M398 Steel Testing – Edge Retention, Toughness, and More

[Larrin]

New article summarizing a whole range of experiments I performed on the new Bohler M398 steel. I tested edge retention, toughness, corrosion resistance, heat treatment, and hardness. And I included some discussion on how it compares to other steels in its general category including S110V, S90V, S125V, S60V, and ZDP-189. https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/10/26/m398-steel-testing-edge-retention-toughness-and-more/

 

[mendezj]

Excellent, as always. You’re making an extraordinary contribution to the world of knives. Amazing. Thank you so much.

 

[c7m2p3]

Very interesting. I had no idea that M390 was a 30 year old steel either which probably says something about the knife market given how long it took to start making its way into production blades. I have yet to get a blade in S90V and the more I look at these cut and toughness tests the more this looks to be a real butter zone in the current market in terms of performance.

 

[marrenmiller]

"Toughness: None"

Great article. Thanks Larrin!

 

[jbmonkey]

as usual great article. thank you Sir.

 

[dirc]

thank you for this work, even though it's a niche subsection of the knife steel choices

I can't see this working out, in all honesty, unless they can make it for significantly less $ than other pm steels

 

[Larrin]

thank you for this work, even though it's a niche subsection of the knife steel choices

I can't see this working out, in all honesty, unless they can make it for significantly less $ than other pm steels

And cheap isn’t something the company has offered in the past.

 

[soc_monki]

Great article. Doesn't look like m398 would make an exceptional blade steel. I'm happy to stick with M390/20cv when it comes to stainless. Pretty easy to sharpen, wicked edge, and I have no problem with edge retention.

 

[dirc]

And cheap isn’t something the company has offered in the past.

very good point...
I realize my comment could have sounded snarky... I really just meant to say:
steel which gives up this much toughness for the sake of edge retention is not something I care to use
I like the ones which are good on both counts, I am not cutting hundreds of yards of leather a day (and if I was I might just do aeb-l at 62-63 ; p)

or, put another way, if I want edge retention & toughness, I'd use cpm-m4 or similar, by giving up the crazy high chrome you end up with a much better balance of performance... (and you don't need all that carbon) I'm cool with patina