steel comparison

[frank k]

I have noticed that Spyderco offers a wide range of blade steels. How do these steels compare in terms of edge retention, impact strength, and corrosion resistance? Thanks!

[Clay Kesting]

Check out Joe Talmadge's excellent steel FAQ here: http://www.bladeforums.com/features/faqsteel.shtml. However I just noticed that he doesn't mention VG10 which is a comparitively new steel (pioneered by Spyderco). It is the favourite steel of many people here, takes and retains an excellent edge and seems to be pretty corrosion resistant as well.

Clay

Don't worry that the world might end tomorrow, in Australia it's tomorrow already.

[Joe Talmadge]

The bladeforums version isn't updated very often, so I always recommend people do a search at deja.com (use "Joe Talmadge" as author, "Steel FAQ" as subject, "rec.knives" as newsgroup) to check out the latest version. However, I just did that, and I see that the last version I posted, in March, still doesn't have VG-10! I know I wrote a VG-10 blurb, I'll make sure I get it up there for the July FAQ updates.

Joe

[sal]

Hi Frank. Welcome to the Spyderco forum.

Hey Joe. Do you have anything in your "Library" of information in a printable format?

Would you be interested in working on a project with Spyderco on printed info?

sal

Edited by - sal on 6/30/2001 2:49:03 PM

[chambers]

Frank,
I don't want to intrude on your thread here but I had a question about two types of steel and was going to post a topic of my own but this one seems to fit the bill I hope you don't mind.
Sal, Or whichever tech-type answers: Between ats-34 and D-2 tool steel which is lower matinence, better edge retention and easier to resharpen?
Hope I didn't step on your toes frank..
thanks guys.

oxxxxxx{------------------------

[Joe Talmadge]

ATS-34 is more stain resistant than D-2. But ATS-34 is one of the fastest-rusting stainless steels (in my experience), and D-2 is the slowest-rusting non-stainless. D-2 is certainly not going to just rust while you look at it, like O-1 say. It's a judgement call as to how wise it would be to sell a folder to the masses that had a D-2 blade, especially considering how many users seem to have problems keeping their ATS-34 blades rust-free. A couple companies (kabar, REKAT[enhanced D2]) do it, though.

At the same hardness, I expect D-2 to have better edge holding.

At the same hardness, D-2 is tougher. That means that as you go to a thinner, higher-performance edge, the ATS-34 will start chipping first (which limits how thin the edge can get), whereas the D-2 blade should be able to get even thinner. This is only an advantage if you really exploit it -- that is, if you really take the time to make sure you've got an optimum edge on your knife. If you do actually get it to the right thinness, you should see solid performance from D-2.

Note that as always, heat treat really drives the characteristics you'll see. Heat treat can significantly effect toughness, stain resistance, and wear resistance!

Joe

[Joe Talmadge]

Sal,

All my articles are in plain text, and printable that way. It would be easy enough to dump it into a Word file and add a little fancy formatting, though.

Let me know what you have in mind as far as working with Spyderco on printed info, I'm interested!

Joe

[Gary]

Joe and Sal,
Did you guys ever come to an agreement? Has Spyderco put out the resultant literature? If so, please send or e-mail me a copy. If not, is it still in the works? I find this to be the toughest area to get straight forward understandable explanations (without pulling out my old materials and mechanical engineering tests).

Thanks,
Gary

[Joe Talmadge]

Gary, Sal and I agreed in principle on an interesting project, though we didn't work out details. The birth of my son has left me with very little time on my hands just now, I hope to get my head above water in a bit and see if I can get cracking on it.

Joe

[Gary]

Congrats on your son... Joe. When my son turned 21 I began to get more time... good luck.

Glad to hear that we might be going to see some information in the near future. This area needs some good writing.



"Take Your Spydie On A Hike" -- Gary