Hap-40 performance thread

[ChrisinHove]

I have been waiting for some sort of review ... now I need a HAP40 knife!

Thanks!!!

[awa54]

Nice write up. I'm really enjoying my Delica in HAP40 also, definitely a pocket laser.

Although after using mine on cardboard when I first got it I noticed it had a small chip in one spot, maybe due to a wire factory edge perhaps? Anyway I've used it further on more boxes and not had anymore chips appear so I'm sure after a sharpen it will be fine.

the way mine came out of the box it had two sections along the curve of the tip that were folded over, certainly acted like a wire edge... and after I resharpened it it hasn't shown any tendency to having a weak edge.

[abbazaba]

Now I'm dreaming of a HAP 40 Chaparral.

I'll eagerly await the HAP 40 Dragonfly, though.

x2

[Belasarius Jnr]

Great read, thanks Surfingringo, inspired me to give my month-old Endura it's first going over with a Sharpmaker. It has been the sharpest out-of-the-box knife for me in three years of buying knives and I've been using it mainly for food prep (fruits, veg, meat, fish), apart from some paper, cardboard, rope cuts when it first arrived. It was still super sharp when I set to sharpening, with perhaps some grab in trying to push-cut newspaper. I used Fine & Ulra-Fine at the 30 degrees on the bevel and 40 degrees Med, Fine, Utlra-Fine & light strop on the edge. Wowser, push-cuts straight into newspaper and slices diagonally through a broadsheet with a whisper, love it. Patina coming along nicely.

[i am travvy]

I'm wanting to pick up a delica but have a couple of questions..
1. How does hap40 compare to superblue?
2. Does it seem to want to bend?

I loved my superblue delica. It got super scary sharp very easily but mine seemed to have some flex/bend in it whenever I would "hard use" it. Such as cutting cardboard.

I'm also kind of waiting for the stretch to come out but I'm getting tempted with the delica.

[Surfingringo]

I'm wanting to pick up a delica but have a couple of questions..
1. How does hap40 compare to superblue?
2. Does it seem to want to bend?

I loved my superblue delica. It got super scary sharp very easily but mine seemed to have some flex/bend in it whenever I would "hard use" it. Such as cutting cardboard.

I'm also kind of waiting for the stretch to come out but I'm getting tempted with the delica.

Hey Travvy, the Delica is ground quite thin which makes it a helluva slicer but I'm sure it will flex if pushed hard. As far as hap40 compared to superblue, from what I've seen so far it sharpens up very much like SB but shows better edge retention.

[SolidState]

I've been using a Hap40 kitchen knife that I picked up from the Spyderco table at last year's OKCA. It's not a Spyderco, but it's a Japanese knife that I think they used to test the steel and edge retention because I got it for a ridiculously low price. After doing some online investigation, I found out it was made of Hap40. The thing has picked up a few rust spots, but it is easily the sharpest knife in my block. It takes a toothy edge, even off of relatively fine stones, and holds the edge for a long time.

I am very happy with the performance of the steel, and picked up a Delica. The delicas are lazer thin, so I wouldn't blast them through stuff, but mine has held up to lots of Christmas cardboard, and been just fine.

[awa54]

ugh, I'm a wreck as far as self control on knife purchases... but I think I'm in good company here

Ordered another Delica so that I can keep one close to factory grind and go to town on the second one. From what others have been saying I'm guessing that an aggressive edge thinning (down into the 25deg range, or possibly a back bevel thinning with a long convex taper?) is something that HAP40 can sustain as long as it isn't expected to cut very hard material after the regrind.

Once it's done I'll post some pics and opinions :D

PS does anyone know what hardness this run came in at? I'm guessing that it's lower than the Japanese kitchen knives which are all mid 60s... Did we ever have confirmation on the hardness in the SB sprint? that one also feels softer than in my blue steel kitchen blades.

[awa54]

The second HAP Delica is on its way, so I decided to skip waiting and re-bevel the current one now. A solid half hour with the water stones and a little finishing with the Spyderco XF bench stone and a final pass on a strop has yielded about as fierce an edge as I have witnessed on anything other than a Japanese kitchen knife or a straight razor. I had never tried whittling a hair before, but the Delica can certainly do it now :D

It remains to be seen how this grind holds up to regular use, but the way it felt on the stones, my money is on the edge being reasonably strong even at such a low a dps (it was all freehand, so I have no idea what the exact angle is).

by the way, my new shallower bevel doesn't look much wider than the factory bevel, that's because the original bevel was already at a pretty narrow total included angle, certainly narrower than any other Spyderco I own (except of course the Nilakka), though my Caly 3 and SB Manbug are both thinner behind the bevel.

[Holland]

Beautiful job David, that edge looks scary sharp!

[bearfacedkiller]

[Ankerson]

Finished testing the Endura in HAP40, I got 320 cuts on 5/8" rope, 400 grit finish, 15 DPS, was .024" behind the edge.

Right around S30V/S35VN performance at the same thickness behind the edge etc.

[Surfingringo]

Finished testing the Endura in HAP40, I got 320 cuts on 5/8" rope, 400 grit finish, 15 DPS, was .024" behind the edge.

Right around S30V/S35VN performance at the same thickness behind the edge etc.

Thanks for the work Jim. A bit less than what I expected but still a nice higher wear option to vg10. FWIW, they seem to have gone quite a bit thinner with the Delica in this run. I don't have calipers but comparing this knife to my .012" Bradley Flipper I would put my Hap40 Delica in the .014-.015" range. I imagine it will outcut the Endura by a fair margin.

[Ankerson]

Finished testing the Endura in HAP40, I got 320 cuts on 5/8" rope, 400 grit finish, 15 DPS, was .024" behind the edge.

Right around S30V/S35VN performance at the same thickness behind the edge etc.

Thanks for the work Jim. A bit less than what I expected but still a nice higher wear option to vg10. FWIW, they seem to have gone quite a bit thinner with the Delica in this run. I don't have calipers but comparing this knife to my .012" Bradley Flipper I would put my Hap40 Delica in the .014-.015" range. I imagine it will outcut the Endura by a fair margin.

It likely would if it's that thin. :D

Yes it's a nice upgrade to VG-10 for sure. :spyder:

S30V performance in a Japanese steel, not bad.

ZDP-189 Endura that I tested was 65 HRC so that's not really comparable, that did 420.....

[Holland]

Thanks for your test Jim, I also was expecting it to score higher

[Ankerson]

Thanks for your test Jim, I also was expecting it to score higher

It's a laminate so I am not sure what they had to do with it HT wise.

Not like I can pick up the phone and talk to the Japanese HT guys or anything to see what they had to do. LOL

That's way above my pay grade etc...

I just test and move to the next one.

[Tdog]

:spyder: Thanks Jim for taking the time to do this. Greatly appreciated. Are you planning to do testing on the Sprig? Take care

[Ankerson]

:spyder: Thanks Jim for taking the time to do this. Greatly appreciated. Are you planning to do testing on the Sprig? Take care

Don't have one to test yet.

[elena86]

I'm wanting to pick up a delica but have a couple of questions..
1. How does hap40 compare to superblue?
2. Does it seem to want to bend?

I loved my superblue delica. It got super scary sharp very easily but mine seemed to have some flex/bend in it whenever I would "hard use" it. Such as cutting cardboard.

I'm also kind of waiting for the stretch to come out but I'm getting tempted with the delica.

Hey Travvy, the Delica is ground quite thin which makes it a helluva slicer but I'm sure it will flex if pushed hard. As far as hap40 compared to superblue, from what I've seen so far it sharpens up very much like SB but shows better edge retention.

This is my first picture on this forum so you can imagine how much I love this baby.Never left my pocket since day one.Hap40 steel performes exactly how you described it Lance.

[Doc Dan]

Ok, ok. After seeing Darby post I went over to the Sharpmaker and made about 10 or 12 careful passes on the 40 degree micro bevel with the regular fine rods. Plucked a hair out of my head (which is usually a bit hard to whittle since it's so fine) and went to work. I had a very hard time getting this photo because every time I would touch the hair to the edge it would just break in half. No idea what this steel would do off the extra fine stones. This stuff gets every bit as sharp as super blue if not sharper.

That's sharp, no doubt about it.