Even in small folders, I think a lot of people value hardness, toughness (and ease of sharpening) over abrasion resistance. I certainly prefer being able to achieve a thinner edge and a smoother edge.SpydieChef with magnacut would be great. I really like the knife and better edge retention would be welcomed. 3V in a small folder has always been a puzzle to me, given the available alternatives.
Sure, but if that is the case you would pick 4V, CPM-Cruwear, or MagnaCut over 3V. All of these are as tough or maybe tougher at higher hardness and achieve high hardness easier than 3V. MagnaCut also has the smallest carbides, so should have highest edge stability. So if you want thin, stable edges you would not pick 3V. MagnaCut also seems to be easier to grind than the others, time will tell, but might also be easier to sharpen.Even in small folders, I think a lot of people value hardness, toughness (and ease of sharpening) over abrasion resistance. I certainly prefer being able to achieve a thinner edge and a smoother edge.
That’s my voteNative Chief.
Or Military.
Sure, but if that is the case you would pick 4V, CPM-Cruwear, or MagnaCut over 3V. All of these are as tough or maybe tougher at higher hardness and achieve high hardness easier than 3V. MagnaCut also has the smallest carbides, so should have highest edge stability. So if you want thin, stable edges you would not pick 3V. MagnaCut also seems to be easier to grind than the others, time will tell, but might also be easier to sharpen.
3V is tougher at 60-61 HRC, I am not arguing that it is not. I am questioning the need for such toughness in a small knife and especially a small folder. A small knife is a cutter first and foremost, so you want as much cutting ability as possible this requires thin and stable edges. For that you want higher hardness, enough toughness at that hardness and because you have very little edge length, you want higher wear resistance. 3V will make an excellent knife, but to me for a small knife I would prefer the other steels mentioned. They are tough enough for small blades, get harder easier, so deform less and are more wear resistant, because of this edges last longer. Look at what the guys in cutting competitions do with 4V competition cutters, they could use 3V, but most don't, so even there 3V toughness is not necessary because you can do a lot with geometry to achieve more toughness. For me, for my uses a small blade in 4V/Cruwear/MagnaCut at 63-64RC is preferred to 3V at 60-61RC even though 3V blade will be at least twice as tough. In any case this thread is not about 3V.Except, from tests I've seen posted 4V/CPM Cruwear are not tougher than 3v....they are about 1/2 the toughness at the hardness they are run at...
So you are trading significant toughness for the bump in wear resistance.
Testing the Edge Retention of 48 Knife Steels - Knife Steel Nerds
I tested the edge retention of 48 knife steels using the same knife design and sharpening. Which steels cut the longest? Which are the most balanced?knifesteelnerds.com