Hap40 Delica Wharnie - WOW

[ZMW]

I just grabbed a Hap40 Wharnie delica from national Knives, and I am super impressed. I ran through a stock pile of costco boxes and put it through some work.

Initial impressions - I love the burnt orange. I thought I would really Dislike the orange, but it is well done and looks great. The laminated lines are not perfect, but I do not care at all. It is character. And a big one - zero blade play! Rock solid lock up, much better then most of my Seki models.

Hap40 - if I did not already see all the edge retention testing I would think it was a crazy super steel. Out of the box it was not shaving sharp, and after I went through a pile of cardboard it was still cutting very well. The Wharnie blade shape really makes a difference as well. A lot of power get transferred to the tip of the blade during a cutting stroke.

I re profiled the blade after, and it the steel wanted to be sharpened. Metal was coming off very fast. DMT XC, C; then Spydie M, F, UF; and strop on white and green compound. In a 5 minute free hand progression, the knife is crazy sharp. Not Michael Christy splitting an atom sharp. But I am impressed. Maybe it is the thin blade stock that helped speed up the sharpening process?

Yes Sus410 scratches when you look at it, but I have a feeling it will be so scratched that is will almost have its own unique blended pattern of scratch marks that will give it a special look.

At any rate, I love the blade shape and blade steel. Great overall package!

[glutofknives]

This is my favorite of the delicas I have owned. Id love to see a wharncliffe delica in vtoku2 as well.

[Wartstein]

Don´t have a Delica in HAP 40, but the Endura and Stretch (burnt orange FRN) - also WOW here concerning the steel! (and the overall execution of the knives) For me, not knowing a lot about steels and sharpening, it´s the kind of "supersteel" I really like. Amazing edge retention, but still pretty easy to sharpen (compared to ZDP for example).

That I totally like the "cladding lines" and the used / scratched look the SUS 410 and the Patina the HAP40 are developing, I have stated already several times.

[fixall]

It's a great knife and the only knife I own two of.

[ZrowsN1s]

It's a users user.

[JonLeBlanc]

The HAP40 laminated models have me wondering if the cladding is done for the sake of strength or corrosion resistance? (Or perhaps both?) anyone have any speculation they care to share?

[Sharp Guy]

HAP40 Wharnie Delica is with me today along with my HAP40 Manbug

[Woodpuppy]

Yeah buddy! It’s a fantastic knife.

[FK]

The HAP40 laminated models have me wondering if the cladding is done for the sake of strength or corrosion resistance? (Or perhaps both?) anyone have any speculation they care to share?

HAP40 is commonly used in Japan for kitchen knives, these are all laminated with stainless to minimize corrosion of the core steel. In addition, the HAP40 core is heat treated very high on the Rc scale and is not high in toughness. I suspect Hitachi has a constant supply of laminated HAP40 available to the kitchen knife makers.
Spyderco would require paying a high premium to order a special run of solid blade stock instead of using readily available laminated stock.

I enjoy the wide variety of steels Spyderco is making available to the market and very reasonable pricing.

Regards,
FK