Some comments on CPM-15V : light use only

[Cliff Stamp]

Some work done on 15V including background into on the blade :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/CPM-15V.html

The edge retention for push cutting is nothing that impressive, it seems on par with ATS-34. So it is sound, but not in line with the money you would pay for that kind of steel upgrade.

However when looked at from the point of view of slicing, a different picture is seen. The edge is *very* aggressive even at a high polish and it stays that way much longer than an ATS-34 blade with a similar edge angle and edge length.

Eli also made a gift of some 15V stock which I sent to Phil Wilson. Phil will be making some test blades out of it when he gets some free time.

Depending on what Phil finds I will probably have him make me a small utility blade. I will do some harder work with mine, I didn't want to do it with Eli's as when working with a new steel the results can not be easily bounded and I didn't want to blow a huge piece out of it or even worse send it back in pieces.

Comments would be welcome from anyone else who have used it.

-Cliff

[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 04-16-2001).]

 

[Bronco]

Thanks for the review, Cliff. Based on your experiences, would you now be inclined to assume that some of the initial sharpening difficulties reported by Elim were the result of an overly aggressive (relative to this particular steel) sharpening technique?

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Semper Fi

-Bill

 

[Burke]

Just a note on one of the charts Cliff; I think you got the edge angle and RC on the Strider switched (unless the blade is an inch thick and very soft

).

 

[The General]

So is it a good or a bad steel?

One word answer please

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Wayne.
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[Cliff Stamp]

Bill, high Vanadium steels are problematic to sharpen mainly because metal removal is minimal per stroke and they tend to burr readily when soft abrasives are used. Both of these can be frustrating and cause heavy pressure to be used which makes the problem worse which tends to increase the pressure used ... .

The easiest way to sharpen these steels is to use a high quality Diamond abrasive like DMT's products and use light passes, alternating strokes. The Diamond particles will cut through the blade, carbides and all. You want to use alternating strokes to mimimize burr formation as if it gets there removing it will be very difficult. Stropping is going to be a long process given the wear resistance of the steel.

Burke, thanks for the correction.

I also adjusted the cut ratios in the last table. I was only using the flat portion of the edge on the 15V blade so I normalized them to that edge length. I think the handle to blade angle would give it a slight increase in aggression, but not to the extent that I saw during cutting. It was definately more aggressive than the ATS-34 blade, and would start biting into the cord almost immediately.

Wayne, that question cannot be answered in a meaningful manner in one word.

-Cliff