Please Tell Me About 15V

[Mrj]

I’ve used my Shaman 15v really hard. And it just keeps going.


Just a quick strop with diamond solution and back at it.

This edge has been through the wringer. Still hasn’t seen a stone. I approve! This is around a year of use.

[RugerNurse]

I’m hoping to get a manix LW in 15V. Seems like a great platform for a working knife and working steel

[Bouddha77]

When looking at Larrin’s page he gives 15v a rating for toughness of 3.5 similar to M390 and higher than Maxamet which receive a rating of 2.
But when looking at actual values
https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/09/28/ ... eat-treat/
15v toughness measured at a little higher than 65 HRC, it looks very close to Maxamet, I am confused.

[Evil D]

Eric had proposed in the meantime while we are waiting he would like to get the CPM 15V out to folks with my heat treatment which is quite an honor and I'm very thankful and grateful.

In hindsight, this was a very smart business decision. People have now had plenty of chances to get familiar with the steel and those who do seem to love it, and I think that's going to drive interest in any collaboration knife you do. Without this decision you'd have a new model which is sometimes hit or miss in popularity and in a steel that nobody is familiar with but now bringing out a colab model in this steel will stir up interest even before they see the design.

[Deadboxhero]

Eric had proposed in the meantime while we are waiting he would like to get the CPM 15V out to folks with my heat treatment which is quite an honor and I'm very thankful and grateful.

In hindsight, this was a very smart business decision. People have now had plenty of chances to get familiar with the steel and those who do seem to love it, and I think that's going to drive interest in any collaboration knife you do. Without this decision you'd have a new model which is sometimes hit or miss in popularity and in a steel that nobody is familiar with but now bringing out a colab model in this steel will stir up interest even before they see the design.

Well, it wasn't an ace in the hole by any means.

Giving something like 15V to the general public can be a complete disaster. That heat treatment had to work. There were no second chances.


After the Manix 2, I was told they would not likely do more, It was very expensive to grind and I was being very pedantic about the heat treatment.

However, that extra work and detail really paid off and Spyderco did an excellent job.

[Kleon]

Just got my Military 2 in 15v Shawn. Sure seems like a readily available spiritual successor to the OG Rex45 Millie we enjoyed. Should cut all day and be a joy to sharpen with your heat treat.

You and Sal and Eric and the Golden production crew knocked this one out of the park sir. I greatly appreciate it!

[Deadboxhero]

Just got my Military 2 in 15v Shawn. Sure seems like a readily available spiritual successor to the OG Rex45 Millie we enjoyed. Should cut all day and be a joy to sharpen with your heat treat.

You and Sal and Eric and the Golden production crew knocked this one out of the park sir. I greatly appreciate it!

Man, I'm stoked to hear that, you know this is really bringing back a lot of nostalgia from 8 years ago when a lot of us really wanted a Maxamet Military but it seemed like there were complications involved.

Maybe there was another steel that could bridge the gap?

Well, 8 years later, look at us now, I think our past selves would be happy to see this day.

Very cool.

[Kleon]

Yeah Shawn without you and a lot of brains and effort none of these awesome new 15v knives ever happen!

Great payoff for all your hard work sir.

[Deadboxhero]

Yeah Shawn without you and a lot of brains and effort none of these awesome new 15v knives ever happen!

Great payoff for all your hard work sir.

I appreciate that.

Again, none of this would have ever happened without Sal, Gail and Eric.

Spyderco is a very special knife company.



So rad, finally just finally.


The slicing beast hath cometh.

[Crox]

When looking at Larrin’s page he gives 15v a rating for toughness of 3.5 similar to M390 and higher than Maxamet which receive a rating of 2.
But when looking at actual values
https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/09/28/ ... eat-treat/
15v toughness measured at a little higher than 65 HRC, it looks very close to Maxamet, I am confused.

I was looking at this closer while I wait by the mailbox for my M2

It looks like the toughness test had an HRC of ~65.5 but the edge retention sample was ~63. It’s kind of easy to follow the trend line on edge retention to estimate how 65 would fare. But it’s less clear to me what the toughness would be at 63HRC. Maybe kind of flat like d2.

Do we know if these were done to BBB protocol?

Anyway, just an interesting note.

[Evil D]

@Deadboxhero What has your experience been with patinas and 15V?

So far I've cut meat and veggies and I see a grayish patina form, but it's so surface level that I can wipe it off with another veggie, for example if I cut cucumbers and wipe the blade dry, it leaves a noticable stain, but I can take a slice of cucumber and actually wipe that stain clean off, like it's just dried residue on the surface. I still can't tell if this is because I wiped it down with Tuff-Glide before I used it or if this steel is just more resistant to staining than something like K390.

[Deadboxhero]

@Deadboxhero What has your experience been with patinas and 15V?

So far I've cut meat and veggies and I see a grayish patina form, but it's so surface level that I can wipe it off with another veggie, for example if I cut cucumbers and wipe the blade dry, it leaves a noticable stain, but I can take a slice of cucumber and actually wipe that stain clean off, like it's just dried residue on the surface. I still can't tell if this is because I wiped it down with Tuff-Glide before I used it or if this steel is just more resistant to staining than something like K390.

I still get patina but not as intense as the Spyderco K390 and CPM M4.

[Bouddha77]

When looking at Larrin’s page he gives 15v a rating for toughness of 3.5 similar to M390 and higher than Maxamet which receive a rating of 2.
But when looking at actual values
https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/09/28/ ... eat-treat/
15v toughness measured at a little higher than 65 HRC, it looks very close to Maxamet, I am confused.

I was looking at this closer while I wait by the mailbox for my M2

It looks like the toughness test had an HRC of ~65.5 but the edge retention sample was ~63. It’s kind of easy to follow the trend line on edge retention to estimate how 65 would fare. But it’s less clear to me what the toughness would be at 63HRC. Maybe kind of flat like d2.

Do we know if these were done to BBB protocol?

Anyway, just an interesting note.

Very good question to which I am also interested to know as I am considering 15V purchase(s) but fear a little that it would be close in brittleness to Maxamet beause of the very high hardness.

[Cycletroll]

Don't think Maxamet will handle this

[Evil D]

Don't think Maxamet will handle this

Hmm... specifically how do, do you think edge damage or the blade actually breaks?

[Cycletroll]

Not sure I understand your question David?
I reference the video from Triple B because it exemplifies a level of toughness that I don't think Maxamet is capable of (at least at 67 HRC)