Knife abuse, 3V, Elmax Media
Published: 10 years ago
This is the final part of some edge retention testing. The purpose of the test was to determine whether or not some tweaks to the standard heat treat for CPM 3V yielded any improvements in fine edge stability. This had been a blind test performed in various test media while the edge was set at 13 degrees per side.
However, as this knife model is intended to tolerate rough use, the edge was set to a more typical rough use edge angle of 20 degrees per side and subjected to these final abusive tests. In these tests I cut two 6 penny nails and break a cinder block point first and then make two final cuts into cinder block with the aid of a four pound hammer. The purpose of these final abusive cut tests was to confirm that the heat treat tweaks made to the CPM 3V, which did improve fine edge stability, did not have a major unintended negative effect on gross toughness. The test blade was sample A, with B as the control and the Elmax was thrown in just for my own curiosity.
This video was not created as a demonstration, it is simply documentation of the final part of a test.
The conclusions that I have drawn from all of the testing is that 3V is a remarkably tough steel with decent abrasion resistance and good edge stability that can be improved a little with a few proven tweaks to the heat treat that are well suited for cutlery applications. Also, Elmax is remarkably durable for a stainless steel. This can probably be attributed to the fact that it is a 3rd generation PM steel that is ultra clean with very fine carbide distribution, making it a little tougher than you'd expect it to be based on its chemistry.
The knives are a 6" modern tactical fighter that I make. The total length is just under 11", the blade is .165" thick, the total weight is just under 8 ounces.
However, as this knife model is intended to tolerate rough use, the edge was set to a more typical rough use edge angle of 20 degrees per side and subjected to these final abusive tests. In these tests I cut two 6 penny nails and break a cinder block point first and then make two final cuts into cinder block with the aid of a four pound hammer. The purpose of these final abusive cut tests was to confirm that the heat treat tweaks made to the CPM 3V, which did improve fine edge stability, did not have a major unintended negative effect on gross toughness. The test blade was sample A, with B as the control and the Elmax was thrown in just for my own curiosity.
This video was not created as a demonstration, it is simply documentation of the final part of a test.
The conclusions that I have drawn from all of the testing is that 3V is a remarkably tough steel with decent abrasion resistance and good edge stability that can be improved a little with a few proven tweaks to the heat treat that are well suited for cutlery applications. Also, Elmax is remarkably durable for a stainless steel. This can probably be attributed to the fact that it is a 3rd generation PM steel that is ultra clean with very fine carbide distribution, making it a little tougher than you'd expect it to be based on its chemistry.
The knives are a 6" modern tactical fighter that I make. The total length is just under 11", the blade is .165" thick, the total weight is just under 8 ounces.