Recommendation? Fillet knife

Making a thin filet knife, which stainless would you choose and why?

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Csalmon

Csalmon

Joined
Apr 23, 2016
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Making a thin filet knife, which stainless (see poll) would you choose and why? Which has the best edge retention with toughness/flexibility?
 
If it were for me, I'd choose the best corrosion resistance over the best wear resistance because of how I use it. I basically only use it a couple times a year, and sharpen it before the trip and forget about it until the next trip. So I think Nitro-V would make a nice one for me personally. Also, I'm usually a terrible fisherman so wear resistance has never been a problem :D
 
Custom makers have used CPM-S35VN and it's a very good choice .Find some users on the forum they'll tell you.
Flexibility depends NOT on alloy or hardness but on thickness !
CPM-S35VN and CPM-154 for best use should have proper cryogenic HT.
 
kuraki said:
If it were for me, I'd choose the best corrosion resistance over the best wear resistance because of how I use it. I basically only use it a couple times a year, and sharpen it before the trip and forget about it until the next trip. So I think Nitro-V would make a nice one for me personally. Also, I'm usually a terrible fisherman so wear resistance has never been a problem :D
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You earn points for saying nitro-V haha.
 
I have made a hundreds in CPM-154, but now use CPM-S35VN. It makes a really great fillet knife.
 
i like using the s35vn alright but much prefer making it out of aebl and sharpening aebl lol ...id pick aebl
 
I decided to go with CPM 154 a few years ago when making a fillet knife for use on my fishing boat in salt water. It is holding up well in a pretty harsh environment and edge holds up well- which turned out to be more important than I originally thought as it is a pain to sharpen on the boat after a days fishing.
 
I like AEB-L, and have made a dozen test fillet knives from it.

The main advantages of AEB-L are -
It is cheap,
It is easy to work and HT,
It takes a very sharp edge.

Problem in a fillet knife comes that the AEB-L edge does not last long. There is a reason that razor blades are disposable ... they dull fairly fast. (stainless razor blades are almost exclusively AEB-L) The very low angle edge needed for filleting just wears too fast.

S35VN gets Rc 61-62 in HT, gets very sharp in sharpening, and the edge lasts a long time. If you fillet fish, that is a big deal. The bigger the fish, the more it matters.
 
my order is XHP cpm154 aebl
XHP can be run (with cryo) all day at rc63 with no chippig issues less abused. cpm154 at rc62 is going to hold an edge about the same as XHP (to most users ) but it will also have ever so slightly more toothy edge (not much more ) in add aebl only by reputation as i have never used it never needed to. i am unsure if s35v gives much advantage over the others when you count into equation of is the user going to be the one sharpening (do they have DMT stones ?)
 
I usually use aeb-L for fillet knives. Could be down to edge geometry, but they hold an edge very well. I've got numerous full time fishing guides using them.
Another advantage over S35vn is the aeb-L is much easier to get a "sticky sharp" edge on, something that will stick into rockfish scales and pull them out of the way, instead of plowing between them. Don't get me wrong, I love S35vn. I've just had better luck (and feedback) with aeb-L for this application
 
butcher_block said:
my order is XHP cpm154 aebl
XHP can be run (with cryo) all day at rc63 with no chippig issues less abused. cpm154 at rc62 is going to hold an edge about the same as XHP (to most users ) but it will also have ever so slightly more toothy edge (not much more ) in add aebl only by reputation as i have never used it never needed to. i am unsure if s35v gives much advantage over the others when you count into equation of is the user going to be the one sharpening (do they have DMT stones ?)
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Cts-xhp really interests me I just don't know much about it.
 
HowAmI said:
What about Stellite 6k? Not exactly a steel but it is extremely corrosion resistant.
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I'd be worried about breakage. I haven't done a knife out of it (yet) but I've dealt with it some in the form of machining toolbits. At least the stellite I've seen isn't the most ductile. Sorta halfway between hss and tungsten carbide
 
Geoff Flato said:
I'd be worried about breakage. I haven't done a knife out of it (yet) but I've dealt with it some in the form of machining toolbits. At least the stellite I've seen isn't the most ductile. Sorta halfway between hss and tungsten carbide
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I wouldn't be worried about breakage. Phil Wilson has made filet knives from really hard steels (S90V & 10V IIRC), and although they have the perfect everything it goes to show it won't break. Also machining tool wear is different than cutting an animal up.
 
That's unfortunate.... Only other option I can think of would be ordering it directly from kennametal. I don't even want to know how much the minimum order on it would be...
 
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