K720 vs 14C28N on Joker Knives

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xsaberx

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I'm considering a Joker knife and am trying to figure out if there is any benefit to K720 over 14C28N? I'm having a hard time figuring out if the K720 will have any benefit in edge retention, wear resistance, or toughness - will it even be equal in any of these regards? Obviously the 14C28N has much better corrosion resistance. If anyone has thoughts I'd love to hear.

Joker steel description:
Böhler K720 Carbon Steel steel with a hardness of 63 - 65 HRC
Sandvik 14C28N steel with a hardness of 58 - 60 HRC
 
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From personal experience, 14C28N (In a Ruike) is GREAT. I haven't really used my Douk in the steel yet, but my god, dude, I've tried to dull it lately, needlessly cutting cardboard over and over, doing all kinds of stuff and it won't budge.

Have not yet heard of K720, but K390 is supposed to be really good, trying the steel out now in a Spyderco Dragonfly.

Glad Joker is moving up from 440. I would love one of their Navaja knives.
 
The K720 is kind of Austrian analog to O1 and O2. If we use Larrin's chart, 14C28N should be better in all aspect.
Even though Joker are using better knife steel for some of their lines, they haven't move pass 440. The majority of their models are now using 1.4116 and 420 instead of 440. I checked their website, it says Mova and then you can see 1.4116 on the blade in the pictures. Their 440 knives are resold at a noticeable higher price than they used to.

P/s: I just noticed that it is Hashi above, I feel like I target reply him. No, I'm not.
 
Nah, man, you ain't target-replying anyone, you just replied to the thread. No worries. But, addressing you, do you use Joker knives? If so, how is the most important aspect on how the steel behaves, the heat treat? Are they good knives in your eyes, and with the higher price of hte 440, is one maybe better off going with the 14c28n? Haven't looked at their prices lately.
 

Detailed K720 Steel Review

K720 steel is a high carbon tool steel manufactured by Bohler Industries, its alloying composition is highly comparable to AISI O2 tool steel.
knifebasics.com knifebasics.com

I don't have any experience with Joker , but most reviews sound positive .

Either steel with good HT would be fine for any small knife . K720 maybe better for a big chopper / survival type , but is not stainless .
 
Welcome to the forums. You need to remove the links to amazon, that is a no no.

K720 is essentially O2 steel.

14C28N would be my choice. Great, all around steel.

As for toughness, edge retention, and corrosion resistance rankings, our own Larrin Larrin (Ph.d Metallurgy) has his site. This particular page is great for comparing steels. Bookmark it!

*Note These are Larrins rankings. Others have done rankings too. Not that other folks don't know what they are doing but I trust the guy with the Ph.d in Metallurgy.
** Also, not all steels are equal. Some companies do a better heat treat than others.

https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10...ness-edge-retention-and-corrosion-resistance/
 
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gazz98 said:
Welcome to the forums. You need to remove the links to amazon, that is a no no.

K720 is essentially O2 steel.

14C28N would be my choice. Great, all around steel.

As for toughness, edge retention, and corrosion resistance rankings, our own Larrin Larrin (Ph.d Metallurgy) has his site. This particular page is great for comparing steels. Bookmark it!

*Note These are Larrins rankings. Others have done rankings too. Not that other folks don't know what they are doing but I trust the guy with the Ph.d in Metallurgy.
** Also, not all steels are equal. Some companies do a better heat treat than others.

https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10...ness-edge-retention-and-corrosion-resistance/
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Thanks all

I removed the amazon links, sorry!

I was looking at the knifesteelnerds data, and assuming k720 (which is supposedly just like O2) behaves like O1, which shows it has less toughness and edge retention than 14C28N, so I asked here to see if anyone knows more... What I've read is that with the K720 you can do a higher heat treat without losing toughness - thus the 63-65, which significantly increases edge retention - but I don't know if this is true or what is really going on =)
 
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I believe you are correct. O1 and O2 are similar. I'm not sure how the higher Hc effects those numbers if any. Someone smarter than me will come along.
 
Hashishiin said:
Nah, man, you ain't target-replying anyone, you just replied to the thread. No worries. But, addressing you, do you use Joker knives? If so, how is the most important aspect on how the steel behaves, the heat treat? Are they good knives in your eyes, and with the higher price of hte 440, is one maybe better off going with the 14c28n? Haven't looked at their prices lately.
Click to expand...
No, I do not one, hence why I use 2nd source such as Larrin's website. Otherwise, I would give my proper experience. I have a spreadsheet of what I currently own, in my profile post.
Nevertheless, I made a bucket list 5 years of knives to get as souvenir for when I visit a country. I did research on the knife and culture of the few countries I have plan to visit, and Joker is my brand of choice for Spain over Muela, Aitor, Castillo, etc. and I'm confident that they are great knives. The cheaper 440 folders used to cost 25CA$ on Ebay are now about 50CA$ or the models are replaced with 1.4116/420 steel. The fixed blade 440 were at 60CA$, now they are at about the same price range as 14C28N at over 80CA$. Yes inflation, but that's still over 50% price increase. I'm considering to update my list.
 
Hi - Just wanted to check in to see if anyone else has particular experience with K720? Thanks
 
I've had great experience with 14c28n with other brands. It's a great steel.
No experience of the other.
 
I have a joker with the 02 type steel. its works fine easy to sharpen. can't say on toughness as its a smaller fixed blade maybe 4 inches plus, so im not doing things with it that
would need good toughness.
 
So I bought a Campero in both K720 and 14C28N. The first thing I'll say is that they feel different. The K720 is more scratchy, while the 14C28N is more smooth. I sharpened both identically with my worksharp with grinder to 20 degrees slight convex. I cut lots of sisal rope and wood and paper. I can say the K720 is slightly easier to sharpen and takes a major burr that is almost flaky. The 14C28N is also quite easy to sharpen. With wood there is something interesting about the K720, almost like it is sawing through the wood, it's very easy to do super fine feathers, slightly scratchy, but very easy to skate and control. The 14C28N seems more biting and smooth - harder to skate but better when digging in. I'm also comparing to 3V and MagnaCut (with bark rivers) and the 14C28N feels more like those, while the K720 is more gritty. I did not however fully convex out the secondary bevel to match the bark rivers, I might do that in the future. Both Jokers hold an edge quite well. Perhaps over time the K720 has a bit more tendency to have micro chips, while the 14C28N just gets more dull. Handle is very nice. blade grind out of the factory were pretty good with some inconsistencies, not immaculate, but great for the price. I cut a ton of rope with all 4 steels, and even shot a video but found it really hard to compare, keep it consistent, and to detect when changes were occurring, and really really tiring! I really can't say any of my testing is conclusive though.
 
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