What a Steel! - What do those ingredients mean to me?

In "What a Steel! Part 1" and in future "What a Steel!" posts, I will do my best to accurately list what each steel contains, giving them their characteristics.  In doing so, I won't be listing what each ingredient does each time it is listed, instead I will use this post as a reference and will point each "What a Steel!" post back to this one for reference.  This will allow you, my readers and customers, the ability to better determine how each of the ingredients affect the steel performance, both in a positive and negative manner. 

The one component that remains consistent amongst all steels is iron.  However, iron is not sourced from one or two locations, but multiple locations and from multiple sources.  Iron is inherently a soft metal and is hardened and made usable as a knife blade by the addition of other ingredients, each of which adds and/or detracts a quality or qualities, such a corrosion resistance.
Please feel free to comment on this post as well as any other post.

This post will be updated often as new information becomes available and does not contain all elements used in the production of various types of steel. 

Carbon - C

• Most common element added to iron.
• Increases hardness.
• Increased edge retention.
• High carbon steels tend to be a bit more resistant to corrosion.
• According to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), a for a steel to be considered high carbon, it must contain at least 0.3% carbon.  Many high carbon steels used in knife manufacturing hover in the 1.00% area.

Chromium - Cr

• Added to create stainless steel.
• A minimum of 10% chromium is required for a steel to be considered stainless according to AISI.
• When exposed to oxygen, chromium forms a protective barrier to aid in corrosion resistance.
• Corrosion resistance (rust resistance) is not the same as corrosion proof (rust proof) and most stainless steels will oxidize (corrode) given the ideal conditions.
• Hardness and toughness also benefit from the addition of chromium.

Copper - Cu

• Aides in corrosion resistance

Hydrogen - H

• Used in place of carbon to make H1 stainless steel.
• Used to partially replace carbon to make X15 stainless steel.
• H1 stainless steel has shown strong evidence to be the closest to a true "rust proof" stainless steel.

Manganese - Mn

• Aides in ability to harden and overall hardness
• Aides in overall toughness.
• Adds to corrosion resistance
• Aides in the ability to machine.

Molybdenum - Mo

• Aides in the ability to harden and in overall hardness.
• Aides in toughness and corrosion resistance.
• Helps with the ability to machine.

Nickel - Ni

• Aides in overall toughness.
• May aide in corrosion resistance.
• Necessary ingredient in austenitic (chromium/nickel) stainless steel, which is the most common variety. According to the AISI, this type of stainless steel accounts for approximately 70% of all stainless steel production.

Niobium - Nb

• Aides in grain production
• Aides in corrosion resistance

Phosphorous - P

• Aides in the ability to machine.
• Aides in the ability to harden.

Silicon - Si

• Added to metal in the molten state to aide in the removal of gases and oxidation.
• Aides in overall strength.

Sulfur - S

• Aides in the ability to machine.

Tungsten - W

• Aides in toughness and wear resistance.
• Aides in the ability harden.

Vanadium - V

• Added to aide in wear resistance and strength.
• Allows for fine grain production during heat treatment attributing to the overall hardness (HRc) of the finished blade, edge retention and overall sharpness.
• Toughness also benefits from the addition of vanadium.

Rob

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>.

New Arrival - Zero Tolerance Folding Knife 0350ST

Zero Tolerance Combat, 3-1/4" Black Blade, Black G-10 Handle 0350ST

The 0350ST arrived a couple of days ago, but I have been too busy to post these beauties.  This is a smaller version of the 0300ST by about 10% and features a standard black G-10 handle that provides great grip.  This does feature a flipper allowing for easy one handed assisted opening.  The blade is CPM-S30V which offers a great combination of edge retention and corrosion resistance.  The blade is also black Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) coated and is partially serrated allowing the best of both cutting edges on one knife. 

To purchase this knife, simply visit National Knives at www.NationalKnives.com and order.  Zero Tolerance products are shipped free to all 50 states. 

Rob

Spyderco UK Pen Knife in G-10

Unfortunately, knife laws are following gun laws and are being strengthened all over the world.  I won't go into whether or not they are effective, I think you can probably figure out my stance on the issue without me having to tell you.  I will tell you that to some it nothing more than a mere hindrance and to others, they are more like a nightmare you just can seem to wake up from. 

The United Kingdom has had laws imposed on what kind of knife can be carried and Spyderco answered with the UK Pen Knife (UKPK).  The name may imply that this knife is only available in the United Kingdom, thankfully, Spyderco has made it available to all and with the rapidly changing laws, I would have to agree with their marketing strategy. 

Spyderco UK Pen Knife, 3" S30V SS Blade, Foliage Green Handle C94GPFG3

The UKPK utilizes GIN-1 and CPM-S30V stainless steels as it's primary blade materials.  The handle materials include Carbon Fiber, Titanium, Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon (FRN), and G-10 (shown above).  Carbon fiber and FRN both are lightweight materials with carbon fiber adding a decorative, classy touch and FRN being relatively inexpensive, but neither are very "grippy".  Titanium is another smooth material, virtually indestructible, and high tech, but expensive.  G-10 is not as expensive as carbon fiber or titanium, but is more so than FRN.  With G-10, the user ultimately gets a knife that offers great grip allowing for better control over the knife, in turn allowing for more precise cuts and better safety.

The UKPK is part of Spyderco Slipit line in which the blade does not incorporate any form of locking mechanism, the blade is held open (per Spyderco) by "resistance pressure at the pivot area" of the blade.  The non-locking platform is what keeps this knife legal in the UK as well as other areas of the world. 

Of course, you don't have to be obligated by law to be "forced" to have to carry the UKPK, you can carry it in any area of the world where it is legal for the simple reason that it is a high quality knife that will offer you years of reliable use in an attractive, handy and lightweight package.





Rob

Quick as Lightning! The Kershaw Blur.

With a name like "Blur" it should come to no surprise that this knife opens fast.  It should also come to no surprise that this knife is a spring-assisted opener, not a switchblade/automatic knife, but about as close as you can get to one legally. 

Kershaw Blur Folder, 3-3/8" Stainless Blade, Aluminum Handle 1670S30V

This a sweet liner lock folder features right hand and left hand thumbstud, a right hand tip up or tip down black steel pocket clip, a lightweight black aluminum handle that has Trac-Tec inlays which are great for grip and control.  The blade on this particular model is a stonewashed CPM-S30V stainless steel, which differs from the other Blur models which feature Sandvik's 14C28N stainless steel.  What's the difference?  CPM-S30V is considered an upgrade to 14C28N stainless in that it will typically hold an edge longer. 

The one disadvantage, if you can call it that, is that this knife does not incorporate a "flipper" which is essentially a "tab" that is part of the blade that protrudes out of the back of the knife and allows the user to open the blade with the forefinger (or any finger), whereas the thumbstud is, well, self-explanatory in that it is designed to be utilized by the thumb.


Rob