KS,

Probably my mistake about edge holding and wear resistance.

I think I may have mis-understood and forgot some info I read about 9V and missed the wear resistance chart info.

I got hung up on the HRC recommended range of around 54HRC which is VERY low for a knife.

Which to me, makes 9V a bit of a strange material. Interesting to have "THAT" high wear resistance at that LOW of a recommended hardness... ??????????? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />



I have to concede, I don't know much about 9V. But, I have researched it "some", and what I DO see is that pretty much NOBODY uses it for knife steel. - Why?

One possible reason: NOBODY wants to try to grind on it and sharpen it.


I guess I don't really understand why 9V has such high wear resistance at 54 HRC. My guess is the VERY high Vanadium content. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

But, part of why 9V might be so tough might likely be it's low hardness (????)

I am pretty confident, S7 is tougher (in part) because of it's lower hardness.

I "assume" the recommended hardness ranges for the steels might somewhat imply that 9V doesn't do well at 60HRC, but I don't know for sure.

Considering how similar 9V is to 10V, I am very curious to why the recommended HRC for 9V is so low at 54 vs. 60HRC for 10V.
Can 9V be hardened to more "common" knife hardness ranges like 10V?
If so, what is 9V like at 58-60HRC?

If 9V were hardened to 60HRC like 10V, I "Assume" the 9V would not be as tough anymore and further assume 10V might be more comparable in toughness. But, I can't find data to support this.

However, typically, lower HRC equates to higher toughness and higher HRC equates to more brittle.

Further, if you compare the composition of 9V to 10V they are pretty similar except for the higher carbon content of 10V.

If comparing 9V to 10V on the graph on wear resistance, 10V is off the charts, but at 60HRC vs. 54HRC of 9V. If 9V were hardened more inline with 10V, I am assuming 9V's wear resistance would even be that much higher and pretty close to 10V.

My guess is that both 9V and 10V have amazing properties, but properties that are just beyond what most people can or want to deal with for maintaining, sharpening and similar. (??????)
Similarly, the knife industry doesn't use Tungsten Carbide or Titanium Carbide for knives. Stellite is fairly rare.

I have read more about 10V than 9V.

I have read about Phil Wilson using 10V and it apparently can get and hold one of the most amazing edges on a knife you can get. I assume Phil uses the recommended 60 HRC hardness range or similar.
But, it is apparently a Nightmare to sharpen and grind.
Still, with diamonds, most steels can eventually be sharpened. Just might take a LOT more time and effort and cost more in sharpening supplies.

So, cost of owning and using such steels for knives could get up there to.


But, I don't know what 9V would really be like for knife use at 54HRC. And since I can't find any info about anybody making knives out of 9V, does anybody really know what a knife would be like in 9V?????


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