HAP 72 or CPM REX 121 Spydie

[MasterChiefPink]

What about a modified 15v? Say add tungsten and cobalt, and up the carbon a bit? Moly carbides much like vanadium, adds toughness and such, so a touch more. Think Maxamet but replace some of the tungsten with Vanadium? Custom hyper-steel?

[supracor]

What about a modified 15v? Say add tungsten and cobalt, and up the carbon a bit? Moly carbides much like vanadium, adds toughness and such, so a touch more. Think Maxamet but replace some of the tungsten with Vanadium? Custom hyper-steel?

if at Crucible they did so there is a reason.
there's a bunch of ultrahigh carbide alloys around, with no need to invent others.
if you want a maxamet plus moly and 12% vanadium there's the Erasteel ASP2080. It has also 16% cobalt.

[MasterChiefPink]

Too much cobalt pushes toughness down too far. Too much tungsten will do the same. The idea is maximum Vanadium carbides with only enough W & Co to bring the hardness to 70. 15v has room to go. In fact S30V has more carbides by volume then 15v. 16% cobalt is borderline tooling carbide, and minimizing Tungsten carbide formation is important. Moly will help both, and high carbon without going to far over is the tricky part.

[supracor]

There is no need to increase or change the % of elements to raise the rc; a base steel such as a W2 or a 52100 with certain ht cycles can reach 68/69 rc.
Ht charts are not gospel, they are made to have a relatively safe and always feasible process, but most of the steels you use, sometimes even the most basic ones can be brought to scary rc with some unconventional paths.

15v has the same carbon as rex 121, and also has 15% of V, 5% of Cr and 1.5% Mo.
Not only it can reach 70 rc, but it can also overcome them.

Molybdenum and Vanadium help toughness in tiny amounts in microalloyed steels.
Adding 10% of Mo or V to a steel does not help its toughness for sure.

[MasterChiefPink]

I do know that. And I did not expect 15v to reach 70+, hence the conversation. I want it to reach 70 comfortably. That being said, yes Mo and V do help toughness in small amounts, and there will be some which isn't consumed in carbides to still do so. Hence the playing with carbon % as the ballast for this. And we are talking max edge retention and hardness...which is what I focused on for this. I do believe we can get there with this. I know beaten horse syndrome; I know so much study has been done on steel and alloys...yet we still move forward. So, I like talking about it. And I appreciate your feedback. I would like to know what those unconventional HTs are for Rex121, Maxamet and Hap72, or ASP2080