I Tested the Edge Retention of 48 Steels

[Naperville]

It would relate to animal hide/fur

Phil Wilson has an article on Seamount Knifeworks you can read about how rope may compare to animal hide.

http://www.seamountknifeworks.com/js/we ... e_test.pdf


CATRA has a correlation with rope cut testing but is more wearing on the edge due to the 5% silica abrasive in the card stock.

The testing is done to see how the STEEL stacks to other STEELS in controlled edge slicing to see what steels have more wear resistance than others.

Real world depends more on how the end user sharpened it and how they are using it and for what. Followed by a big list of other things. Geometry, HT, etc

Thank you! That is just what I am looking for. Hopefully Larrin also does sisal or rope cutting tests. I'd really like to know more.

[Naperville]

... I did not expect M4 to be below S30V in anything. M4 seems to be the recipient of excellent marketing, and S30V, not so much...

Looks like M4 in this test has fairly equivalent wear resistance with S30V with both at approximately 61 Rc, and M4 having significantly greater toughness. The HRC database thread shows that Spyderco tends to run their M4 around 64 Rc and it would be interesting to see results for M4 tested at 64-65 Rc.

Yes, S30V is quite good! If you look at the charts that Larrin produced, depending on the RC, S30V is quite good!!!

[Naperville]

Did I miss the Spy27?

[Deadboxhero]

It would relate to animal hide/fur

Phil Wilson has an article on Seamount Knifeworks you can read about how rope may compare to animal hide.

http://www.seamountknifeworks.com/js/we ... e_test.pdf


CATRA has a correlation with rope cut testing but is more wearing on the edge due to the 5% silica abrasive in the card stock.

The testing is done to see how the STEEL stacks to other STEELS in controlled edge slicing to see what steels have more wear resistance than others.

Real world depends more on how the end user sharpened it and how they are using it and for what. Followed by a big list of other things. Geometry, HT, etc

Thank you! That is just what I am looking for. Hopefully Larrin also does sisal or rope cutting tests. I'd really like to know more.

It will be interesting, the CATRA card stock dulls the edges much than quality manilla rope however. Give that Phil Wilson article a good read.

SPY27 will be added later. It was a lot of work to get the 57 different conditions you see, the plan was to finish these ones first and add others later.

That's the fun of it is when you see the graph you want MORE! :D

But they take some time to make. Don't worry, there will be more.

[curlyhairedboy]

Larrin, thanks a bunch for this massive undertaking! Your efforts will do a lot to enlighten the enthusiast community. It's been said before, but it's worth repeating - we owe you!

:)

[Bloke]

Many Thanks Larrin!

Greatly appreciate your time and effort. :cool:

[Naperville]

It will be interesting, the CATRA card stock dulls the edges much than quality manilla rope however. Give that Phil Wilson article a good read.

SPY27 will be added later. It was a lot of work to get the 57 different conditions you see, the plan was to finish these ones first and add others later.

That's the fun of it is when you see the graph you want MORE! :D

But they take some time to make. Don't worry, there will be more.

I agree with you, this was a tremendous effort and I appreciate you and Larrin working on this.

I wish that I could go hunting and get a better feel for these steels in real world use. Cleaning a carcass is just what I need to do.

[krikun98]

Incredible amount of work! Thank you!

Would you consider re-testing M4 at a higher hardness?

[bearfacedkiller]

Awesome! So much work went into this. Thank you.

[Larrin]

Incredible amount of work! Thank you!

Would you consider re-testing M4 at a higher hardness?

I would consider it but it probably won’t make the rope of the priority list.

[JuPaul]

Larrin, any chance rex45 might be added at some point? Would you venture a guess as to where it'd fall given a similar hardness as the others in this test?

[Stuart Ackerman]

Hi Larrin
Many thanks for all the hard work!

Please send me your postal address via PM, if you want?

After the CV19 drama, and we can visit the post office again in NZ, I will send you a little something to play with?

[Larrin]

Larrin, any chance rex45 might be added at some point? Would you venture a guess as to where it'd fall given a similar hardness as the others in this test?

Rex45 would be in between M2 and M4 at the same hardness.

[Haunted House]

This is awesome! Thank you Larrin & Shawn (and of course Larrin’s wife!).

That S90v really put on show! I’ve long thought S90v was hot sh*t, I just didn’t realize how hot. Same for ZDP-189.

I think the biggest surprise to me was how well S30v did. I’m not a fan of it(I just don’t like the way it sharpens or feels) but those results are impressive.

Great job guys!

[JuPaul]

Larrin, any chance rex45 might be added at some point? Would you venture a guess as to where it'd fall given a similar hardness as the others in this test?

Rex45 would be in between M2 and M4 at the same hardness.

Thank you!

[Brock O Lee]

Thank you Larrin! Respect...

This body of work will become an important reference for future knife knuts.

And I agree with wrdwrght...

I shudder to think what it took for you and Shawn to obtain these data, but I’m glad you did.

And I’m especially grateful that you insisted on coupling edge-retention to toughness. Their combined effect and their more imponderable effects on each other are what make knives so intriguing to me.

Thanks, Larrin. I’ll be buying your book.

[JuPaul]

Once again my beloved CPM-Cruwear proved itself ... that's why I love this steel...almost perfect balance of properties ... and decent corrosion resistence.

Yep. Definitely an interesting conclusion from this data: "vanadium-alloyed powder metallurgy steels tend to have the best balance of toughness and edge retention such as CD#1/Z-Tuff, CPM-3V, CPM-CruWear, and CPM-10V."

[Brock O Lee]

One question Larrin... You listed steels like 3V, 4V, 10V etc. Were these the powder metal or ingot versions?

[Larrin]

One question Larrin... You listed steels like 3V, 4V, 10V etc. Were these the powder metal or ingot versions?

Those steels are only available as PM.

[Cycletroll]

My Goodness! What a tremendous amount of work!
Thanks so much Larrin and Shawn; this is an invaluable resource.