Blade Material Question

[SwampWolf]

I am looking at a knife where the metal specifications include the blade being "heat-treated in house", 0.140 CPM-3V American-made powder steel, Rockwell 60-61 and having a Cerakote finish. I'm not a student of metallurgy but I know some here are and I'm wondering if anyone has an opinion about the composition of this steel and what uses it would best be for. Thanks.

 

[jmr40]

Here is a link that describes the various steel's. There are a bunch and I can't keep up with all of them. CPM-3V is considered one of the better options.

Best Knife Steel Comparison - Steel Charts & Guide | Blade HQ

 

[hso]

"heat-treated in house"

Why? CPM-3V wants - 1975 F for 30 min, rapid air quench, snap temper 400 F for 2 hours, cryo -280 for 10 hours,triple temper 975 F for 3 hours => 58-60 HRc (at least that was Paul Bos' heat treat for it). That's a lot of precision for in-house, but some makers are set up for it.

Cerakote finish

Why Cerakote over other coatings? CPM-3V excels where toughness is called for and that implies a lot of chopping/hacking/prying that a lot of finishes won't hold up to. So are you looking for a coating to prevent rust or Cerakote in particular.

 

[SwampWolf]

So are you looking for a coating to prevent rust or Cerakote in particular.

Thanks for the insights. But to be clear, I'm not looking for anything necessarily; just trying to get a better understanding of what I should look for in terms of quality when it comes to steel in a knife blade. The knife I am looking at (a Dawson "Handyman") just happens to come with a Cerakote finish. I'm only quoting what the manufacturer described concerning the specs of the knife.

 

[hso]

just trying to get a better understanding of what I should look for in terms of quality when it comes to steel in a knife blade

Ahhh, ok.

CPM-3v is known for toughness. It will rust so it needs care or coating or some sort of treatment. It has good edge retention, but it doesn't excel at that like

Toughness is important if you're going to use the knife for more than slicing/cutting. Edge retention is often more important if you're just cutting and slicing and not hacking or batoning. Corrosion resistance becomes more important the closer to the sea you get.

Here's a nice summary on it. https://www.knifeart.com/knifesteel.html https://www.knifeart.com/3v-steel.html

BTW, the Dawson shop know what they're doing and they have good heat treat experience and equipment.

 

[daniel craig]

I’m a huge fan of s30v and s35v. But if with are in the same class as 3v

 

[SwampWolf]

Thanks, hso. That was helpful.

 

[DMW1116]

CPM 3V is known for having high toughness combined with relatively high wear resistance. There are tougher steels but they aren’t as wear resistant. There are much more wear resistant steels but they are easier to damage. I stopped chasing steels a couple of years ago and now buy based on design. If I hadn’t then 3V would definitely be in my collection for a 4 to 6 inch utility blade like a Cold Steel Master Hunter. I’ve not tried Ceracote but it seems good. It will eventually wear off but so will any coating on a knife. I kept thinking about having my larger choppers coated orange so I could find the darn things.

 

[sisyphus]

if you look at that blade steel list pretty much everything from mid level up is desirable. I think on paper M390 is easy to agree on as probably THE best, but when a knife I wanted in Sleipnir steel was available at a fraction of the cost of the others I'd been looking at I did not hesitate. If M390 is that much better I'd be amazed, I can literally shave with my Sleipnir fixed blade.