Aus 6m??? and the crkt f4

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nemesis_3003

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hey guys ive been meaning to purchase a small fixed blade knife and ive been looking at the f4-12 made by CRKT, there is however one thing i dont know about it and that is it is made of "AUS 6M", can anyone tell me what that is?? and also does anyone own/owned one because i cant seem to find any reviews.
thanks
 
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Japanese stainless, by Hitachi... Inferior to Aus 8a, and all the newer stainless and semi stainless steels like D2 and so forth....

A bit soft for my tastes, but most stainlesses are...

J
 
Don't own one either and it seems to be a discontinued model.

Aus6 is on the low end of the stainless steels out there. For a light-medium "normal" use EDC it should be just fine.

I guess it would depend on how hard you plan to use a necker. A city carry knife only, or do you plan to use it for hard outdoors type work as well?
 
As has been said, AUS-6 is similar to 440C stainless.

The f4 is a handy little knife for EDC, but it is intended to be a small 3-finger fixed blade that is small and light enough to be carried all the time. The CRKT sheath is a bit bulky for that purpose so you'd be well advised to trim it down to make the knife fit it's role better. For under $20 it's a pretty good deal.
 
Several of the SOG SEAL line of knives are made from AUS-6 and AUS-8 steel. And people rave about them. So take it for what it's worth.
 
hey guys, i dont mean to be nitpicking here but i just read in a couple places that this particular product is made of a steel called "420-j2"stainless, anybody know anything about that stuff??:eek:
 
420 J2 is a general purpose stainless steel containing medium quantity of carbon. It has good corrosion resistance qualities in mild atmosphere, domestic and industrial environments. It is resistant to ammonia, blood, carbonic acid, crude oil, detergent solutions, dilute nitric acid, fresh water, food acids, many petroleum products, steam and vinegar etc. It has good strength and reasonable impact resistant properties in both hardened and tempered conditions as compared to 440 grades.
It is also called Surgical Steel, because it is being used in production of surgical instruments on large scale around the world, due to its good corrosion resistant and easily machining qualities. It is also being used in cutting tools like; Knifes, Daggers, Swords, Haircutting Scissors and Domestic scissors. It’s grinding is easy and it produces a fine, vivid and smooth polished surface.
420 steel, due to its excellent hardenability, it is capable of getting hardened up to 54 HRC Rockwell or higher depending upon carbon contents. Small sections can be air cooled and larger sections should be oil quenched for maximum hardness.
 
420 J2 is generally a low-end steel for a knife blade. It's main advantage is that it's easy to grind, which also means that the edge can be worn away pretty easily. It's only performance advantages are resistance to impact damage, and pretty high corrosion resistance. It might be a good choice if you had to have a stainless axe head, or a dive knife that needed to be cheaper, but otherwise I think there are a lot of much better choices.
 
:rolleyes:

Without appropriate alloying elements, some steels are kinda limited in what the heat treat can do for them. 420 j2 is significantly limited here.

J
 
From what I'veread it's not so much the steel as the heat treat
Click to expand...

Dan,

Think of it as a tripod with alloy, heat treat and edge geometry being the three legs. Without all three being optimized for the use you don't get an optimum blade. Inadequate alloy, you're limited on what the heat treat can get out of it and what grind you can use to make it work. Great allow with lousy heat treat, you're stuck with a blade that won't hold and edge or will chip or break. Lousy geometry, well even the best heat treat of premium steel won't make a boat paddle a knife. Without all three being given due consideration you can't make a worthwhile knife/sword/ax.
 
all i can say is +1 for the CRKT F4.

My buddy has one (i have its cousin, the CRKT fixed falcon). Both are discontinued for some strange reason. These knives are incredible little deals for the price. I purchased 2 of the falcons. they're very easy to carry and you have no problem beating on an inexpensive user knife. to that end, i'm still on the first of my 2 (second sits in a BOB).

My buddy's falcon has held up just as well. Sure, it might not hold an edge as well as some blades but then again, that's hard to judge because it's used so hard.

anyways, i know i'm in the minority but i'd say go for it.

on a random note, can you post/PM where you find this knife in stock? i've seen some flash across evilbay but can't find one in stock.
 
hey, i ordered one and it seams to be all good so far, a bit heavy on the neck but on a harness under your arm its great and its very convenient. a company on amazon.com called pachi paradice has them, thats where i got mine. deffenitly would recomend this knife.
 
Congrats, and glad you like it. I have become very fond of fixed blades in this size class for EDC.

Stronger than any folder and faster to "open" too:)

I have used mine (BK11) for "bushcraft" and normal town use with great results. From opening clamshell packaging to batoning and making figure 4 deadfall traps.

Would handle SD if needed as well.

My EDC is a tad larger in size than yours but still light,flat, and disapears on my belt under a t-shirt.

(Also some consider it a lesser grade steel as it is not stainless ;) )

Pardon my gratuitous pic :)

100_0614.gif
 
Well I have a F4-12 model and it is a good user knife for under 20 bucks. Mine has been used mainly in the warehouse setting opening boxes all day and after a rinse off at lunch for cutting meat and opening plastic wrap on food packages. What I like is the small package, it does not scare people yet is stronger than a folder. There are better grade knives out there but for under 20 dollars this is a good buy. It will handle blood, detergents, acidic food, will clean a fish and while it will NOT hold a razor edge for long periods of time I think it works extremely well as an edc for utility work. I do not think this is good for SD the handle is too small and with high probability any punture manuevers will very likely end up with an opened hand. Another thing I do like is the lanyard acts as a psuedo handle increasing grip and leaverage for improved controllability and comfort. Just be sure that if you get blood or contaminants on the knife that it goes into the dishwasher or washing maching to insure that it is sanitary when time comes to be used on your food sources.
 
Todd A, how is that becker necker. I have the rc3 and I love it is it much smaller and how useful is it as an everyday carry? Is the wire breaker functional, and how much smaller is it vs. the RC3?
 
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