The "Ask Nathan a question" thread

I've searched but can't find the answer. What is the hardness of the FK2 hard and thin? And how thin is it.

The spine is the same thickness but the primary bevel is ground higher so it's thinner bte. Don't remember exactly but I don't think it's too much harder than the standard fk2, a point or two (61-62)? I'm sure uncle Matty will be around shortly to correct me. 😁

ETA, just realized this wasn't the random thought or fk2 threads... probably should've just let Nathan respond. Oh well.
 
Harder and thinner (thinner primary grinds, ran a little harder as a plate martensite) no charge. <--- this is not an upgrade and I do not recommend it for most users. The standard configuration is already harder and thinner than most similar knives. #badidea... quote from Nate in the pre-order thread...
 
Harder and thinner (thinner primary grinds, ran a little harder as a plate martensite) no charge. <--- this is not an upgrade and I do not recommend it for most users. The standard configuration is already harder and thinner than most similar knives. #badidea... quote from Nate in the pre-order thread...

The way I look at it is: if you like both the DEK1 and the standard FK, but you don't want to carry both, the hard and thin FK2 is your (or my :) ) knife. The swedge on my hard and thin FK2 follows the same idea. Not all knives need to be hammered into concrete :D

Here is Nathan in another thread:

The "hard thin" was a variation of the field knife that was run a little bit harder and a little bit thinner. despite being harder it does not have better edge retention, it just has a slightly different edge wear mechanism.

It is higher hardness not due to a lower tempering temperature but because it was austenitized in a manner to put more carbon into solution forming a plate martensite rather than a mix of plate and lath. This supports a thinner geometry.

It's a good knife for people who plan to use it as a skinning knife or other applications that won't see as much impact as the standard field knife will tolerate.

It is a relatively minor tweak, it is not a night and day difference, the two knives are very similar it's just a tweak for the special knife nuts that wanted it. Years ago the original OG field knife was heat treated this way.
 
Last edited:
The way I look at it is: if you like both the DEK1 and the standard FK, but you don't want to carry both, the hard and thin FK2 is your (or my :) ) knife. The swedge on my hard and thin FK2 follows the same idea. Not all knives need to be hammered into concrete :D

Here is Nathan in another thread:
If a situation arises that I'm am desperate enough to use a knife to bust through concrete I'll be OK with some damage:)
 
Nathan,
Any updates on the DEK3 and UF2 ?
I thought i saw either here or the random
Thought thread that you might be able to
Start on the UF2's and the 7 inch SDFK.
Now in October ? Is that still the plan ? So
Any update on the UF2 and the DEK3 would
Be awesome !... Thanks for your time !

Frc505 aka frank
 
Nathan,
Any updates on the DEK3 and UF2 ?
I thought i saw either here or the random
Thought thread that you might be able to
Start on the UF2's and the 7 inch SDFK.
Now in October ? Is that still the plan ? So
Any update on the UF2 and the DEK3 would
Be awesome !... Thanks for your time !

Frc505 aka frank
Yeah I'll get started on those in about 2 weeks
 
Also i had one question today and its about
AEB-L stainless steel and Nitro-V stainless
Steel ... Upon looking at their charts their
nearly Identical except that Nitro-V has
0.11% of nitrogen and 0.08 % of vanadium
Added to it and AEB-L doesn't have either
Of those but the rest is the same ... So from
What ive read some people say nitro-v is better
Then aeb-l but since you work with aeb-l and have a optimized heat treat for so in your opinion is Nitro-V better then AEB-L ? Or is it just different
Due to the nitrogen and vanadium ? Thanks for your time !

Frc505 aka FRANK
 
Also i had one question today and its about
AEB-L stainless steel and Nitro-V stainless
Steel ... Upon looking at their charts their
nearly Identical except that Nitro-V has
0.11% of nitrogen and 0.08 % of vanadium
Added to it and AEB-L doesn't have either
Of those but the rest is the same ... So from
What ive read some people say nitro-v is better
Then aeb-l but since you work with aeb-l and have a optimized heat treat for so in your opinion is Nitro-V better then AEB-L ? Or is it just different
Due to the nitrogen and vanadium ? Thanks for your time !

Frc505 aka FRANK

Here's an excerpt from a good response Nathan had earlier in the thread about AEB-L:

We don't make decisions of this nature based on cost. The cost of the raw materials amounts to a rounding-error in the cost of making a knife and is simply added to the cost of the knife. Nobody minds spending an extra 10-20 bucks to get the good stuff. For example, when we do use a less expensive material (AEBL for example) we discount the difference from the price of the work, but nobody is buying an AEBL knife to save a few bucks, it's because they want the properties of AEBL such as ease of sharpening, "stainlessness" and world class fine edge stability over the wear resistance and toughness of 3V.

Availability can be an issue. But I'm pretty hardheaded and if I want something I usually find a way to get it.
 
Also i had one question today and its about
AEB-L stainless steel and Nitro-V stainless
Steel ... Upon looking at their charts their
nearly Identical except that Nitro-V has
0.11% of nitrogen and 0.08 % of vanadium
Added to it and AEB-L doesn't have either
Of those but the rest is the same ... So from
What ive read some people say nitro-v is better
Then aeb-l but since you work with aeb-l and have a optimized heat treat for so in your opinion is Nitro-V better then AEB-L ? Or is it just different
Due to the nitrogen and vanadium ? Thanks for your time !

Frc505 aka FRANK

I love that CPK picked AEB-L as their stainless. Check-out it's toughness (what Nathan calls "world class fine edge stability") and comparison to Nitro-V here https://knifesteelnerds.com/2019

i-3pzf2KJ-M.jpg
 
Back
Top