Blade Steels
Steel |
Edge Retention |
Toughness |
Stain Resistance |
cpm S90V |
9
|
3.5
|
8.5
|
cpm 10V |
8.5
|
5
|
4
|
cpm m4 |
6
|
6.5
|
4
|
cpm S30V |
6
|
4
|
7.5
|
Magnacut |
5
|
7
|
9.5
|
154 cm |
4.5
|
3.5
|
7
|
cpm 154 |
4.5
|
5
|
7
|
AEB/L |
3
|
9
|
7
|
The rating numbers come from Dr. Larrin Thomas' work, much more detail can be found at his website:
Knife Steel Nerds. Dr. Thomas' work is a tremendous step forward for knifemaking as a rigorous practice, my thanks to him for his efforts. I also highly recommend his books to those seriously interested in knife steel metallurgy. I'm happy to be one of his Patreon supporters.
I will make knives on order in any of the steels listed. I don't necessarily stock them all, but should be able to get steel in these grades in a reasonable timeframe. I do my own heat treatment. The edge retention numbers are based on cutting cardstock (CATRA testing), so favour wear resistance on somewhat abrasive materials. Different cutting tasks could rate the steels differently on edge retention. (For example AEB/L will hold an edge very well on non-abrasive materials.)
The steels with significant vanadium content (S90V, S30V, 10V, m4 and magnacut) will benefit from being sharpened on hard abrasive (diamond, cubic boron nitride, or silicon carbide), since vanadium carbide is harder than aluminum oxide (which is the normal abrasive in artificial water stones, for example).
Handle Materials
I have a small stock of Westinghouse burgundy linen micarta and paper (ivory) micarta. I'm afraid when they are gone I will not be able to source them again.
Similarly, I have very old stock Kingwood, Camatillo, Cocobolo, Brazillian Rosewood and Tulipwood, available while the stock lasts. I'll be sourcing G10 and carbon fiber and will probably be offering stabilized woods in future. I have some Indian stag and Mastodon ivory that I will use in interframe folders.
Sheath Materials
For the moment, the sheaths are all veg tanned leather, wet molded pouch style. They are two needle harness stitched by hand. If you really want a Kydex sheath, I can investigate that option.