.
Mr kurt informed me that you guys had a thread about my testing.

First off I wanna say thank you to anyone who's watched. Even if I'm long winded lol

I started the testing to get people to stop bashing spyderco and Benchmade for using s30v so much.

In my opinion its a great steel when done right.
I wanted to kinda put a stop to the generalazation of steels.. "this steel is chippy" "this steel is great"

As I've started over and over again
HT , blade geometry, edge geometry, and edge finish have far more to do with performance than composition alone.

I try and keep the tests as consistent as possible.
Same edge angle..I use an angle finder
Same finish... I keep the sharpening procedure the same for all edges tested.
Same media... I use the same cardboard purchased from the same place and cut them to the same length.

Im aware if other variables (blade geometry, HRC) that will effect performance. This is why I state that I'm testing the specific knife in my hand.

If a hollow ground aus8 blade will out cut a saber ground s30v.. it still is out cutting it.

Contrary to some belief I do not have a bias toward any one steel or company....I have tested multiple brands and gotten good and not so good results from most

Most of the knives tested are MY knives... I spent my hard earned money on them.
I pay for the cardboard , the wear and tear on my knives, and stones, and the time I spend doing the tests (instead of being with my family) all are out of pocket expenses.

I only loose money and time... I gain nothing.

I just hope nobody here thinks I'm trying to make any company look bad.. matter of fact I received a Spyderco Caribbean for Christmas lol

Through the Rockwell testing kurt has been helping me with has just furthered solidify what I'm experiencing with my testing.

Steels that are around the same HRC perform the same during my tests.

I am not a metallurgist nor claim to be. I'm an executive chef with 17 years of swinging a knife for 15 hours a day. I've been sharpening for about 8 years.

I'm just a guy curious to see how steels perform under certain circumstances, I test, then post the results.

I am not trying to offend anyone...

Unless you are offended by adult language lol

Hey buddy I don't think you offended anyone, and if you did, forget them. I was just telling it like it is, you're pretty animated and thus entertaining despite being (somewhat) long winded. I put "lol" at the end of that statement because it wasn't super serious. I was not trying to negatively criticize your channel or efforts. Thanks for doing what you do. I've watched maybe 5 videos, I'll check some more out now that you've posted here.

[jcoolG19]

Hi Guys I'm that G19guy that has tested a knife or two. My name is Kurt. ...

His testing is starting to show patterns between HRC and fine edge holding ability but there is still a lot of tests to be done.

Thanks for your contributions, Kurt.
Have you done anything to control for thickness when hardness testing folder blades?
One kitchen knife designer I talked to dismissed low hardness numbers from an end user's test as being influenced by the thickness of the stock.
You don't often meet knife enthusiasts with testers, and the factory guys (rightly) keep QC procedure close to the vest, so I'm curious to hear if you've tried anything unique for testing on bevel or for thin stock.

Thank you. There are minimum thickness requirements depending on the hardness range. Folding knives are more than thick enough except at the very edge. I know people have done it, but testing angles without hardened fixtures, will not give an accurate reading. You will have a reading but it won't be true. An angle or concave surfaces will usually give a higher than true reading. A convex surface will give a lower than true reading. How much depends on the angle or radius and the hardness of the steel itself. I am only interested in true readings so that limits me to flat portions of the blade. Full flat grinds are the most limiting. Of those knives that I have been able to, or allowed to test the flats along the length, I haven't found large discrepancies yet. Usually 1 point or under.

[jcoolG19]

Hey Kurt, thanks for stopping by and posting, and Thanks very much for doing the hardness testing and sharing that too. It's good to see you here. My name is Will.

Apologies for not getting your name right.

u.w.

LOL...it's ok. It's a shortened version of a nickname my shooting buddies called me. Kurt doesn't seem all that fun of a username.
Thanks for the warm welcome.

[jcoolG19]

Thanks Kurt for joining the conversation

Thanks Mstach07

[jcoolG19]

Hey guys,

I'm SuperSteel steve on YouTube.
Mr kurt informed me that you guys had a thread about my testing.

First off I wanna say thank you to anyone who's watched. Even if I'm long winded lol

I started the testing to get people to stop bashing spyderco and Benchmade for using s30v so much.

In my opinion its a great steel when done right.
I wanted to kinda put a stop to the generalazation of steels.. "this steel is chippy" "this steel is great"

As I've started over and over again
HT , blade geometry, edge geometry, and edge finish have far more to do with performance than composition alone.

I try and keep the tests as consistent as possible.
Same edge angle..I use an angle finder
Same finish... I keep the sharpening procedure the same for all edges tested.
Same media... I use the same cardboard purchased from the same place and cut them to the same length.

Im aware if other variables (blade geometry, HRC) that will effect performance. This is why I state that I'm testing the specific knife in my hand.

If a hollow ground aus8 blade will out cut a saber ground s30v.. it still is out cutting it.

Contrary to some belief I do not have a bias toward any one steel or company....I have tested multiple brands and gotten good and not so good results from most

Most of the knives tested are MY knives... I spent my hard earned money on them.
I pay for the cardboard , the wear and tear on my knives, and stones, and the time I spend doing the tests (instead of being with my family) all are out of pocket expenses.

I only loose money and time... I gain nothing.

I just hope nobody here thinks I'm trying to make any company look bad.. matter of fact I received a Spyderco Caribbean for Christmas lol

Through the Rockwell testing kurt has been helping me with has just furthered solidify what I'm experiencing with my testing.

Steels that are around the same HRC perform the same during my tests.

I am not a metallurgist nor claim to be. I'm an executive chef with 17 years of swinging a knife for 15 hours a day. I've been sharpening for about 8 years.

I'm just a guy curious to see how steels perform under certain circumstances, I test, then post the results.

I am not trying to offend anyone...

Unless you are offended by adult language lol

Great to see ya here! I hope I didn't misrepresent your tests, just going by memory.

In case anyone doesn't know, Steve has an unnatural affection for Para 3s! Other than that, he's a pretty normal guy.

[Supersteelsteve]

Hey guys,

I'm SuperSteel steve on YouTube.
Mr kurt informed me that you guys had a thread about my testing.

First off I wanna say thank you to anyone who's watched. Even if I'm long winded lol

I started the testing to get people to stop bashing spyderco and Benchmade for using s30v so much.

In my opinion its a great steel when done right.
I wanted to kinda put a stop to the generalazation of steels.. "this steel is chippy" "this steel is great"

As I've started over and over again
HT , blade geometry, edge geometry, and edge finish have far more to do with performance than composition alone.

I try and keep the tests as consistent as possible.
Same edge angle..I use an angle finder
Same finish... I keep the sharpening procedure the same for all edges tested.
Same media... I use the same cardboard purchased from the same place and cut them to the same length.

Im aware if other variables (blade geometry, HRC) that will effect performance. This is why I state that I'm testing the specific knife in my hand.

If a hollow ground aus8 blade will out cut a saber ground s30v.. it still is out cutting it.

Contrary to some belief I do not have a bias toward any one steel or company....I have tested multiple brands and gotten good and not so good results from most

Most of the knives tested are MY knives... I spent my hard earned money on them.
I pay for the cardboard , the wear and tear on my knives, and stones, and the time I spend doing the tests (instead of being with my family) all are out of pocket expenses.

I only loose money and time... I gain nothing.

I just hope nobody here thinks I'm trying to make any company look bad.. matter of fact I received a Spyderco Caribbean for Christmas lol

Through the Rockwell testing kurt has been helping me with has just furthered solidify what I'm experiencing with my testing.

Steels that are around the same HRC perform the same during my tests.

I am not a metallurgist nor claim to be. I'm an executive chef with 17 years of swinging a knife for 15 hours a day. I've been sharpening for about 8 years.

I'm just a guy curious to see how steels perform under certain circumstances, I test, then post the results.

I am not trying to offend anyone...

Unless you are offended by adult language lol

Hey buddy I don't think you offended anyone, and if you did, forget them. I was just telling it like it is, you're pretty animated and thus entertaining despite being (somewhat) long winded. I put "lol" at the end of that statement because it wasn't super serious. I was not trying to negatively criticize your channel or efforts. Thanks for doing what you do. I've watched maybe 5 videos, I'll check some more out now that you've posted here.

Lol it's all good man... I didn't take it as a negative response at all.

Thank you so much for the kind words.
I know I go on and on... i have so much i wanna say
.. so little time to do it lol

[Supersteelsteve]

Hi Kurt, Steve,

Welcome to our forum and thanx much for joining and sharing. As I said earlier; I think all testing is good and we all learn from all of it. Absolutes in the blade industry are very difficult at best. There is no, "From God's lips to my ears" happening in this world of blades.

I think you will both enjoy your time here as most are intelligent, knowledgeable and most ave very civil.

sal

Thank you Mr sal.

I appreciate your open mindedness.

"Absolutes in the blade industry are very difficult at best"

Like I said in my first post... that is the reason I started testing. I read so many generalizations about steel performance that guys were taking as absolutes. Guys would talk about s30v like it was pot steel in edge retention but glass for toughness lol

In my daily knife life experiences i knew that every knife is different, there are a tremendous amount of variables its impossible to say "this is better than that in every way".

Just want to put the rubber to the road.

[DBCOOPER]

Yes I have heard that carbide tear out is a myth, even with Michael Christy's tests with s110v he had minimal difference in tests when sharpening with softer abrasives as compared to using only diamond stones, I have done no scientific research myself but most people consider it a myth

[DBCOOPER]

And supersteelsteve I haven't seen your videos but will start watching today, I love to see people's opinions and tests, as I love to learn from all

[Mstach07]

Steve, thanks for joining the conversation. Para 3 is my favorite model. Please keep testing and provide comparison results!!

[jcoolG19]

Hi Kurt, what are the chances of you getting your hands on an H1 serrated Spyderco for hardness testing?

Hi Tim's. If you know anyone that has one, I can do it.

[Supersteelsteve]

And supersteelsteve I haven't seen your videos but will start watching today, I love to see people's opinions and tests, as I love to learn from all

Thanks so much man.
I'm having fun doing them... get to talk to people all the time now about steel.

[Supersteelsteve]

Steve, thanks for joining the conversation. Para 3 is my favorite model. Please keep testing and provide comparison results!!

Thank you guys for having me.
Gonna keep testing.
The more data the better.

#teampara3

[jcoolG19]

Hi Kurt, Steve,

Welcome to our forum and thanx much for joining and sharing. As I said earlier; I think all testing is good and we all learn from all of it. Absolutes in the blade industry are very difficult at best. There is no, "From God's lips to my ears" happening in this world of blades.

I think you will both enjoy your time here as most are intelligent, knowledgeable and most ave very civil.

sal

Thank you, seems like a great forum.

[TomAiello]

He has interesting opinions. He believes carbide tear out is 100% a myth.

I've never seen evidence to support carbide tear out. I've looked at over 300 hand sharpened knives with a loupe, never seen it.

Carbide tear out would be an interesting topic for Larrin to research and write up.

[Chumango]

Carbide tear out would be an interesting topic for Larrin to research and write up.

Yes - this.