What made you land on w2 over white 2? Working on something similar with him right now
52100
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I have a few white #2 and no W2, so just something different, that’s all.
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W2 is gonna have more edge retention
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This might help. Although of course it's going to matter what hardness for each, still the A2 will probably last a decent amount longer than 52100
More info: A2 Steel - History and Properties - Knife Steel Nerds
Yeah I've been doing a bunch of steel research agonizing over S35VN vs AEB-L or Apex Ultra for another custom but it's nice to have the maker's personal opinions at their own hardness levels. Plus if they like to work with a particular steel they're more likely to make a better product IMO.
W2 is gonna be close tho, depend mostly on makers heat treatment, W2’s extra alloy element is too small to form carbide
Will w2 form a sexy patina though…
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Can you do s30/s45 for the custom? Personally in my pocket knife usage it's much preferred. Chris Reeve helped to develop s35vn due to wanting to make his folders easier to machine and a bit tougher, but you are reading a decent amount of edge retention for a bit of tougheness. The newer s45 does a better balance too, bit more edge retention than s35 but a bit tougher than s30vn, and more corrosion resistance. I've used them all quite a bit and really like s30/s45
That being said well heat treated s35 is still decent, CRK liked to run it quite soft. Definitely very different compared to aebl or apex
S35vn is good stuff. You are getting wear resistance of 4v, MagnaCut, cruwear class of steels with decent toughness for a stainless steel. It is tougher and slightly more wear resistant than something like SLD for example. I highly doubt anyone would be able to differentiate between s30v and s35vn in use if both were treated well and had same geometry.
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Unfortunately I've had probably a dozen knives with s35vn and it falls quite a bit behind s30v. The whole premise of the steel is Chris Reeve wanting to save money to make an easier to machine steel. At 61 hrc s30 has 17% higher catra, not really splitting hairs. Id say in a vacuum, s35 is relatively decent if heat treated well but there's no reason to choose it these days with s30v, magnacut, and especially s45vn. It's just kind of a pointless steel when even at the low hrc range for magnacut it literally does everything better. I guess it is more time consuming to finish though.
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For now, those are my only options plus 52100. The S35VN is treated 60-62 HRC. Seemed like something different and interesting as my current kitchen knife collection is all carbons and AEB-L/Ginsan.
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For sure give it a go then, it will be way different than anything you're used to which is fun. Honestly it's properties won't be too different from sg2.
I disagree as I’ve had very good experience with s35vn, much better than with s30v, but that too is irrelevant since unless geometry was the same and we know the heat treats and not just hardness of the blades we can‘t attribute different experiences with these knives to differences in steels.
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Mmm I think I can considering I've had the exact same production knives in each steels. Like PM2s and 3's with the same CNC ground geometry, and both are ran around 60hrc, and sebenzas. But that's just me. Spyerco S30v has been great to me. You won't find many people keen on S35 in folders these days though...even CRK which never changes anything. Everyone has kinda moved on.
Regardless, doesn't really matter in context here I guess
Regardless, doesn't really matter in context here I guess
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I never cared for S35. I had it in several folders including the Sebenza. I was pretty unimpressed with it. I have an S45 Sebenza now so we shall see how that goes. CRKs S35vn did not hold an edge well and I didn't think it took a great edge either.
I have two Eddworks 52100 about to be on the way. Shehan is going to do a 52100 gyuto for me too. I have Mert's but it's on the IR right now. Trying to get a Markin, but that's got its own difficulties. I'll probably never own a Rader.
bahamaroot
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I have s35vn in a gyuto and a folder and like it a lot in both and have no complaints. Has good edge retention and has shown to be pretty tough. I don't baby my knives and haven't chipped either, edges hold up well and touch up easy.
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I thought about it for a minute more after I posted that, and I think it was CRKs S35 that I never liked, and that's who I mainly had. I think with a different HT on a different blade and I would be singing a different tune. An S35vn HT for a kitchen knife would probably yield some different steel qualities and greater HRC than what CRK was doing with their folders to be more user-friendly in the field. I have a fixed blade from CRK in S35vn but I haven't used it too much to offer an informed opinion.
Following up on this in case anyone comes along later...well heat treated S35VN is real nice. @Barmoley was gracious enough to lend me a gyuto in that steel for a couple weeks. Edge retention was great and it was easy to sharpen/deburr on Chosera 800/3k. Took a keen edge without issue. My fears of sharpening without diamonds were unfounded and I'll happily order that steel in the future.
This thread seems to be a good place for this question - I have some 52100 that’s not very reactive at all. It is hard to develop patina even if I want it to. I also have some 52100 that will turn blue right away…anyone has good knowledge about this?
I'm going to take a guess. The ones that hardly react, have been austenitized at a higher temperature. Leaving more chromium in the steel solution.
Given the alloy tolerances and the way the HT works, it is unlikely to be anything related to the steel composition or the heat treatment. It seems to me this is likely due to the difference is surface finish or the state of the oxide layer when you started using the knife.
Not a horrible guess, in principle things do sorta work that way, but 52100 just has way too little to influence that.
Thanks, Matt. So do you agree with @Troopah_Knives ‘s answer above or are there more to it?
I agree completely.
Also, Malachi is a metallurgy student. If there's more to something, he would definitely be the one that knows it.
thank you both!
At least I prefaced it with that I'm guessing. Wouldn't want to taste a foot in my mouth.
Was your knife etched? Who made the knife?
My Eddworks isn’t real reactive, but it was acid etched 52100.
My Eddworks isn’t real reactive, but it was acid etched 52100.
$10.99/mo? For $12.99 I bet Bill will even take the sock off...
I have many. I would say my Eddworks 52100 is decently reactive actually (not a negative thing; just a factual point). I think it is harder to see due to the etching. What @Troopah_Knives said makes sense to me now. I think closer to a perfect mirror finish the knife is (at least that's what I took from his comment), the less reactive the knife will be.
The Zwilling Kramer carbon made me a believer. One of my favorite knives to sharpen, though mine had been thinned considerably by JKI before I got it. Even so, the steel abraded so beautifully that it made me want to write a song about it. Or something. Anyway, it was lovely to sharpen and reasonably corrosion resistant and it made me want to try other knives in this steel. I haven't had the chance yet but I've always wanted to. In particular, I want to try a 230-ish gyuto from Carter Hopkins, but I don't think he's in the business anymore. And even if he is, I'm too broke.
Anyway, from what I've seen the steel tends to be pretty great all around at most heat treatments. I mean, it's nothing fancy but for a simple fine grained carbon with decent corrosion resistance, there's a lot to like about it.
Anyway, from what I've seen the steel tends to be pretty great all around at most heat treatments. I mean, it's nothing fancy but for a simple fine grained carbon with decent corrosion resistance, there's a lot to like about it.
