humidity suct

can't get it in Wisconsin. Last time I saw it nearby was in South Beloit, it was in the "special case". I asked why, it's not allocated. They said it is still rare for them to ever see it.

No issue when I am in Kentucky or Texas.

VC?

Very Criminal?

I mean, it's true, only criminals run.

Still cool, even knowing how it's done.


Probably even cooler

I really like them.

Especially if I can catch the light

Solid appetizer

Have I ever told any of you about this little place called

That's what was throwing me as well

I'm kinda surprised it was in it.

Good day for a G and T

Yeah, not great on the body

Stopping by with the comfortable weather and solid plating

You see the video of the guy running who got pinned between a restaurant’s block wall and a police cruiser? Guy was in some serious pain. Later died.

We've had less than 2" of rain in the last ~40 days, and less than a 1/4" over the last 2 weeks. It's been around 40% humidity and is extremely dry right now. It's gettin' to be grass fire weather here.

We do have some possible storms Saturday, but I'm not holdin' my breath.

The state stores here don't have any. There's only one store here that stocks it (independent and he usually has anything you ask for), and he always has it on the shelf. Same with Buffalo Trace, the ABC stores sell out quick, but he always has it.

You mean the vp9cc. SFP isn’t for us peons.

I want to be snarky and say Maxx is going to get me one

but honestly I hadn't heard reference to anything about a VP9cc yet, only the sfp9cc. I see there is more info on their website than the last time I checked.

liquor sales are weird.

they would sell the shit out of it in Wisconsin, but they don't even distribute here.

we have been light on rain too until today. Grass was getting pretty brown. Had to get the sprinkler system going again, don't think I have run it in a couple years.

even without the rain, it has still been plenty humid. East Texas humid.

This happened here in StL.
First 4:25 is press release stuff and mugshots showing he lived.
4:26 is where the excitement begins.

Ewww… Gross!

Well when we let the state get too involved with it, they were bound to screw it up.

paddle release!

our state definitely screws it up. greedy bastards.

No, I don't think so. Go on....

He lived?!?!!

Thank you for that thought but because I couldn't make up my damn mind on which sheepsfoot to buy that time, I bought something else totally unrelated.

He did.
His booking photo from after the vehicular arrest is in the video somewhere in the 4 minutes of talking.

Certainly is.  Now given the proclivity of some guys here being very set in their ways,  I'm a bit worried mentioning this but G&T season ends on Labor Day.  Hey, I don't make the rules, I just follow them.

You"ll like mine, you wait and see.

I love how the 2nd unit follows through and ensures he's not getting up to keep running.

Guns and turbos? I could get behind that.

Here we go again; more damn rules!

First pineapple, now I can't have gin.

That does sound more appealing.

OKOKOK

I was chatting with a dude last night and he drops this bomb on me.



I mean, why not make me pick one kind of soft and one kind of hard cheese why dontcha?!

And of course the real answer is, it doesn't matter for most people most of the time. But, we have this wonderful variety because different steels do different things better.

So many questions coming to mind. Are there any limitations? Are there any special considerations? What type of outdoor use? General camp? General utility? Fishing? Hunting? The outdoors is a big place.

Nevertheless, we shall endeavor to address this in a vacuum.

a wise and handsome gentleman, we'll call him Kuraki, once told me 3V is the only steel you need. You can vary the heat treat to give it the different qualities you need for most any scenario and it is tough as hell for minimal edge deformation so you can strop it back quick.

I think we can find a little more breadth than that though.

sure, there are lots of other flavors out there, it's fun to discuss the new hotness, but what is ideal for a knife you will be using?

chips are bad, very very bad, so toughness has a special place. you don't want to be sharpening all the time, so it should have good edge retention, but on the other hand, if it is easier to sharpen, you can give up a bit on the edge retention.

yes yes, diamonds make sharpening many steels easier, but some steels are still easier than others.

this may surprise some people, but I am not going to talk about how fucking bad S30V is.

The follow up to S30V though, S35VN is a solid place to start.

Good corrosion resistance, easy to sharpen, good toughness, decent edge retention. Good all around steel. Similar to Elmax.

That being said, I have never really had any issue with M390. Holds a great edge. Little tougher to sharpen, not bad. I've never had any chip on me. Does it beat out S35VN? Maybe not for a general outdoor knife. Don't see too many outdoor knives in M390.

And what about Magnacut? still too new to tell for me. On paper it seems great. Not enough real world experience yet.

I gotta stick with S35VN/Elmax/XHP/CPM154 (they are all right about the same mix of qualities) for the stainless one. M390 has been good to me, but in theory it would be more likely to chip and for outdoor use, all the more likely.

As for carbon steel, jeez. Seems like there has been an explosion of options in the last decade.

M4 is the obvious answer landing right in the middle of the charts for a mix of toughness and edge retention. I did like it, but I did not have good luck with corrosion resistance. Sure, it is a tool steel, but M4 rusted for me just looking at it. 80crv2 has good toughness, 52100 has a bit better edge retention, but neither will be as good at edge retention as the high alloy tool steels. ApexUltra looks promising in the low alloy steels, but not enough exposure yet.
So looking at the middle ground for toughness and edge retention, K390. I have not had a large sample set for K390, but what I have had has done well.

There may be others here that differ in opinion, and while I welcome your thoughts, let's just get this out of the way now, you are wrong.

Do you have your own thread going for your build work?

I do not. I might do that at some point. I have put a few pics on DFarm's thread.
https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/More-adventures-in-knife-making-An-ongoing-thread-where-I-ll-post-about-what-I-m-messing-with/187-2708307/

I may eventually do a walkthrough type thread where I go over each step. I think a lot of guys nerd out on that kind of stuff. I know I do. Since it takes me 2-3 months on average to get a knife from drawing to completion, I'd need to have the knife mostly finished before starting the thread so that people don't lose interest while waiting on me to update the next step. It would be fun for sure and maybe it would inspire other people to make a knife or two.

That is a big question. I'm no steel expert. Like you said, honestly most people would be fine with any steel although I really only want to send carbon steel to guys who will take proper care of it.

I currently offer 1095 as my carbon steel option and CPM 154-CM as my stainless option. I'm moving towards dumping 1095 and offering 52100 as the carbon option. 1095 is pretty much a beginner steel for knifemakers but tough for lazy end users to take proper care of. I've moved beyond that at this point. I'll keep using 1095 for prototypes (it's cheap and easy to work with) but 52100 should be a big step up for the end user. I love working with CPM 154-CM, does everything I need it to, and the knives I've bought with 154 blades perform very well. I haven't actually kept any of the CPM 154-CM knives I've made (I need to fix that) but everyone that has one has sent back good reports. I may start offering D2 as a tool steel option as well.

ApexUltra does seem promising. I have a bar coming so you'll get to see for yourself if the steel is decent (assuming I can get the heat treat right). I wish it came in thinner bars. Thinnest I have found is .2" thick. For slipjoints I like to start with .1" thick stock so I'll have to mill some waste off the bar, no big deal, just makes material costs a bit higher and costs a bit of tool wear on my milling cutters.

I don't know a good answer to the question but it's an interesting one.

I haven't read up much on ApexUltra yet, just glanced at the charts on knifesteelnerds. From that it looks like a good steel for EDC folders and small fixed blades, but doesn't appear to have the toughness for heavier duty work that large blades would be expected to take on. That appears to be acceptable to the designers, who it sounds like were more focused on increased edge retention. At a glance it looks like they were able to improve edge retention by 33%-50% over other high hardness simple steels (65+ Rc) while keeping toughness roughly comparable (if not a bit better at the upper hardness range), but still no comparison to the super tough steels.

Caines makes a tasty chicken strip.

what is that thing in the upper left?

Yeah, it's interesting that the ApexUltra is a stand out in it's category though, on paper at least.

I was reminded of the difference in 154 going to the CPM standard from 154-CM. Solid improvement. It is still a solid steel and the choice of many custom shops.

Forget the D2. The world has moved on. Old men reminisce about how good D2 was. There are better options. Like CPM154.

As for the 1095 versus 52100, there is nothing wrong with 1095, it is a good time tested steel, but again, the world has moved on. For a small folder, I would prioritize edge retention over toughness, so between the two, 52100 would be the superior choice. Is there really any price difference in material cost between 1095 and 52100? Any work cost? Maybe 52100 should fully replace 1095 in the your work, keep practicing on what you are selling?

ApexUltra looks even more promising, might be the answer if it is similar cost and easy to work with.

Also, if we are just talking favorites, S90V and 3V.

The toast they serve with the chicken

I agree on the CPM 154-CM, I'm keeping that one in the stable for a long time.

52100 vs 1095 has essentially zero difference in material costs and I expect it will be just as easy to work with but will gain some advantage in performance over 1095. I may just start ordering it once I burn through my current stash of 1095. I do have a stick of 52100 coming with your ApexUltra to give a try.

ApexUltra is approx. 4 times more expensive than 52100 or 1095, roughly the same cost as CPM 154-CM. It should be just as easy to work with, most carbon steels are fairly easy to work with. We'll see how it performs.

Interesting that the ApexUltra costs that much more. Paying for a name? I would think as a low alloy steel, it should be cheaper. Maybe a bit more expensive for low production quantity, but 4 times as much? Did they slide some vanadium or unobtanium in there?