14c28n is no joke!

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Macchina

Macchina

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This steel has been my minimum grade to buy for the last few years. I got the hankering for a Balisong recently and picked up a Kershaw Lucha. It was awesome and very sharp but the edge was uneven with some chatter marks on it.

So tonight I set about reprofiling it with my Worksharp Precision Adjust. Holy Cow! I matched the factory angle which was pretty blunt (23 degrees per side) and this has been the longest reprofiling in my 25 years of sharpening.

I have this steel on a couple other knives and it’s always been a better performer than it should be but I’m shocked at how wear resistant it is.

14c28n moved up a couple notches in my book tonight…


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I have also found 14C28N from Ruike and Civivi to have better edge retention than expected from tests published by Larrin Thomas at knifesteelnerds and Pete at Cedric&Ada. I recently got a couple knives with Magnacut and I should do some comparisons.
 
Renewed my interest in the steel. I have two, nice, gentleman folders by Ruike in the steel, gifted to me, and a Douk Douk, rumors about the steel soft, but will give it a fair shot as the standard carbon model is robust, thin package and love it and my K55 as beaters.
 
Different opinion :
Sorry , not impressing me ( 14c28n ) Maybe I just been unlucky and got all the bad 14c28n ?
Don't own a single Ruike that impresses ( 4 so far ) .. Just broke lose a new roll of 50 meters of rope ..
So will slice some more with the Ruike 801 .. ( Soon )
So far with all the 14c28n I own ( ?? ) 10 knives maybe or ? more maybe ...
Only a couple of TwoSun have performed . This steel has disappointed more than it has impressed . ( But that's just me ) As long as people are happy ! ( I guess )
 
old4570 said:
Different opinion :
Sorry , not impressing me ( 14c28n ) Maybe I just been unlucky and got all the bad 14c28n ?
Don't own a single Ruike that impresses ( 4 so far ) .. Just broke lose a new roll of 50 meters of rope ..
So will slice some more with the Ruike 801 .. ( Soon )
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Maybe it's a matter of different people cutting different things. I don't cut a lot of rope, and when I do cut rope, I use a serrated blade (sometimes 14C28N). The Ruikes that I have are plain-edge fixed blades that I use for miscellaneous farm chores. The Civivi is a folder with a combo blade which probably gets used most for opening my wife's ebay packages wrapped in a dozen layers of tape; it's also one of my favorite blades for cardboard. What puzzles me is that the Civivi's bevel is 25 degrees per side, which ought to mean poor edge retention.
 
Great steel and one of my favourite steels and I currently have knives with over 40 different steels. I cut paracord regularly but don't do much rope, no thick rope at all but for all other duties (food, wood etc...) on "wild camping" and EDC it's more than enough for my needs.
 
dogstar said:
Is 12C27 its ugly cousin, or not even in the same family?
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12C27 was probably developed before 13C26 and AEB-L according to Knife Steel Nerds. 13C26/AEB-L have better hardness potential. 14C28N was developed as a more stainless version of 13C26 by Sandvik and Kershaw.

Edit: 12C27, 13C26 and 14C28N are all Sandvik steels from the same family. (All fairly similar)
 
MolokaiRider said:
I have several, and so far they are good.

I have used them mostly on fish and food so far, not much wood.

I think they offer a lot of value for what you get.View attachment 2092423
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Wonderful. Thanks for that. 🍻

I'd been hearing some great things about 14C28N and just unboxed my first Joker (*a Nessmuk) a few weeks back. I have high hopes for it.
 
old4570 said:
12c27n is like 420 VS 440
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Nothing wrong with 12C27. The late Butch Winter (RIP 2004), who penned “The Steel Bin” column in Tactical Knives (RIP 2014) thought highly of 12C27. I saved his column, "12C27: A Steel That Gets No Respect" from a couple of decades ago. It is a fine-grained steel that, "properly heat-treated, is a steel to be reckoned with", Winter concluded. Sandvik says on its website, “12C27 is Sandvik's most well-rounded knife steel with excellent edge performance allowing razor sharpness, high hardness, exceptional toughness and good corrosion resistance. Continuous improvement over a period of 45 years has evolved it into the high performing steel grade it is today. The composition is tighter, the purity level is much higher and the fine carbide microstructure of today is far from how Sandvik 12C27 knife steel of the sixties looked. With a hardness range of 54-61 HRC, high toughness, scary sharpness and good corrosion resistance, Sandvik 12C27 is the recommended grade for hunting knives, pocket knives, camping knives, high-end chef's knives and tactical knives.”
 
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