Ranking of Steels in Categories based on Edge Retention cutting 5/8" rope

martinsanders said:
Awesome. Thanks!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Quick teaser photo.

DSC_56331.JPG
 
What's going on with the grind, Jim? It looks like the maker beveled the primary twice? Looking forward to the review :thumbup:
 
Jim, your sharpening at 400 grit. A decent cutting edge but not so coarse. When sharpening more coarse at 100 grit the difference in greater cuts (fine (say 2K) to coarse) gets Huge ( a quantum leap) in favor of the coarse edge. Thanks for all the time and expense in cutting you do. DM
 
David Martin said:
Jim, your sharpening at 400 grit. A decent cutting edge but not so coarse. When sharpening more coarse at 100 grit the difference in greater cuts (fine (say 2K) to coarse) gets Huge ( a quantum leap) in favor of the coarse edge. Thanks for all the time and expense in cutting you do. DM
Click to expand...


Thanks David. :)
 
Awesome, Jim.
We are gonna have to offer up some 440a to test, so your wrists can take a rest:D
I have the baby brother to that Big Chris s125v, and it is very nice to put some numbers to my subjective experience.

So - where do we send rope donations? Really appreciate how much you add to this community.
 
foofie said:
Awesome, Jim.
We are gonna have to offer up some 440a to test, so your wrists can take a rest:D
I have the baby brother to that Big Chris s125v, and it is very nice to put some numbers to my subjective experience.

So - where do we send rope donations? Really appreciate how much you add to this community.
Click to expand...

Just send to my PP jankerson@nc.rr.com :)

Any help is much appreciated. :thumbup:

Can always use more rope donations. :)
 
Last edited:
Very nice!! Chris does such a great job!! When I have the chance I'm going to get one from him as well!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
CPM S125V - 2340 - Phil Wilson Bow River - 62.5 RC - .006" behind the edge
CPM S125V - 1960 - Big Chris Custom - 63.5 RC - .006 behind the edge

That's kind of interesting...
 
Zagorov said:
CPM S125V - 2340 - Phil Wilson Bow River - 62.5 RC - .006" behind the edge
CPM S125V - 1960 - Big Chris Custom - 63.5 RC - .006 behind the edge

That's kind of interesting...
Click to expand...

I find it very interesting as well.
It definitely shows that hardness is not everything and that Phil really does have an edge in the heat treating game.
This was a very apples to apples comparison and the only variable was heat treat from 2 different makers.
Jim and I talked quite a bit during the rope cutting process and he told me he could tell a difference in just the way the two knives cut.
As the cutting pressures increased I got to the point I was just hoping to hit 2000 cuts.
I have a couple ideas of what I can alter in my heat treat process in an effort to get a bump in performance.

I am looking forward to Jim adding his thoughts in here.
 
Big Chris said:
I find it very interesting as well.
It definitely shows that hardness is not everything and that Phil really does have an edge in the heat treating game.
This was a very apples to apples comparison and the only variable was heat treat from 2 different makers.
Jim and I talked quite a bit during the rope cutting process and he told me he could tell a difference in just the way the two knives cut.
As the cutting pressures increased I got to the point I was just hoping to hit 2000 cuts.
I have a couple ideas of what I can alter in my heat treat process in an effort to get a bump in performance.

I am looking forward to Jim adding his thoughts in here.
Click to expand...

Chris,

It was a process for sure as we talked about. :D

And like we talked about it wasn't ment to be a direct comparison between you and Phil. Both knives started out at the same measured sharpness and downforce pressure.

Like we talked about Phil's blade kept the bite while yours stayed sharp while feeling smoother, not as much bite.

At the end I could run my thumb down the edge of yours and it was still sharp enough to slice phone book paper. With Phil's there was no way I could run my thumb down the edge as it still had a lot of bite left.

Your knife performed excellent in this test, it's in a very narrow group performance wise and that is saying a lot, it takes one hell of a knife to perform at this level, everything has to be right. :thumbup:
 
Last edited:
Jim I agree with you that Chris' knife performed excellent and that it is a hell of a knife. My question is do you think in everyday use a difference in 380 cuts would even be noticeable one way or the other?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Now someone with a similar custom knife in S110V should get it sent to Mr. Ankerson and we'll see how S110V compares to S125V :)
 
martinsanders said:
Jim I agree with you that Chris' knife performed excellent and that it is a hell of a knife. My question is do you think in everyday use a difference in 380 cuts would even be noticeable one way or the other?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I doubt that most would, in that performance range they are very close really, takes one heck of a blade to reach that performance range.
 
Last edited:
Zagorov said:
Now someone with a similar custom knife in S110V should get it sent to Mr. Ankerson and we'll see how S110V compares to S125V :)
Click to expand...

From what I have seen the HT would have to be dead on and done by someone who really knows what they are doing to get close to that range.

Otherwise it will be in the next range down way below the top 3 blades.

Cut with some of Phil's knives in S110V and they are in the same performance range, but not in the list, same with my K294 blade of his.

We didn't want to load up the list with his knives.
 
Last edited:
Jim, I don't see M2 on your list. I did a few small test blades at 64/65 rc, they are quite small but very thinly ground. I did a very high austenitizing temperature on them.. 2192F . Maybe I could send a knife with a one way ticket later this summer?

matt
 
waterstoneblades said:
Jim, I don't see M2 on your list. I did a few small test blades at 64/65 rc, they are quite small but very thinly ground. I did a very high austenitizing temperature on them.. 2192F . Maybe I could send a knife with a one way ticket later this summer?

matt
Click to expand...


Matt,

How long are the blades?

I really need like 3.5" or longer to get an accurate reading.

Jim
 
Jim,
I have been experimenting with s110v and K390. To me on paper the S110v should last longer in a cutting test and I assumed this because of how much harder Niobium carbides are than Vanadium carbides but that is not what I have found exactly. K390 keeps a biting edge longer or coarser edge but the s110v keeps a working edge that is different and I assume this is the addition of Niobium coming out in the steel. Niobium carbides don't seem to play a major role till late in the cutting process, though I am sure they play some role in the cutting, and I assume this is were they play a major role due to their size and come into play because the larger vanadium carbides have come out of the matrix. The addition of wolfram to K390 seems to hold the vanadium carbides in its matrix in longer giving it the coarser edge for longer and thereby making it cut abrasive materials longer. I've yet to cut not so abrasive materials to this extent so I can not speak to the long term cutting abilities of these steels in that regard. My question is this; what has been your experience in comparison with these steels and if my conclusions are incorrect from my assumptions can you clarify what they are? Even if your experience has not been direct comparison cutting between these two steels please let me know what you have found. Thank you. The knives I used were within one point HRc by the same maker, and similar edge geometries and bevels as well as thickness behind the bevels and spines.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
martinsanders said:
Jim,
I have been experimenting with s110v and K390. To me on paper the S110v should last longer in a cutting test and I assumed this because of how much harder Niobium carbides are than Vanadium carbides but that is not what I have found exactly. K390 keeps a biting edge longer or coarser edge but the s110v keeps a working edge that is different and I assume this is the addition of Niobium coming out in the steel. Niobium carbides don't seem to play a major role till late in the cutting process, though I am sure they play some role in the cutting, and I assume this is were they play a major role due to their size and come into play because the larger vanadium carbides have come out of the matrix. The addition of wolfram to K390 seems to hold the vanadium carbides in its matrix in longer giving it the coarser edge for longer and thereby making it cut abrasive materials longer. I've yet to cut not so abrasive materials to this extent so I can not speak to the long term cutting abilities of these steels in that regard. My question is this; what has been your experience in comparison with these steels and if my conclusions are incorrect from my assumptions can you clarify what they are? Even if your experience has not been direct comparison cutting between these two steels please let me know what you have found. Thank you. The knives I used were within one point HRc by the same maker, and similar edge geometries and bevels as well as thickness behind the bevels and spines.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


From my info Niobium carbides aren't harder than Vanadium carbides.

From my own impressions they are basically in the same category given quality HT etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top