Airlsee wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 10:42 pm
I want to try one of these out, but it seems that the edge is nerding beyond my obvious interpretation.
Shawn what is the ideal application of 15V in a pocket knife? Since I've had no experience with the steel, much less one with an ideal heat treat, why did you choose 15V to put your stamp on?
Well, its been no secret I've been a big huge fan of K390 and 10V over the years. I've also enjoyed Maxamet.
When I first looked at 15V several years ago it piqued my interest as perhaps a sleeper or a sweet spot, like the top end of the A11 type steels without going into Rex121/Maxamet territory.
The heat treatment from the data sheet yielded disappointing results at the knife edge so work was done to focus the attributes of the 15v towards knife use specifically to increase the edge stability and sharpenability compared to the data sheet heat treatment.
The ideal application is the same application you would use for steels like k390, 10V and Maxamet.
If you're using knives for cutting and they seem to be blunting smooth during your cutting task requiring you to stop and hone then steels like 15V synergize nicely in that role. If you're also doing a cutting task that requires slicing an elastic, medium density materials with draw cuts like animal hide and tissue the additional aggression at the edge does seem to help with this.
The 15V should fit into a nice sweet spot between the K390 and the Maxamet.
More edge holding than K390 but less toughness.
Less edge holding than Maxamet but more toughness.
I find steels such as K390, 10V, PMA11, Vanadis 10, Vanadis 8 and Vancron are in a really nice high strength and wear category which most people who like CPM M4 for will definitely like this range/class of steel.
Back when K390 was first coming out with Spyderco, people were very concerned about it not being tough enough and saying that CPM M4 was better overall due to fear of lack in durability in K390. However, we saw with hard use testing that K390 was basically an "M4 Killer" like Doc Dan said and that the decrease in toughness in real world wasn't going to be seen as much on a small knife because the added strength made up for any lack of toughness you would see at the edge.
As it turns out, resistance to deformation is incredibly crucial for a small knife and people are often confusing what the want in toughness with what they need in strength.
CPM 15V is basically the king of the 10V, K390 range of cold work PM tool steels in regards to wear resistance without moving into further trade-offs with Rex 121 and Maxamet.
-Shawn
