Corrosion Testing of 9 Stainless Knife Steels

Thanks, Larrin. Really appreciate that you share your work with us.

I was curious about Vanax SC, which you rate at 10.0 with LC200N. The composition numbers on Zknives is a little different than those that you use. Zknives has Vanax being significantly higher than LC200N in chromium, Mo and nitrogen, which makes me think that it is even better than LC200N at corrosion resistance.


For a follow-up study, it would be nice to see how corrosion affects the sharpness of an unused edge when stored in a humid space. It makes sense that steels that are super high in corrosion resistance would help keep a sharpened edge from degrading when not used over a long period. But I don't know how strong that effect would be.
 
Twindog said:
Thanks, Larrin. Really appreciate that you share your work with us.

I was curious about Vanax SC, which you rate at 10.0 with LC200N. The composition numbers on Zknives is a little different than those that you use. Zknives has Vanax being significantly higher than LC200N in chromium, Mo and nitrogen, which makes me think that it is even better than LC200N at corrosion resistance.
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As noted in the article, those are not composition numbers. They are estimates of Cr and Mo in solution from Thermodynamic software. LC200N has much less carbide than Vanax so more of its chromium is in solution.
 
I’ve always suspected XHP would rust rather easily even though it is considered a stainless steel. From my use I’ve noticed that it collected fingerprints as easily as some carbon steels, and it seemed to stained quickly as well.

Interesting read as always, thank you!
 
I'd love to see this test done on some more budget steels, including regular competitors for 14C28N. I like to see 8Cr13Mov in tests because it remains prolific under $50 and lots of people will have opportunity to use it. I've been especially interested in 9Cr18Mov and Acuto 440, which Civivi and Tangram have been using to good effect in that price range.
 
Chronovore said:
I'd love to see this test done on some more budget steels, including regular competitors for 14C28N. I like to see 8Cr13Mov in tests because it remains prolific under $50 and lots of people will have opportunity to use it. I've been especially interested in 9Cr18Mov and Acuto 440, which Civivi and Tangram have been using to good effect in that price range.
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8Cr13MoV isn't really available in small amounts in the USA as far as I know (as barstock). I have corrosion resistance ratings for 8Cr13MoV, AUS-8, AUS-6, 440A, 420, and 440C in the article based on the assumptions I laid out.
 
Larrin said:
8Cr13MoV isn't really available in small amounts in the USA as far as I know (as barstock). I have corrosion resistance ratings for 8Cr13MoV, AUS-8, AUS-6, 440A, 420, and 440C in the article based on the assumptions I laid out.
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Would I be right to guess that the 9Cr18Mov and Acuto 440 aren't readily available either? I'd be curious to see some projected results based on your process for those steels. Each seem to be standout performers for their price, at least when used by the companies mentioned.

Also, I was curious about 12C27. People seem to forget about that one now but it still gets used and still performs well in the budget arena.
 
Chronovore said:
Would I be right to guess that the 9Cr18Mov and Acuto 440 aren't readily available either? I'd be curious to see some projected results based on your process for those steels. Each seem to be standout performers for their price, at least when used by the companies mentioned.
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Those are both 440-series steels. Usually, generically calling it "440" refers to 440A. 9Cr18MoV would be 440B, which would be in between 440A and 440C, both in terms of hardness as well as corrosion resistance.
Also, I was curious about 12C27. People seem to forget about that one now but it still gets used and still performs well in the budget arena.
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12C27 has a bit more chromium in solution than AEB-L/13C26 so it would do a bit better. I'd have to run the numbers to see how much better. Edit: I got 12.65% Cr in solution which would give it a 7.6 rating, compared with 7.0 for AEB-L/13C26.
 
Larrin said:
Those are both 440-series steels. Usually, generically calling it "440" refers to 440A. 9Cr18MoV would be 440B, which would be in between 440A and 440C, both in terms of hardness as well as corrosion resistance.

12C27 has a bit more chromium in solution than AEB-L/13C26 so it would do a bit better. I'd have to run the numbers to see how much better. Edit: I got 12.65% Cr in solution which would give it a 7.6 rating, compared with 7.0 for AEB-L/13C26.
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I noticed the similarity when I compared 9Cr18Mov and Acuto 440 on ZKnives. I hadn't thought to look at 440B as well. That's interesting. Besides the "440" in Acuto 440, were these supposed to be improved versions of 440B? I'm curious as to how the slight differences will affect overall performance. One notable difference is the nickel in 9Cr18Mov. Another place I've seen this is in comparisons of 440A and 7Cr17Mov, where the latter's inclusion of nickel seems to be the main difference.

http://zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=440B,9Cr18MoV,acuto440&ni=,860,&hrn=1&gm=0

Thanks for crunching the numbers for 12C27. Anecdotes are awesome and all but it's nice to have numbers when discussing these things.
 
The European version of 440B is 1.4112 which is the same as the Acuto 440. It has a bit higher Mo and a pinch of V. I wouldn’t get too excited about a huge improvement in properties. The Ni you noted in the other grade is likely a maximum. Recycled steel always has a little nickel in it.
 
Larrin said:
The European version of 440B is 1.4112 which is the same as the Acuto 440. It has a bit higher Mo and a pinch of V. I wouldn’t get too excited about a huge improvement in properties. The Ni you noted in the other grade is likely a maximum. Recycled steel always has a little nickel in it.
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Forgive me but you are blowing my mind a little here.

http://zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=7cr17mov,9Cr18MoV&ni=,860&hrn=1&gm=0

According to Zknives, both 7Cr17Mov and 9Cr18Mov have 0.60% Nickel. In the data table below the graph, some elemental values are given as ranges. (The graph does show the maximum values in those cases and I'm guessing that could be misleading for certain visual comparisons, like 8Cr13Mov and 8Cr14Mov.) However, the nickel value is not given as a range. Is that a customary listing or just assumed to be a maximum? Also, are you saying that it could just be a byproduct of recycling as opposed to a purposeful ingredient? Not seeing it listed for the Acuto 440, is this is a case of the same recipe by a different process?

I tried looking up 1.4112 on Zknives but it defaulted to "W-Nr 1.4112". Based on the name and inclusions of Tungsten and Copper, I'm guessing that's a different steel. :eek: For the same reason I don't see 1.4112 on BladeHQ's advanced search, I'm guessing it isn't in the Zknives database by that name.
 
Chronovore said:
Forgive me but you are blowing my mind a little here.

http://zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=7cr17mov,9Cr18MoV&ni=,860&hrn=1&gm=0

According to Zknives, both 7Cr17Mov and 9Cr18Mov have 0.60% Nickel. In the data table below the graph, some elemental values are given as ranges. (The graph does show the maximum values in those cases and I'm guessing that could be misleading for certain visual comparisons, like 8Cr13Mov and 8Cr14Mov.) However, the nickel value is not given as a range. Is that a customary listing or just assumed to be a maximum? Also, are you saying that it could just be a byproduct of recycling as opposed to a purposeful ingredient? Not seeing it listed for the Acuto 440, is this is a case of the same recipe by a different process?

I tried looking up 1.4112 on Zknives but it defaulted to "W-Nr 1.4112". Based on the name and inclusions of Tungsten and Copper, I'm guessing that's a different steel. :eek: For the same reason I don't see 1.4112 on BladeHQ's advanced search, I'm guessing it isn't in the Zknives database by that name.
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The zknives database is not perfect. It is a guy trying his best to take datasheets and put it into a useful form. And in some cases the datasheets aren't clear in the first place.
 
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