Spyderco Forums

In one of his more recent posts, Sal touched on the possibility of upgrading the "Value Line's" blade steel. He mentioned using CTSBD1 or something along those lines...

The poll contains some of the steel possibilities (in my opinion) that Spyderco seems likely to do. Would you like to see a different steel than the current 8CR13MoV that is used in the Resilience, Tenacious, Persistence, and Ambitious?

S30V would be nice.

440c

O1 is a nonstarter since it isn't stainless ...

Gordon

Jeremy_A_Neel wrote:S30V would be nice.

Yeah it would! Be realistic though, that would add to the price and take away from the 'value' concept, believe me, if they could do that, I'd be 100% for it!!!

gaj999 wrote:O1 is a nonstarter since it isn't stainless ...

Gordon

True, , ,But man O1 is a sweet steel.

DeathBySnooSnoo wrote:440c

Oops... I should have put that one, I'd love to see 440C. It's on the Cat and Chicago though which are very similar to the Persistence and Ambitious.

SQSAR wrote:True, , ,But man O1 is a sweet steel.

Explain the reasons for its awesomeness please. I know it's basics but kinda am interested in more... I heard it's a hard steel but the edge only rolls (not chips) and it's not easy to rust.

kbrouwer wrote:Oops... I should have put that one, I'd love to see 440C. It's on the Cat and Chicago though which are very similar to the Persistence and Ambitious.

I like 440C quite a bit and would like to see it used more in knives again.

As much as I like O-1 I don't think it's practical in this application. I like the 8C, though BD-1 would be nice too.

Joe

DeathBySnooSnoo wrote:I like 440C quite a bit and would like to see it used more in knives again.

same

Considering price the 8CR13MoV steel is plenty sufficient. Upgrading the steel would likely mean upgrading the price too...which is antithetical to the Value Line concept IMO.

Now, if they wanted to offer both an 8CR13MoV "Value" version & an upgraded version that might be cool...as long as it was accompanied by an increase in build quality. Don't get me wrong, for the price the Value Line is great, but the build quality of my Tenacious and Resilience as compared to my Para2s is no contest. If you are going to upgrade the steel the build quality needs to be upgraded too. IMHO. Which means significant price increase too I am guessing.

I voted to keep the 8Cr13MoV. If another steel JUST AS GOOD or better could be used that wouldn't raise the price of a knife one penny I'd think it is ok. The one thing that should NEVER change (IMO) about the value line is the "value" part of the line. I like 8Cr13MoV as a blade steel for a reasonable price. I haven't tried the others so I can't comment or vote on them. So, for me to recommend changing anything is something I couldn't do. I like the value line as is. They are great quality compared to other knives I've used.

kbrouwer wrote:Oops... I should have put that one, I'd love to see 440C. It's on the Cat and Chicago though which are very similar to the Persistence and Ambitious.

I like 440C quite a bit and would like to see it used more in knives again.

kbrouwer wrote:Explain the reasons for its awesomeness please. I know it's basics but kinda am interested in more... I heard it's a hard steel but the edge only rolls (not chips) and it's not easy to rust.

Actually, O-1 will rust pretty quick on you if you aren't careful. I'm not a metallurgist but in my experience O-1's main virtues would be (1) it takes an edge very nicely without a lot of time and/or the need for highly specialized sharpening tools. If you are taking an O-1 knife to the field just throw a basic sharpening stone in your ruck and you are good to go. (2) It will hold that edge for a pretty good time compared to other more exotic steels; and yes, the edge does seem to roll rather than chip. (3) In being an amateur knife-maker I find it is relatively easy to work with and takes a very nice finish. Does it stand out for any one thing (No) and are there 'better' steels out there (Yes), but in a totality of circumstances it's just a well rounded steel that brings a lot of admirable qualities to the table.

The main reason to go with BD1 would be to say its a Chinese Spyderco with an American steel.

Perhaps some could tell a difference characteristically. I wouldn't be able to. I rather like 8Cr.

CTS-BD1 I absolutely love this steel.

440C would be awesome! I love this steel!

One of the things that makes the "Value Line" live up to its name is COST. Changing to a steel that is more expensive and/or more labor intensive to work with, would be counterproductive, IMHO. If you want better steel, there's the entire rest of the Spyderco lineup to choose from. Not to mention that I doubt very many, if any, could actually tell the difference between 8CR13MoV, AUS-8, BD-1, and 440C with equally good heat treats, if presented with 4 unmarked blades in those steels and given a week to play with them.

I' not familiar with CTS-BD1 so I voted AUS but what I really want is AUS-10.