What a Steel! Part 1 - Crucible Industries, LLC

Premium steels are revolutionizing the knife industry.  When premium steels are referred to, most often it is in reference to a high performance steel that maintains a cutting edge somewhere along the lines of forever.  Okay, forever is really stretching the truth quite a bit, but for those out there that don't often use a pocket knife, or a hunting knife, the possibility of literally going years between sharpening is possible.  Steel producers from all over the world are constantly challenging themselves to upgrade, not just out of competition, but because of demand.  Who creates this demand?  We (consumers) do.  For those out there that consider themselves steel junkies and are always looking at the latest and greatest, the mere thought of Spyderco releasing a knife with a blade in Crucible Industries CPM-S90V® stainless steel, gets the heart pumping and leads us to empty out the piggy banks and play the part of a laboratory experiment for little known drug companies for a few extra dollars so we can afford to add yet another knife to our collection.

Crucible Industries is headquartered in Syracuse, New York and produces some of the most popular and finest knife steels in the United States.  Crucible has been doing so since 1876 with roots going back to England a hundred years earlier.  With over 1000 patents, Crucible is a leader in the steel industry, not just for knives, but creating steel for just about any specialty and everyday use.  Crucible's premier line of steels are known as Crucible Particle Metallurgy®, or CPM® as it is most commonly referred to and are best known for their wear and corrosion resistance, toughness and their ease of grinding.

A list of CPM® stainless, high speed and tool steels most commonly used in knife manufacturing:

CPM-154®

• Offers easier grinding, polishing and better toughness over standard 154 CM and better edge retention (stays sharper longer) and resistance to chipping than 440C stainless steel. 
• Contains 1.05% Carbon, 14.00% Chromium and 4.00% Molybdenum
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 55 and 62
• Does not offer the wear resistance of CPM-S30V stainless steel.
• Does offer the same toughness as CPM-S30V stainless steel.
• Does offer better grind ability than CPM-S30V stainless steel.

CPM-S30V®

• Offers better wear and corrosion resistance and toughness versus 440C and D2.
• Contains 1.45% Carbon, 14.00% Chromium, 4.00% Vanadium, and 2.00% Molybdenum
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 58 and 61.

Zero Tolerance Bayonet, 7-1/2" CPM-S30V Stainless Steel Blade, Ranger Green G-10 Handle ZT-9

CPM-S35VN®

• Designed to be tougher than CPM-S30V stainless steel.
• Contains 1.40% Carbon, 14.00% Chromium, 3.00% Vanadium, 2.00% Molybdenum, and 0.50% Niobium
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 58 and 61.
• Offers the ability to withstand 20% more impact energy than CPM-S30V stainless steel.
• Offers similar edge retention to CPM-S30V stainless steel.

Spyderco Native 5, 3" S35VN Stainless Steel Blade, Black G-10 Handle C41GP5

CPM-S90V®

• Designed to offer outstanding, long lasting edge retention.
• Contains 2.30% Carbon, 14.00% Chromium, 9.00% Vanadium, and 1.00% Molybdenum.
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 56 and 59
• Offers better corrosion resistance than 440C and 154CM.
• Offers better toughness than 440C.

CPM-S110V®

• Designed to offer better corrosion resistance than 440C and CPM-S30V.
• Contains 2.80% Carbon, 15.25% Chromium, 9.00% Vanadium, 3.00% Niobium, 2.25% Molybdenum, and 2.50% Cobalt.
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 58 and 61.

CPM-3V®

• Designed to offer outstanding resistance to chipping and breakage.
• Contains 0.80% Carbon, 7.50% Chromium, 2.75% Vanadium, and 1.30% Molybdenum.
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 58 and 60.
• Offers better toughness than A2, D2 and CPM-M4 steels.

Zero Tolerance Military, 5-3/4" 3V Steel Blade, Matte Black G10 Handle 0100

CPM-M4®

• Designed to offer more wear resistance and toughness.
• Contains 1.42% Carbon, 4.00% Chromium, 4.00% Vanadium, 5.50% Tungsten, 5.25% Molybdenum, 0.30% (0.70%) Manganese, and 0.06% (0.22%) Sulfur.
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 58 and 66.

Spyderco Gayle Bradley, 3-7/16" M4 Steel Blade, Black Carbon Fiber Handle C134CFP

A list of other steels produced by Crucible Industries, LLC:

154CM

• Designed as an upgraded 440C steel which offers better corrosion and wear resistance as well as better edge retention.
• Contains 1.05% Carbon, 14.00% Chromium, and 4.00% Molybdenum.
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 55 and 62.

Benchmade Mini-Griptilian, 2.91" 154CM Steel Blade, Gray Handle, 555SGY-600 - Set

420

• General purpose stainless steel
• Contains >0.15% Carbon, 1.00% Manganese, 0.04% Phosphorous, 0.03% Sulfur, 1.00% Silicone, and 12.00% - 14.00% Chromium
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 51 and 55.

440A

• Designed to be the toughest high Chromium cutlery steels
• Contains 0.60%/0.75% Carbon, 0.04% Phosphorous, 16.00%/18.00% Chromium, 1.00% Manganese, 1.00% Silicone, 0.03% Sulfur, and 0.75% Molybdenum.
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 52 and 57.
• Ideal for cutlery requiring a "mirror" finish.

440C

• Designed to offer higher hardness, good corrosion resistance and good edge retention.
• Contains 0.95%/1.20% Carbon, 1.00% Manganese, 1.00% Silicone, 0.40% Phosphorous, 0.03% Sulfur, 16.00%/18.00% Chromium, and 0.75% Molybdenum.
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 54 and 59.
• Ideal for cutlery requiring a "mirror" finish.

Spyderco Cat, 2-7/16" 440C Stainless Steel Blade, Black G-10 Handle C129GP

A2

• Designed to be tougher than D2 and CRUWEAR.
• Contains 1.00% Carbon, 0.85% Manganese, 5.25% Chromium, 1.10% Molybdenum, and 0.25% Vanadium.
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 58 and 62.

CRUWEAR

• Designed as an upgrade to D2 tool steel with better wear resistance and toughness.
• Contains 1.10% Carbon, 7.50% Chromium, 2.40% Vanadium, 1.15% Tungsten, and 1.60% Molybdenum
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 60 and 65.

D2

• Offers a balance of toughness and wear resistance.
• Contains 1.55% Carbon, 11.50% Chromium, 0.80% Vanadium, and 0.90% Molybdenum.
• Ideal hardness (HRc) range is between 60 and 62
• Known for it's ability to take a very sharp edge and hold it.

What do those ingredients mean to me?  Click here.

Rob

Crucible Industries, LLC. "What a Steel! Part 1 - Crucible Industries, LLC." ::Crucible Industries:: Home :: You & Us. Crucible Industries, LLC. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.crucibleservice.com>.

Spyderco Delica 4. Great Value. Great Knife.

Spyderco Delica 4, 2-7/8" VG-10 Stainless Blade, Green Handle C11FPGR

One of Spyderco's best selling knives of all time is the Delica.  With a multitude of variations, from handle material types to blade steels, there is bound to be one made that fits your needs.  The Delica shown here is shown with a green Fiber Glass Reinforced, or FRN, handle which is a lightweight and extremely durable material.  The color is optional, you can get this particular model with a blue, purple, gray, black, brown and of course, green FRN handle.  The blade steel is a higher end stainless steel made in Japan called VG-10 which will offer great corrosion resistance and excellent edge retention.  The grind on this particular model is referred to as a full flat ground which means that when the blade was ground, starting at the cutting edge and moving to the spine, the blade begins thing and gradually gets thicker.  This grind is well suited for low resistance slicing.  This also features a right hand/left hand, tip up or tip down black pocket clip which allows you to adapt it to your needs.

This this particular model is $53.99 + shipping (starts at $3.99 for USPS Priority) at www.NationalKnives.com.  You can also view other Delica models here.


Rob

Get a grip! Wood as a knife handle material.

I would like to expand our knowledge of handle materials and their advantages and disadvantages. A knife handle is simply the part of a knife that was built with the specific purpose of being able to safely hold and use the knife it's attached to. In the beginning, the handle material was the part of the cutting tool that didn't cut you, not much as changed regarding the concept of the handle. However, the materials used and their purposes have changed.

I won't be covering all the different types of handle materials as just about anything that is relatively hard can be used. A shortened list of those materials would include, metal, wood, plastics, animal horns and more. I will cover some of the more basic materials of knives that National Knives has in stock and for sale or had in stock at some point.  This blog will focus on wood.

The first material I am going to address is wood. It's all around us and used virtually everywhere in just about everything, or so it seems anyways. Knife manufacturers don't simply rely on one type of wood to all their products. Different species of woods offer different textures, grains and either add or detract from the overall appearance of the knife. Wood can add to the cost of the knife or detract from it, depending on the type of wood used and how attractive it makes the knife when it is on the dealers shelves waiting to find a new home. A scarce wood that is plain in appearance and offers no usable advantages probably won't increase the value much, but probably wouldn't be used by a manufacturer to begin with. A scarce wood that offers visual appeal and/or usable advantages will not only add to the appearance of the knives but will usually add the the price of the knife too. Some of the more common wood types that are used in the manufacturer of knife handles are : Cocobolo, wood laminates (often dyed), Pakkawood, Rosewood, Oak and Sandalwood.
I would like to expand our knowledge of handle materials and their advantages and disadvantages. A knife handle is simply the part of a knife that was built with the specific purpose of being able to safely hold and use the knife it's attached to. In the beginning, the handle material was the part of the cutting tool that didn't cut you, not much as changed regarding the concept of the handle. However, the materials used and their purposes have changed.

The picture attached to this post features a Mcusta model 13D folding knife. Mcusta used ebony wood as the handle material with this knife. This particular model is finished smooth but has indents where the user can rest their fingers. I would not consider this knife a "hard use" knife, in other words, it would not be good for military, police, fire, EMS, survival applications. I would classify it more of a gentleman's knife and a great every day carry (EDC) knife and with it's Damascus style blade adding to the visual beauty, this would make a great special occasion folder.

Some woods are absolutely beautiful, but are difficult to keep stable so they won't split, crack or chip. One manufacturer recently used Spalted Maple, which is a heavy grained wood, as a handle material on a fixed blade knife that resulted in the manufacturer having to switch to a non-wood material and selling the defective knives at a discount. The knives were easy on the eyes with the beautiful heavy grained wood handle, unfortunately it just didn't work out for the manufacturer.

Please feel free to contact me at Sales@NationalKnives.com.

Rob