And Ive done a lot of experimental work on knife steels where I feel more confident in my own ratings. There is a powder form, CPM-D2, and PSF27 is also very chemically similar. rust resistance.Best of all most knives made from this steel can be had for well under $75.In my opinion Sandvik 14c28n is a better overall steel than that of Aus8,420hc,or ANY of the . at least it has some vanadium over the 420hc. In general, higher carbon steels have higher edge retention but lower toughness. CPM 4V Spyderco offers this as the high-end steel for many of its evergreen blades, like the Paramilitary 2, Paramilitary 3, Manix 2, and Native 5. While 9Cr18MoV steel is highly corrosion resistant due to the addition of Cr, and Mo. 14C28N knife will dull faster, but it is easy to sharpen. Interesting. In all of the cases above, properties are greatly controlled by carbides. XHP is an exceptionally well-balanced steel with excellent all-around attributes. Deburring of edges often takes even longer than removing material to produce the edge. A cryo treatment and close temperature control is necessary to achieve those hardness levels. Below shows Vanax tempered at 400F on the left and 1000F on the right after 1% saltwater for 24 hours: There are many other ways in which knife steel performance can be reduced through heat treatment but I cant cover them all in this article so hopefully these illustrative examples will be enough. Several factors arent related to the steel you choose but seriously affect the nature of your knifes performance. How could it be? We looked at common steels used by popular knife brands to help you select the right material for your blade. Where did it come from? A new steel from Crucible, SPY27 launched in 2020 in the Spyderco Native 5and Para 3. That said, it's not as tough as many other steels and exponentially tougher to sharpen. Hello everyone I've been loking into twosun knives recently. Must-Have Bowie Knives for Your Collection, What is Micarta and What Makes It a Great Knife Handle, Top 8 Reasons Why Knives Make the Best Gifts, Pocket Clips: Carry Safely and Comfortably, Make a Knife Your Own with Accessories & Customization. The Complete Guide to Knife and Tool Steels - Heinnie Haynes On the spreadsheet, youve grouped AUS-8 and 8Cr13MoV. and yet millons of knives are being made out of 1.4116 (aisi 420mov?) Anthony Sculimbrene authors the blog EverydayCommentary.com. Should you continue to scroll further, you may find yourself lost in a seemingly endless list of knife steel wealth and knowledge. D2 Leek vs. 14C28N Random Leek | BladeForums.com 420HC, 420, and 5160 all offer off-the-charts toughness. 14c28n steel and D2 steel are both high-quality knife steels. D2 vs 8Cr13MoV Steel: Understanding The Differences And Which Is Better By that I dont mean that a better heat treatment is not possible, but that major mistakes in heat treating are avoided. . I guess the question is whether toughness increases faster than edge retention decreases. When we plot toughness vs edge retention on a log scale instead we get a straight line that is a better visualization of toughness differences. How long sharpen? blue steel And given the recipe, it has a low number of carbides, the extra-hard microcrystals in steel that provide the hardness necessary for a stable and sharp edge. The bump in hardness comes from precipitation of fine carbides in the steel, read an article I wrote on budget steels here, https://knifesteelnerds.com/2019/05/26/new-micrographs-of-42-knife-steels/, https://i0.wp.com/knifesteelnerds.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/stainless-toughness-10-19-21.jpg?w=757&ssl=1, https://knifesteelnerds.com/2019/10/14/corrosion-resistance-testing/, https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/03/02/cpm-spy27-experiments-toughness-corrosion-resistance-and-more/, https://knifesteelnerds.com/2018/12/03/cryogenic-part1/, https://knifesteelnerds.com/2018/12/10/cryogenic-processing-of-steel-part-2/, https://knifesteelnerds.com/2018/12/17/cryogenic-processing-of-steel-part-3/, The Pros And Cons Of Stainless Steel Copper And Aluminum Brewing Equipment SanctuaryBrewCo, https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/05/01/testing-the-edge-retention-of-48-knife-steels/. The 8Cr13MoV vs D2 debate. How would n680 compare to m690? The critical difference between these two sheets of steel is their corrosion resistance. Here its 8. CPM 154 Is 440A really that much better than 420HC, or have you found a narrower gap? If you need something that soaks up abuse, try 3V. These steels have sufficient toughness to handle thinner edge geometry. (I think the 420HC estimate in that post was based on simulation or computer modeling, since you didnt spray testing any of the 400 series.) Are you familiar with anything similar on the metallurgy/knife steel side of things? Let's compare 14c28n steel with other steels, and for this, I use four criteria; Edge Retention, Corrosion resistance, Ease of Sharpness, and Toughness and on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) let's see the performance of each steel. So setting edge geometry for the type of knife and intended use is very important. Also, if you want a fishing knife, 14c28n steel will survive better in wet areas than D2. Another common heat treating choice that is not even categorized as a mistake is tempering in the high temperature regime (~1000F) rather than the low temperature regime (~400F). Steel with high wear resistance is more costly to manufacture, as the knife company goes through more abrasives to grind the knives. They make excellent everyday carry steels, especially for light- and medium-duty tasks. The maximum edge retention available in this group is not particularly high because most of the wear resistance comes from iron carbide, also called cementite, which is the softest of the different carbide types. Each test is done with 3 or more specimens to get a good average. 14C28N steel is as a result of a more corrosion resistant version of the 13C26 steel. Below shows a comparison of carbide structure between D2 and CPM-D2, and then toughness measurements between the conventional and PM versions of CruWear, D2, and 154CM. You will get an ultra-sharp edge with 14C28N knives. Most of these steels are carbon steels, except for CPM MagnaCut (the fancy steel cooked up specifically for knives by Dr. Thomas), which has excellent corrosion resistance. 14c28n is the most popular material for the knife: stainless steel and made by the Swedish company. If you are a newbie to steel knives and the differences are not yet clear, come with us to the next section as we look into each knifes characteristics, pros, and cons. Elmax That way you can get into the steel ratings quickly. The most traditional models of pocket knives have different parts, such as the handle and cutting performance. Now that we know what each factor represents, we can see how the steels rank against one another. What would you rate the toughness of CPM-D2. This means consumers should be able to maintain these quality knives at home. The heat treatment techniques used by the manufacturer as well as the design of the blade itself play a huge role in the ultimate outcome of knife performance! List of blade materials - Wikipedia Below shows charts summarizing tests of different steels for the major categories discussed so far, low alloy steels, high alloy non-stainless steels, and stainless steels. Most edge retention tests isolate wear resistance or how long it takes abrasives to dull your edge in whatever youre cutting. Mostly it has been presented piecemeal with all of the studies that we have done on optimizing heat treatments of different steels like CPM-CruWear, AEB-L, 52100, etc. Is there some way we might predict the relative "effective toughness" of different steels at different hardness and at different edge angles? It richly deserves its reputation for high-quality gained over the years by Sandvik, a Swedish manufacturer of world-renowned steel. Its soft, with very low carbon content. The knives can be used in humid and wet environments without rusting. So the major tradeoff is in how much carbide you want in the steel for edge retention without dropping toughness too much for the intended knife and user. The excellent corrosion resistance properties of 14C28N are attributed to the high amounts of chromium in its composition. But it doesnt have great wear resistance and thus doesnt hold an edge particularly well. D2 steel is high carbon steel with no extra addition of Cr or Mo, that's why it is prone to corrosion. Blue Super and 1.2562 have higher edge retention but relatively low toughness. However, there are other factors. However, Kershaw asked Sandvik to make their 13C26 steel more resistant to corrosion, and the result was 14C28N. What makes 1.4116 such a bad performer in regards to toughness on par with ultra high carbide steel like S125V? It was originally developed for use as ball-bearing steel by NASA. 14C28N steel is known to offer the highest toughness levels out there. Rex 45 Is 14c28n A Good Knife Steel? [Complete Steel Guide] Thanks to its very high hardness (64-66 HRc compared to the average of 58-62 HRc), ZDP-189 can be ground thinner and sharpened less often. There you said 7.6 for 420HC. I like it. For example, increasing edge retention from Z-Tuff to 3V (100 mm in the CATRA test) led to a drop in over 10 ft-lbs, a similar drop is seen by going from 3V to CPM-CruWear. 14C28N steel also has excellent wear resistance due to its high chromium content. I measured corrosion resistance of a slightly lower carbon 420 here: https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/03/02/cpm-spy27-experiments-toughness-corrosion-resistance-and-more/. 14C28N Steel Review: What To Expect From This Popular Steel? - We Knives Its very hard, tough, and corrosion-resistant. Im a layman trying to understand what makes the best steel for my use. Fine-carbide knife steels. It has excellent edge retention, corrosion resistance, and ease of sharpening. We can predict edge retention of a steel within a relatively narrow band based on hardness and carbide volume. Pretty interesting that regrinding a knife you already have can seemingly take its performance to that of significantly better steels. Thanks. Most of these steels rely on particle metallurgy and are therefore more expensive. I was recommended the Rat 1 in D2 and I also found that I really like the design of the Ruike p135 and p128.