Year: 2020

Steel and Knife Properties

2020 in Review: Knife Steel Edition

Larrin

2020 had a lot going on, of course. But a lot of good came in the area of knife steel. Let’s go through some of the highlights.

New Steels

The big announcement in terms of new steels was the Spyderco-exclusive CPM SPY27. This steel was announced in January of this year, and I offered early analysis based on the released composition here: CPM SPY27 Analysis. That wasn’t the end of my SPY27 coverage, however, as I was able to get a bar from Spyderco and Niagara Specialty Metals and perform a range of experiments on it, including hardness, corrosion resistance, toughness, and microstructure evaluation. Read the results of my experiments here: SPY27 Testing. read more

Edge Retention, History - Articles - Books, Super Steels, Toughness

Vanadis 8 – Better than CPM-10V

Larrin

Thanks to Will and Justin Mann for becoming Knife Steel Nerds Patreon supporters!

My book Knife Engineering is available for Christmas and Hanukkah presents.

History of Vanadis 8

The history of Vanadis 8 goes back a lot further than just the steel itself, really we have to know the history of 10V to know all of the background that is relevant. You can read about CPM-10V in this article. CPM-10V is important because Vanadis 8 is intended as a replacement for CPM-10V, or at least for similar applications. CPM-10V was developed by Crucible in the late 70s, as the first powder metallurgy steel to utilize a microstructure made up of only vanadium carbide, as opposed to chromium and molybdenum/tungsten carbides. This gave 10V a combination of good toughness along with very high wear resistance from the ~10% vanadium and therefore ~17% vanadium carbide. read more

Corrosion Resistance, Edge Retention, Steel and Knife Properties, Super Steels, Toughness

CPM-S110V Steel – History and Properties

Larrin

Thanks to Aaron @ Gough Custom, Aaron McVay, Mark Scott, Jeffrey St. Claire, Grant Seim III, and saiiiiiii1 for becoming Knife Steel Nerds Patreon supporters!

I’m eventually going to stop plugging my book Knife Engineering in every new article, but that day is not today. Go buy one for yourself, and everyone you know, as a Christmas present. read more

History - Articles - Books, Steel and Knife Properties

Lost Knife Steels – Questek Ferrium M60S

Larrin

Thanks to Lukas Bell, John Miles, Miika Jussila, Johan van Zanten, Dirk Pinkerton, Robert S, and Joseph Albert Padia for becoming Knife Steel Nerds Patreon supporters!

This article has a moderate amount of background metallurgy information in it. I explain briefly the necessary background information and provide links to earlier articles with more complete explanations. However, to get a full picture of steel metallurgy and heat treating, the easiest way is to read my book Knife Engineering. read more

Carbides, Corrosion Resistance, Niobium-Alloyed, Nitrogen-alloyed, Powder Metallurgy, Steel and Knife Properties, Super Steels

What is the Future of Stainless Knife Steel Design?

Larrin

Thanks to Aram Compeau, Gordon Olafson, and John Walton for becoming Knife Steel Nerds Patreon supporters! I have an update on Patreon about the “rare earth” elements in AR-RPM9 steel.

I completed a minor revision to my new book Knife Engineering to correct a few typos. Some readers outside the USA also asked for more conversions from Fahrenheit than were present originally, so I incorporated both Celsius and Fahrenheit everywhere in the book in the text and tables, though some images and charts still have only one temperature scale or the other.  I wouldn’t say that the changes in the revision are big enough to buy a new one if you have it already, this is not a new edition, but if you haven’t purchased one yet this is as good a time as any. read more

Edge Retention, History - Articles - Books, Steel and Knife Properties

S90V and S125V Knife Steel – History, Properties, and How to Heat Treat

Larrin

Thanks to Gabe Newell, George Thorpe, Jason, Rogelio Escobedo, Wes Newman, and Wayne Sears for becoming Knife Steel Nerds Patreon supporters! On Patreon there is a new article exclusive to supporters about Artisan Cutlery’s exclusive steel AR-RPM9. The composition was recently announced so I analyzed the composition. read more