Niobium-Alloyed Knife Steels Explained - S110V, S35VN, Niolox, and More

[Larrin]

New article about how niobium improves a range of steel properties like wear resistance, toughness, corrosion resistance, etc. And why we need to convince the steel companies to make more of them. https://knifesteelnerds.com/2019/02/18/ ... fe-steels/

[Pelagic]

Wow, so thorough. Great info on Nb, s90v vs s110v, and 3V Modified. I had never heard of 3V modified, sounds like an interesting steel! Thanks again for another outstanding article.

[Larrin]

Yeah I wish they actually produced that 3V modified steel. Looks like a good one.

[attila]

Thanks for the article!

I've been asking for K490 from suppliers and mentioned it here on the forum numerous times in recent months. I'm glad it made it into your article.

[Larrin]

Thanks for the article!

I've been asking for K490 from suppliers and mentioned it here on the forum numerous times in recent months. I'm glad it made it into your article.

The Uddeholm steels seemed to get more use than the Bohler steel for some reason. I would be interested in a comparison between K490 and Vanadis 4 Extra.

[attila]

Thanks for the article!

I've been asking for K490 from suppliers and mentioned it here on the forum numerous times in recent months. I'm glad it made it into your article.

The Uddeholm steels seemed to get more use than the Bohler steel for some reason. I would be interested in a comparison between K490 and Vanadis 4 Extra.

That would be a great comparison, and I'd be interested to see CPM M4 included since its specifically called out in the K490 datasheet and advertising.

Besides one of your articles, I've not seen any mention of K490's corrosion resistance. I think it would be surprisingly good in the way that CPM Cruwear is, especially if cryo and low temper were used instead of the usual high temper. i don't know if my theory is correct, but that's why I've been asking for K490 from knife steel suppliers. Its improved toughness and (probable) corrosion resistance when compared to comparable steels like CPM M4 and REX 45 are very attractive in my mind.

Also, I agree that 3V Mod would be really awesome!

[Deadboxhero]

You guys get to the part about RN15x steell ? Pretty cool :D

[Larrin]

You guys get to the part about RN15x steel, pretty cool :D

That's an interesting one for sure.

[ZrowsN1s]

K490! That's got 100 more K's than K390

[Bloke]

Thanks again as always Larrin. :)

[Chris_P_Bacon]

Another great article Larrin. Thank you for sharing!

As I was reading, I kept imagining a computer program that had sliding bars for each element,
parameters for heat treat, cryo, tempering, time, etc But with so many non-linear variables, and different steel forming processes, etc. This task would be daunting to say the least. Even more difficult to make accurate. I mean, even in the research material you find, there is occasionally conflicting information that has to be weighed.

However, as knowledge increases and as more datasets become known, the base program could be continually modified and updated. Think open source type application.

We have similar computer programs for ballistic charts, although not entirely accurate, still useful.

I realize these are two entirely different animals, but I dare to dream....

[The Meat man]

Thank you Larrin! Impeccable research and scholarship as always. :)

I really hope to see some more niobium rich steels in the near future. This, along with nitrogen steels, looks to be a fruitful and interesting field of research and innovation.

[ZrowsN1s]

A really good read Larrin. Very interesting stuff. I learned some things about s90v and s110v I didn't know. I actually learned a lot I didn't know :D Thanks for another great article.

[Larrin]

Another great article Larrin. Thank you for sharing!

As I was reading, I kept imagining a computer program that had sliding bars for each element,
parameters for heat treat, cryo, tempering, time, etc But with so many non-linear variables, and different steel forming processes, etc. This task would be daunting to say the least. Even more difficult to make accurate. I mean, even in the research material you find, there is occasionally conflicting information that has to be weighed.

However, as knowledge increases and as more datasets become known, the base program could be continually modified and updated. Think open source type application.

We have similar computer programs for ballistic charts, although not entirely accurate, still useful.

I realize these are two entirely different animals, but I dare to dream....

We have programs for predicting certain things. I reference Thermo-Calc and JMatPro a lot on my website. They are very good at predicting which phases are present at different temperatures based on composition. JMatPro can also predict heat treatments and final properties but is pretty terrible at it, at least in version 7.0.

[curlyhairedboy]

Fantastic article, Larrin. Thanks again!

[kodai78]

Thanks. Sounds like there’s plenty of room to toy with in search of the ultimate steel!

[brainfriction]

Interesting... guess that makes sense why I find s35vn easier to sharpen to a high polish than s30v.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Thanks for the informative article.

I always Knew Chris Reeve moved to S35VN for a good reason.