Japanese exotic steels

I'd love to see another sprint run of the Dragonfly in Super Blue or Hap40 with but with Ti handles. So many people love that knife.
 
Gotta give a big :thumbup: to Sal on this! Top notch stuff right here! Talk about sweet customer input! As far as the exotic steels go, I have no particular one in mind really, but have loved them all so far. Always great to try a new one! I can assure you however, that any Stretch put out with a new steel is eagerly awaited by my pocket and I! :D
 
How about some knives in solid HAP40? I am really enjoying the HAP40 Delica and Endura--excellent all around performers and I seem to be able to get them very sharp without much effort. The edges hold up well. I think pure HAP40 would look very nice--less prone to scratching and easier than Superblue to maintain.
 
Barman1 said:
How about a run of Jester/Delica/Stretch/Endura in Cobalt Special with cobalt blue handles.
Cobalt Special is a good steel and has that buzzworthyness that inherently will attract interest.
And with cobalt handles would be a winner
And all in G-10 would be freaking epic!
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Brilliant! :applouse:
 
Jason,

:)

In my experience with Japanese knives the White Paper steel is noticably more resilient than Blue Paper steel. I see way more chipping and general edge damage on Blue steel than White steel. I was also told that white steel is generally tougher than blue steel
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You see many more examples of blue steel than I do obviously . . . still

Idn’O . . . I’m still stuck in the high end, hand tool, woodworker mind set.
From a woodworker dude's perspective, the Blue is supposed to be tougher and more wear resistant especially in wood with higher mineral contaminates; teak and purple heart for example.

This chisel in the photos bellow is Blue paper steel and is billed as superior for use in “Western” wood species.
The White paper steel is more for Japanese native wood species which tend to be less hard and less burl like than Western wood.

This chisel is the Sebenza of woodworking chisels, sort of, it isn’t the most expensive at a mere $550 a decade ago but it still gets the job done. When chiseling large dovetail joints in purple heart I experienced some edge rolling (more like edge denting) though it could have been mistaken for chipping if a person did not look at it with magnification . . . it was little edge dents. I took the sharpening bevel from 30° to 35° and all was good / no more edge deformation. For the most part this chisel is not struck with a mallet but driven by hand (two handed) for precision paring of the joint.

Big handle . . . ebony . . . the blade is ink pattern “damascus” over a solid layer of Blue steel.

The edge and flat back are kept mirror polished.





PS: ignore the metal working files; these are old photos.
The work bench in these photos is purple heart by the way and the chisel was used very heavily to construct the work bench.
 
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How about the Michael walker C22 in HAP40 or just bringing it back with Blackwood Carbon fiber and a good high end Japanese Steel(superblue/cowry/supergold/etc..)
 
I had a chance to use some 3V this year. I really enjoyed the steel and would love to see Spyderco use it in a folder (as well as a fixed blade). Is there a Japanese equivalent?
 
Wowbagger said:
Jason,

:)



You see many more examples of blue steel than I do obviously . . . still

Idn’O . . . I’m still stuck in the high end, hand tool, woodworker mind set.
From a woodworker dude's perspective, the Blue is supposed to be tougher and more wear resistant especially in wood with higher mineral contaminates; teak and purple heart for example.

This chisel in the photos bellow is Blue paper steel and is billed as superior for use in “Western” wood species.
The White paper steel is more for Japanese native wood species which tend to be less hard and less burl like than Western wood.

This chisel is the Sebenza of woodworking chisels, sort of, it isn’t the most expensive at a mere $550 a decade ago but it still gets the job done. When chiseling large dovetail joints in purple heart I experienced some edge rolling (more like edge denting) though it could have been mistaken for chipping if a person did not look at it with magnification . . . it was little edge dents. I took the sharpening bevel from 30° to 35° and all was good / no more edge deformation. For the most part this chisel is not struck with a mallet but driven by hand (two handed) for precision paring of the joint.

Big handle . . . ebony . . . the blade is ink pattern “damascus” over a solid layer of Blue steel.

The edge and flat back are kept mirror polished.





PS: ignore the metal working files; these are old photos.
The work bench in these photos is purple heart by the way and the chisel was used very heavily to construct the work bench.
Click to expand...

In general, the higher the alloy content the lower the toughness. Even Zknives mentions the lower toughness of blue steel.

Again, it's the reason White steel is so common with traditional single bevel knives, it's toughness at high hardness is much better. Think of it like 1095, even at high hardness 1095 is a very tough steel.

The main differences in the two come in the area of edge retention and edge type. For high refinement and sharpness that will last Shirogami is a far superior choice because of its low alloy content and purity. Blue steel has carbide forming elements so it's going to do much better with a coarse edge and will have edge characteristics of modern p.m. steels, i.e. Quick loss of high sharpness followed by a long lasting working edge.
 
laminated white #2 kitchen knives. Hap 40 is some good stuff, but Spyderco has already done some models in HAP 40.I suggest some models in White #2 laminated as it takes a very , very keen edge from my experiences.
 
I'd love something that takes a super keen edge like a white steel. Is white steel similar to 52100? I'd love it in a stretch or endura.

So far my keen edge King is the Cruwear so anything as good or better would be super.
 
Surfingringo said:
I had a chance to use some 3V this year. I really enjoyed the steel and would love to see Spyderco use it in a folder (as well as a fixed blade). Is there a Japanese equivalent?
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Did you ever get a Tuff...? They put 3V in that.
I have considered trying to thin mine out like Brock O Lee did...
Have you tried 4V?
 
salmonkiller said:
laminated white #2 kitchen knives. Hap 40 is some good stuff, but Spyderco has already done some models in HAP 40.I suggest some models in White #2 laminated as it takes a very , very keen edge from my experiences.
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If we get white steel it should be Shirogami 1 rather then 2
Gunsnknives said:
I'd love something that takes a super keen edge like a white steel. Is white steel similar to 52100? I'd love it in a stretch or endura.

So far my keen edge King is the Cruwear so anything as good or better would be super.
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White steel has the
Highest carbon with the least amount of of alloy this translates to taking the keeness edge of any steel I've used with the least amount of effort but doesn't have the wear resistance of other Steels

lizzeboof said:
I would love the hell out of a scarlet/plum coloured line in SG-2 or SRS-15.
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Srs-15?





Very cool looking stuff!


It's like a more refined, PM, stainless higher carbon M2 steel!

Should have similar attributes to HAP 40!

Meanwhile YXR7 is similar to SRS-15

But with less carbon and chromium it looks to be a much tougher steel.

Yxr7 is my bet to be the closest Japanese equivalent to 3v in toughness




Should sharpen better with less vanadium and chromium.

Looks like it relies on softer molybdenum carbides and has more tungsten then 3v.

I'm guessing 3v steel has YXR7 beat in wear resistance but should take a better edge; more responsive on abrasives
 
SpeedHoles said:
Did you ever get a Tuff...? They put 3V in that.
I have considered trying to thin mine out like Brock O Lee did...
Have you tried 4V?
Click to expand...

Nooo, I never got a tuff. It was a little out of my price range for a knife that I wanted more than I needed. I still kind of regret it though. I handled one right before they got discontinued and I really liked the knife! I have not tried 4v either, though it sounds interesting.
 
I bought the tuff mainly because it had 3v and it was an interesting design but I have never even used it but to cut some paper. 4v I've used cutting Sheetrock and it held up great. Can't wait to try the Maxamet mule, just need to get back to the house. Sucks being out here knowing I have knives in boxes waiting on me...
 
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