Spyderco Forums

I was holding my new green Para 2 and thought it seemed heavier than my satin black CPM S30V. I believe all the parts on these two knives are basically the same except the blade steel, right?
I know it cost more and the CTS 204p is supose to be a "better" steel. Is the CTS 204p more dense (heavier) than the CPM S30V?

Am I just awestruck or is,it really heavier?

It's probably the G10, if you have a newer model the edges are not contoured.

That an interesting point. I'll have to look at the two knives to compare. I'm hoping someone can weigh the two to see, and let me know. (I hoping I'm not going crazy too!)
I would think there isn't enough difference in the contents of those two alloys to make a perceivable difference (which would mean I am going crazy). Anyway let's see if some one could weigh the two knifes. My black satin Para2 was purchased in December 2013. So they are fairly current issued knives.
I just checked the G-10 scales and they look identicle.
Thanks...

Just an aside...the difference/lack of difference in weight, might have nothing to do with whether or not you are going crazy :eek:

I'll check when I get home tonight but I'm not expecting enough of a difference that I would be able to tell just by holding them.

The only way I can think there might be a noticeable weight difference between blades of two different steels would be if they were not finished to exactly the same thickness. Do you have a vernier caliper? Still, thickness and fiberglass content are more likely to differ between colors and cause the weight difference, assuming there actually is one. The other possibility would be differences in the skeletonization of the liners or some other internal change.

Strong-Dog wrote:It's probably the G10, if you have a newer model the edges are not contoured.

The Deacon wrote:The only way I can think there might be a noticeable weight difference between blades of two different steels would be if they were not finished to exactly the same thickness. Do you have a vernier caliper? Still, thickness and fiberglass content are more likely to differ between colors and cause the weight difference, assuming there actually is one. The other possibility would be differences in the skeletonization of the liners or some other internal change.

I agree - some variation in the G10 is probably more likely than a measurable weight difference between the blades, unless they got finished to noticeably different sizes (oppositie ends of the tolerance spectrum).

I'd have a hard time believing that contoured or not contoured edges would have any perceivable difference in the hand. The entire G10 scale weighs nearly nothing, you're talking about such a tiny amount of material that weighs so little. Why not just throw both knives on a scale and see what it says?

Sharpdressed man wrote:Is the CTS 204p more dense (heavier) than the CPM S30V?

No.

An extremely high alloy steel will be slightly more dense than a simple steel, but even high alloy steels are only going to be about 5% more dense. Those steels are very similar in composition so the densities will be within ~1% of each other.

I'm your density!

Camo Satin S30V = 107.8 grams

Green KW Sprint w/ CTS204P = 109.7 grams

I would be surprised if anybody could really tell the difference by holding them. I can't.

I also highly doubt I have sharpened that much off of my trusty S30V model.

I did swap the clip on my S30V model with a black one with a hole in it.

<2 grams? The lunar phase probably has is more detectable than that. :D

Slightly more seriously, I'm sure there's variation from knife to knife, but it's hard to imagine that it's measurable in the hand, at least absent physical changes (e.g., solid vs drilled liners; changes in scale materials).

gbelleh wrote:I'm your density!

Lol, nice BTTF reference!

My first job was slicing meat in a deli. I worked with people who could tell you how much .5/1/1.5/2/etc pounds weighed by holding it in their hand but not by the gram. No human is going to detect a weight difference of 2 grams. These are people who spent 8 hours a day estimating weight over and over. If you hold both and think you do it's probably in your head. To give an example of how little 2 grams weighs, some common items that weigh that much are a single paperclip and a $1 bill.

2 grams is about the weight of two standard paperclips...

TedP

SharpdM, you could easily find out if it's just the power of suggestion. Just keep your eyes closed and have someone repeatedly place one or the other in your palm and let you guess which it is.

When I got my tan Manix with skeletonized liners, I was amazed that I could easily feel the weight difference between it and my standard hollow ground black s30v model, about 3/4 oz, (~21 grams) on my old non-digital balance (~4.5oz vs 5.25oz).

To verify it before posting this, I got my wife to close her eyes, shuffle them around, then place one in my hand, then check and see if I got it right. I (also with eyes closed of course) got it right all 15 times in a row, even though I was a little uncertain when I got the black one four times in a row -- she got bored and quit after that :D