Cru Forge V SK Wishes

Make good sense HK, to add a bit more I would like to have seen an S7 steel offered in a bigger blade like an 8.10 or 12 to let it's toughness really shine.
 
Psybull said:
Make good sense HK, to add a bit more I would like to have seen an S7 steel offered in a bigger blade like an 8.10 or 12 to let it's toughness really shine.
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S7 vs D3V side by side destruction test in a big chopper....... I'd watch that :D
 
The GSO-12 is a dedicated chopper so I suppose that going with the most shock resistant alloy makes some sense.
All the rest of the knives in the Survive lineup are more general purpose.
Who has experience with the previous S7 Survive knives?
 
Fancier said:
The GSO-12 is a dedicated chopper so I suppose that going with the most shock resistant alloy makes some sense.
All the rest of the knives in the Survive lineup are more general purpose.
Who has experience with the previous S7 Survive knives?
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IIRC, Survive! only ever released the 4.1 in S7 steel, calling it the SK4. They sold quite a few but you don't read much on the forums about them. Here is my video of the SK4 from awhile back:

[video=youtube;hj_1lrnQIkA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj_1lrnQIkA[/video]

The edge isn't as strong as the new CPM-3V or even the older 3V, it rolls more easily, but it is also really easy to re-sharpen or at least micro-bevel. While I never deliberately tried to induce corrosion, I had no problems with rusting on the uncoated edge. I am pretty sure that a vinegar bath would stain that edge PDQ *shrug* My main gripe with the SK4 is the sharper spine and jimping vs the older stone-washed models, the newer 'peened' models are pretty comparable on that front. I don't see an advantage to using this steel in such a small knife unless you're planning on beating it through rocks and concrete regularly (which I did not do), but I also didn't experience a disadvantage vs 1095 or SR101. Indeed, softer 1095 (e.g. ESEE, Ontario, etc.) would be an inferior choice, imho, except that it may be cheaper.
 
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I'd be curious to see how CFV would do in a chopper/machete. I believe it has a higher Rockwell than ESEE's 1095 but I also believe it's a bit tougher too even with a thinner blade angle.
 
ESEE's 1095 is way too soft IMO. According to Adam Desrosiers, Cru Forge should not be left any softer than the 59Rc that Dan Farr tempers it to and drives it though 10 penny nails with a forging hammer. Below that, it supposedly acts funny. In the past, I have left mine at 61Rc ,but have heard that Adam is making big chopping knives at 62-63 Rc and they pass his moose antler chopping test with flying colors. He bought a ton the stuff when it first came out.....literally. I may not remember correctly, but I think that he told me a few years ago that he bought 5000 pounds of the 1.25 inch round bar. That would be an entire ingot. The Alaskan he sells to guides love the stuff. It may have the same properties as steels like L6 in that it is not so sensitive to extreme cold. Some of us joke that Adam and Haley do not have to do cryo treatment because they can just throw the blades out into their front yard for half of the year. LOL
The original smelt was at least 40,000 pounds and a number of guys like me bought a couple of hundred pounds and others bought a lot more. The last 5000 pound ingot was bought by a BFC member who is a farrier and knife maker. If you see any stock thinner than 1/4, that is probably stuff that he had rolled. Once the current batch is gone, there is no more. It did not get picked up by Niagara after the Crucible bankruptcy. The thing about CFV is that it combines pretty good toughness with great abrasion resistance. I have heard some say that it is not quite as hard to hand sand as 3V, but having worked with both, I disagree. Yes, 3V has more vanadium, but you have to have "spare" carbon to lock up that vanadium into those wonderful little 70Rc + carbides and CFV has significantly more carbon than 3V. Of the ingot "carbon" tool steels, the ones with nice helping of the strong carbide formers vanadium and tungsten like CFV, Hitachi Blue, V-Toku2 and the German steels like 1.2519 and 1.2442 really shine at those higher hardness levels. I was told that for 1.2442, if you want to make a kitchen knife, take it up to 64Rc, but if you wanted to chop nails, you should leave it "soft" at 62Rc. Seems like CFV is the same. One crazy forumite ran it up to 65Rc for a slicer. ;)
OBX351 said:
I'd be curious to see how CFV would do in a chopper/machete. I believe it has a higher Rockwell than ESEE's 1095 but I also believe it's a bit tougher too even with a thinner blade angle.
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jdm61 said:
ESEE's 1095 is way too soft IMO. According to Adam Desrosiers, Cru Forge should not be left any softer than the 59Rc that Dan Farr tempers it to and drives it though 10 penny nails with a forging hammer. Below that, it supposedly acts funny. In the past, I have left mine at 61Rc ,but have heard that Adam is making big chopping knives at 62-63 Rc and they pass his moose antler chopping test with flying colors. He bought a ton the stuff when it first came out.....literally. I may not remember correctly, but I think that he told me a few years ago that he bought 5000 pounds of the 1.25 inch round bar. That would be an entire ingot. The Alaskan he sells to guides love the stuff. It may have the same properties as steels like L6 in that it is not so sensitive to extreme cold. Some of us joke that Adam and Haley do not have to do cryo treatment because they can just throw the blades out into their front yard for half of the year. LOL
The original smelt was at least 40,000 pounds and a number of guys like me bought a couple of hundred pounds and others bought a lot more. The last 5000 pound ingot was bought by a BFC member who is a farrier and knife maker. If you see any stock thinner than 1/4, that is probably stuff that he had rolled. Once the current batch is gone, there is no more. It did not get picked up by Niagara after the Crucible bankruptcy. The thing about CFV is that it combines pretty good toughness with great abrasion resistance. I have heard some say that it is not quite as hard to hand sand as 3V, but having worked with both, I disagree. Yes, 3V has more vanadium, but you have to have "spare" carbon to lock up that vanadium into those wonderful little 70Rc + carbides and CFV has significantly more carbon than 3V. Of the ingot "carbon" tool steels, the ones with nice helping of the strong carbide formers vanadium and tungsten like CFV, Hitachi Blue, V-Toku2 and the German steels like 1.2519 and 1.2442 really shine at those higher hardness levels. I was told that for 1.2442, if you want to make a kitchen knife, take it up to 64Rc, but if you wanted to chop nails, you should leave it "soft" at 62Rc. Seems like CFV is the same. One crazy forumite ran it up to 65Rc for a slicer. ;)
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Wait... so CruV is already on its way out?? :eek: That makes me all the more excited to own a knife of it.

Re crazy forumites running things extra hard, I keep a watch on bluntcut's videos and posts as he aims to get the hardest possible rockwell while maintaining a practical level of toughness. Choppers at 65 - 70 Rc? Yeah, he be crazy :D
 
Yep. They made that one batch around 2008-2009 and that was it. Crucible went under right after that so a lot of folks who would've been interested in the steel passed on it. Now it is kind of like the W2, 1086M, high grade 1 inc square 5160 and the old Schrade 1084 that guys like Don Hanson, Howard Clark, Karl Anderson and Aldo scored years ago. Everything W2'ish out there that isn't new smelt Aldo German W2 was probably bought from Don. Nowadays, most of substantial amounts of CFV is either in the hands of a handful of suppliers like Kelly Cupples, Mike Turner, Alpha, USA Knifemaker,etc, or knifemakers like who bought it early on. It just so happens that a couple of knife makers bought several thousand pounds each.
chiral.grolim said:
Wait... so CruV is already on its way out?? :eek: That makes me all the more excited to own a knife of it.

Re crazy forumites running things extra hard, I keep a watch on bluntcut's videos and posts as he aims to get the hardest possible rockwell while maintaining a practical level of toughness. Choppers at 65 - 70 Rc? Yeah, he be crazy :D
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