<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by GaKnife:
It is my understanding that the target specifications for the Stainless 3V, to be called S30V, are "tougher than A2 and more wear resistant than D2". That along with being stainless should make it a pretty appealing steel for most any application.
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If Crucible does indeed succeed in devising a steel that is tougher than A2 and more wear resistant than D2, and is at or beyond D2 in corrosion resistance, this stuff will become perhaps the best
balanced material for the widest range of knife uses around. It could be noticeably better than BG-42 all around.
In today's marketplace, you usually get 2 or 3 of the 4 traits you want:
Really tough & very good but not super edge holding without being stainless (3V, 52100, Vascowear).
Stainless and great edge holding with a tendency for some brittleness at high Rockwell numbers and not particularly tough(440V for sure, and 420V).
Stainless and semi-tough but with mediocre edge holding (420, 440A).
Super stainless & great edge retention but won't hold a razor edge for very long, and not exactly prybar tough, and super pricey (Stellite/Talonite).
S30V: Toughness of A2, edge retention of D2, and corrosion resistance. Now for the price...?
[This message has been edited by rdangerer (edited 04-19-2001).]