hugofeynman
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Hello!
Didn’t have much time to use it, I’m afraid, unfortunately I’m more a knife collector than a user, but if I had to pick only one steel it would be Vanadis 4 extra, for sure!
Ranking of Steels in Categories based on Edge Retention cutting 5/8" rope
- Thread starter Ankerson
- Start date
Didn’t have much time to use it, I’m afraid, unfortunately I’m more a knife collector than a user, but if I had to pick only one steel it would be Vanadis 4 extra, for sure!
I don't know if anyone has got back to you on tungsten carbide yet, it's only been 8 years. Currently Sandrin Knives makes a few, I own this one, https://usa.sandrinknives.com/products/the-tck. It's stupid sharp (read, shaves words off a paper), and has been for all of 3 months now. I am a machinist and work with cabide all the time, it chips pretty dang easy but will stay sharp forever. It's bloodly h*ll to sharpen though. Haven't had to touch the tck yet, and they will sell a blade for $100 so it probably still sucks.The simplified answer; USE.
Seriously, This gets even more interesting when you guys bring up "Tungsten Carbide." I have never heard of that term being used for knife steel before, but it sounds mighty interesting. Are there any commercially manufactured blades that you could point me to?
I'm guessing it rates way up there for edge retention?
As an aside, I love the old Schrade USA knives, how would their high carbon blades rate against today's modern steels? Thanks.
-Bruce
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Shoot, I forgot I even asked that question. Thanks for the reply though. Interesting little knife you have there.
Thanks, I've been lurking for a while, I registed to answer your question. It certainly is a little knife, I mostly use it as a dresser. I'm looking at a fixed blade from them, but can't pull the trigger on a $1,700+ knife yet; at least not from them. I have only made it to page 51 on this thread, so I don't know if he is still doing it, or if anyone's offered, and it is a little short and probably too thin; but I would be willing to loan it and few others if he want's them. Kershaw: CTS 204P, S35VN, Asheville Steel: CTS 40CP, Southern Grind: S90V, 8670 (the 8670 is probably too thick), Sandrin Knives: Tungsten Carbide, presumably at HRC 71.
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Well SHOOT, thanks for the effort.
A $1700. knife? That's a bit spendy for most folk. As far as Mr Ankerson goes, I haven't heard a peep in quite a while. I think I remember him saying he was going through some sort of health issues? I hope he's alright.The TCK is their cheepo at only $295 (I got mine for $200). They make knives that go clear up to $3000. I'm young and have money to burn. I have over 2k worth of knives sitting next to me right now.
In my living room.
I hope he's doing okay too. This thread is really an impressive piece of work.
In my living room.
I hope he's doing okay too. This thread is really an impressive piece of work.
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_Slick...On the TCK they don’t list the HRC like they do on all the rest so I wanted to know if you knew what they heat treated it to? Thank you!!
Sorry, I honestly don't know, hence "HRC 71 presumably". I would doubt it is more than 2 points softer but who really knows? We have a set of hardness files at work but the harder you get the less well they seem to work. And they probably aren't much closer than +- 2 points anyway. If you or someone else knows of a good place to get knives hardness tested I'd be interested to see what most of my knives actually are. Definitaly every knife I listed anyway.
Ankerson
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Well SHOOT, thanks for the effort.
I am OK.
My health issues have stopped me from doing the type of work I was used to however.
As far as the thread goes I have taken a break from testing for now.
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Well, good to see you're still kicking. Yeah, time marches on, and we all start feeling the affects.I am OK.
My health issues have stopped me from doing the type of work I was used to however.
As far as the thread goes I have taken a break from testing for now.
captjlw
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I can relate to unexpected medical crap changing your life. Medical glitches certainly changed mine. Hopefully your previous "day job" was something that will not be missed terribly and your new reality will evolve into a better life than before. Selfishly I hope you will pick back up your testing and posting as these are valued by many here on the forum and have been greatly missed. It must take a considerable effort to run a blade through your tests and I for one appreciate that effort and reference your data frequently. One test result was the final deciding factor in my purchasing a very nice custom knife from "Big Chris".
Thank You for your tireless efforts for this forum and the valuable data produced. If you are unable to maintain testing for this thread, we the members will understand. Just know that you have left an indelible mark here, elevating the quality of content for users for many years to come.
Thank You for your tireless efforts for this forum and the valuable data produced. If you are unable to maintain testing for this thread, we the members will understand. Just know that you have left an indelible mark here, elevating the quality of content for users for many years to come.
Ankerson
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I can still test knives, I am just taking a break from it for now.
Also running out of steels to test.
captjlw
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Jim I have a Creely Blades Mako in CPM REX121 at 69hrc scheduled for delivery in November. If you have an interest in giving it a run I am willing to loan it. Other less sophisticated tests have it neck and neck with Maxamet but I don't think they had the consistency of your methods. High wear resistance is a given with REX121 but I doubt it has the strength and toughness to make it a very useful all around blade steel. But hey, I have 3v, m390, and m4 for that.I can still test knives, I am just taking a break from it for now.
Also running out of steels to test.
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I can still test knives, I am just taking a break from it for now.
Also running out of steels to test.
I’m curious how the Boye’s boat knife would do. It has a blade made from dendritic cobalt. Curious about those tungsten carbide blades.
Ankerson
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Hey, I'll buy one for __=<$500. They look pretty good. I'm well passed due on adding to my collection (addiction/obsession/money hole) anyway. I'd want a fixed blade though, do you think the Basic 3 will work? (https://www.boyeknives.com/pages/boye-cobalt-basic-3)
Honestly, I think it is probably too thick. (Still probably going to buy one. (And maybe a folder.)) I assume that -"Flat profile (1/4" thick) for easy carry"- means the spine is .250" which according to one of Ankerson's posts (if I remember right) is around .100 too thick to make the 15-16lbs of pressure start point, although it probably depends a lot more on the thickness directly behind the edge.
I also don't see a spec for the chef's knife spine thickness, and the blade is 6", and $600 is a little more than I'd really want to spend on that one.
And it looks like all their folders have serrations. Which I believe is also a non-starter for this test.
But if you all have other good looking knives in interesting steels you need someone to buy to test... I got the dough, and a certain lack of self-discipline when it comes to throwing money at knives.
P.S.
Ankerson (I know you've been asked a hundred times, I could go look it up, and I'm lazy) where do you get your knives hardness tested? And would you be interested in anything I listed?
Last edited:
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If you’re truly interested send Boye an email he does custom versions of his folders. He can also give you any info like how thick the blade behind the edge it.
Apparently he is quite proud of his hollow grind. He claims that most hollow grinds suddenly bulge out just before the very edge. You can feel it by pinching a hollow ground knife blade between your thumb and forefinger and then dragging your fingers down the blade and over the edge. (Dragging from the direction of the spine to the edge)
On almost every hollow ground knife you will feel the blade bulges out a little bit just before the edge slips out of your fingers. This is due to the fact that hollow grinds tend to be done with a circular wheel on each side of the blade. If we look at these two OO’s we could imagine they are the circular grinding wheels. Boye does his hollow grind so the edge would be right at the part where the two OO’s touch, exactly 3 o clock on the left O and 9 o clock on the right where the edge would be the thinnest.
Most knives that are hollow ground would have the edge just a tiny bit lower on those two OO’s. Past 3 and 9 oclock the space between the wheels starts to widen. That is why on most hollow ground knives you can feel the blade bulge abit thicker just as you drag your pinched fingers down from the spine and over the edge. Boye’s knives don’t have this bulge.
Also he claims his knive are very easy to sharpen because the cobalt matrix the carbides sit in sharpens easily and it is the carbides in that cut.
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I recently noticed N690 was in the original list by category but missed the toothy edged testing.Also running out of steels to test.
From my use (not testing) it is way better than I thought. I thought it was going to be a slim step up from a plain edged H1. Sharpens surprisingly well too as far as releasing the bur.
Ankerson
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I did test N690 awhile back, just never added it to the list (Tested before I started the coarse edge section, was tested at 600 grit).
Yes, it does very well, excellent steel.
I can still test knives, I am just taking a break from it for now.
Also running out of steels to test.
Glad to hear it. Your contributions to the knife enthusiast community are greatly appreciated. Any additions you see fit to make in the future will be welcome.
All the best.