Where are the Chaparral steels?

[Kleon]

I would vote for s90v or alternately Magnacut. I do believe a knife like this would be best in stainless steel even though I am a huge fan of the super tool steels in my larger Spydies.

[Ryder]

SPY27 can achieve a very fine, sharp edge and it achieves a nice hardness so that edge lasts. I agree that we definitely don’t want to go back to the soft, chippy, hard to remove the wire edge and sharpen easily S30v, never really liked it and when Reeves switched from BG42 many were inconsolable. K390 is superb, have three in that steel that never seems to loose its edge. Still for a slicer like the Chaparral XHP has served me very well.

As far as lengthening the blade on a Chaparral an entire inch? That seems a bit extreme. The knife is already just a touch smaller than a small Sebenza as you see here as it also sits next to the mighty Dragonfly. Half to three quarters of an inch would be a significant amount in my opinion. I really have never felt under-knifed with the Chaparral myself. I have three and the FRN clad lightweight is my favorite. It breaks in so smooth that it feels custom to me and at such a low price. It is finished like a jewel.

Click to enlarge

[mdmountainman]

Having just lost my Chaparral in s30v that I owned for years I am in search of a new one. I am not thrilled with what I have read about XHP and have been really wanting to try s90v or magnacut. So put one in the check box for wanting a regular sized Chaparral with one of those steels. I had CF scales on the last one and I am open to other scale types for some variety!

I do miss that knife.

[Michael Janich]

Dear mdmountainman:

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

Stay safe,

Mike

[mdmountainman]

Dear mdmountainman:

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

Stay safe,

Mike

Thank you

[R100]

Having just lost my Chaparral in s30v that I owned for years I am in search of a new one. I am not thrilled with what I have read about XHP and have been really wanting to try s90v or magnacut. So put one in the check box for wanting a regular sized Chaparral with one of those steels. I had CF scales on the last one and I am open to other scale types for some variety!

I do miss that knife.

I don't know what you've read about XHP but it is an excellent steel. I like S30V but much prefer XHP because it is has some of the good characteristics of tool steels while still being quite stainless. Compared with S30V it is tougher, easier to sharpen and has superior edge stability. This allows more acute edge angles without risk of damage. It is similar in overall edge retention but in my experience holds high levels of sharpness quite a bit longer. I find XHP also works well with a range of edge finishes whereas I find S30V disappointing with anything other than a coarse finish. A major benefit of XHP working well with a more polished finish is that you can maintain it a lot longer between sharpenings with a strop. I use 3 micron Gunny Juice on leather and find that works particularly well.

I'm open to other blade steels in the Chap but think XHP is an outstanding choice for the base steel. I really appreciate its use through many of the Taichung models.

Dan

[Wartstein]

Having just lost my Chaparral in s30v that I owned for years I am in search of a new one. I am not thrilled with what I have read about XHP and have been really wanting to try s90v or magnacut. So put one in the check box for wanting a regular sized Chaparral with one of those steels. I had CF scales on the last one and I am open to other scale types for some variety!

I do miss that knife.

Welcome!

... And I"d strongly recommend you get the serrated (FRN) Chap... (see here viewtopic.php?p=1794073#p1794073)

[JMM]

Having just lost my Chaparral in s30v that I owned for years I am in search of a new one. I am not thrilled with what I have read about XHP and have been really wanting to try s90v or magnacut. So put one in the check box for wanting a regular sized Chaparral with one of those steels. I had CF scales on the last one and I am open to other scale types for some variety!

I do miss that knife.

.


IMO XHP is a great steel!

Technically it is classified as stainless, but if you treat it like a tool steel instead you shouldn't have any problems.

(I 'treat' all my tool steels by keeping a super thin coat of mineral oil on the blade, it's cheap, food safe, doesn't go bad & is very easily sourced) -- I live where it's wet, humid or both all year and I have zero issues with any kind of rust/spots/corrosion with any of my XHP blades.

It is among the easiest steels to get wicked sharp, like up there with VG10 or SuperBlue. (It also responds really well to stropping)

Cheers,

John

[mdmountainman]

Having just lost my Chaparral in s30v that I owned for years I am in search of a new one. I am not thrilled with what I have read about XHP and have been really wanting to try s90v or magnacut. So put one in the check box for wanting a regular sized Chaparral with one of those steels. I had CF scales on the last one and I am open to other scale types for some variety!

I do miss that knife.

.


IMO XHP is a great steel!

Technically it is classified as stainless, but if you treat it like a tool steel instead you shouldn't have any problems.

(I 'treat' all my tool steels by keeping a super thin coat of mineral oil on the blade, it's cheap, food safe, doesn't go bad & is very easily sourced) -- I live where it's wet, humid or both all year and I have zero issues with any kind of rust/spots/corrosion with any of my XHP blades.

It is among the easiest steels to get wicked sharp, like up there with VG10 or SuperBlue. (It also responds really well to stropping)

Cheers,

John

Thanks for the replies. I know me. I just won’t baby it enough to oil it like that. I also use it for food stuff occasionally and wouldn’t want any sort of coating on the bare steel. I am sure the XHP is tough and sharp but I feel like the others would be more stainless with less care, just as sharp or sharper (I have venev diamond stones so sharpening isn’t difficult), and the toughness category is less important to me with this knife because it’s a slicer. I don’t beat on it.

It is true that the s30v never liked my strop so that part of XHP is interesting. .

Do magnacut (which sounds like the best of all) and s90v take well to a polished edge?

[Wartstein]

Thanks for the replies. I know me. I just won’t baby it enough to oil it like that. I also use it for food stuff occasionally and wouldn’t want any sort of coating on the bare steel. I am sure the XHP is tough and sharp but I feel like the others would be more stainless with less care, just as sharp or sharper (I have venev diamond stones so sharpening isn’t difficult), and the toughness category is less important to me with this knife because it’s a slicer. I don’t beat on it.

It is true that the s30v never liked my strop so that part of XHP is interesting. .

Do magnacut (which sounds like the best of all) and s90v take well to a polished edge?

I use my Chap for food prep occasionally (the thinness of the blade makes it really good for this, the shortness of it of course not so much), also on fruits and the like.

So far the blade only has developed some a bit darker areas, no spots as far as I can see (and those would not bother me at all too).

So if you don´t care for a completely new and shiny looking blade, the XHP should work just fine for food prep.

[JoviAl]

Having just lost my Chaparral in s30v that I owned for years I am in search of a new one. I am not thrilled with what I have read about XHP and have been really wanting to try s90v or magnacut. So put one in the check box for wanting a regular sized Chaparral with one of those steels. I had CF scales on the last one and I am open to other scale types for some variety!

I do miss that knife.

.


IMO XHP is a great steel!

Technically it is classified as stainless, but if you treat it like a tool steel instead you shouldn't have any problems.

(I 'treat' all my tool steels by keeping a super thin coat of mineral oil on the blade, it's cheap, food safe, doesn't go bad & is very easily sourced) -- I live where it's wet, humid or both all year and I have zero issues with any kind of rust/spots/corrosion with any of my XHP blades.

It is among the easiest steels to get wicked sharp, like up there with VG10 or SuperBlue. (It also responds really well to stropping)

Cheers,

John

Thanks for the replies. I know me. I just won’t baby it enough to oil it like that. I also use it for food stuff occasionally and wouldn’t want any sort of coating on the bare steel. I am sure the XHP is tough and sharp but I feel like the others would be more stainless with less care, just as sharp or sharper (I have venev diamond stones so sharpening isn’t difficult), and the toughness category is less important to me with this knife because it’s a slicer. I don’t beat on it.

It is true that the s30v never liked my strop so that part of XHP is interesting. .

Do magnacut (which sounds like the best of all) and s90v take well to a polished edge?

Magnacut and S90V both take a polished edge well, although for the former I personally prefer a fast and dirty dual grit edge. S90V gets nauseatingly sharp very easily.

[Flash]

Any chance of a Magnacut blade then?
Spy27 and S90V also good but mainly Magnacut.

Will it have yellow FRN?
Will it have balck DLC hardware?
When can we expect it to arrive at the shops?

[Wartstein]

Any chance of a Magnacut blade then?
Spy27 and S90V also good but mainly Magnacut.

Will it have yellow FRN?
Will it have balck DLC hardware?
When can we expect it to arrive at the shops?

Of course you´re talking about the yellow Magnacut SE XL Chap...

[Flash]

Any chance of a Magnacut blade then?
Spy27 and S90V also good but mainly Magnacut.

Will it have yellow FRN?
Will it have balck DLC hardware?
When can we expect it to arrive at the shops?

Of course you´re talking about the yellow Magnacut SE XL Chap...

Well That knife machine at Taichung will still be warm after making my normal-sized, normal-edged maggy chap, so we might as well get it to fire one of those off for you.

[Wartstein]

Well That knife machine at Taichung will still be warm after making my normal-sized, normal-edged maggy chap, so we might as well get it to fire one of those off for you.

My man!

... And we need "normal" and large, SE and PE of this knife in salty flavor indeed anyway...

[WilliamMunny]

I would not mind seeing a chap with a high wear steel, REX-121/Maxamet/15V/etc. Being small and thin it would lend itself to steels like that IMO.

[mdmountainman]

Well I decided not to wait. I’ve been carrying a very old delica with a bulky clip and just wanted my Chap back. I found a deal on a birds eye maple XHP chap so I went for it (looks great to me AND has a silver clip instead of black which I think will look better with khaki pants at the office).

Hopefully the XHP will perform as many of you on here suggest it will. Hopefully no rust or spotting.

[DansGearAddiction]

I think a Salt version makes the most sense. With that being said, everything, even outside of Spyderco, seems to be in Magnacut lately, so I'll be the contrarian and say LC200N since it's still a phenomenal steel

Other suggestions of K390 and Cru-wear are definitely interesting; I don't think we've ever seen either steel on a blade that thin before, would it have machining or production challenges, or even end result issues with fragility?

[Skywalker]

Other suggestions of K390 and Cru-wear are definitely interesting; I don't think we've ever seen either steel on a blade that thin before, would it have machining or production challenges, or even end result issues with fragility?

Recent Centofante CF Cruwear sprint was 2mm Cruwear.

[Mat_ski]

Other suggestions of K390 and Cru-wear are definitely interesting; I don't think we've ever seen either steel on a blade that thin before, would it have machining or production challenges, or even end result issues with fragility?

Recent Centofante CF Cruwear sprint was 2mm Cruwear.

I would be the first in line for chaparral in k390. D4 is 2.5 mm and it performs flawless with that steel. I have no doubt it would work with chaparral.