SPY27 Steel

I figured I’d make a thread on people’s observations of the relatively new steel from Spyderco. I have that Native 5 Lightweight in it, and I’ll start off the thread with what I’ve been able to notice so far in just casual use:

I can’t claim to have seen any difference in how long it cuts to a certain sharpness level compared to things like S30V or VG-10, and I suspect it would take multiple runs of a pretty carefully measured experiment to show that, but I can certainly claim that I haven’t observed anything negative.

It forms an edge cleanly without any special care towards burr minimization, getting very sharp in the same way as the absolutely excellent S30V at 62 Rockwell in my Shaman, I certainly haven’t noticed any kind of overly-fast dulling, it hasn’t taken any damage (rolling, chipping, complete collapse of the edge, etc) from the things I do with any of my other folders, and in general it’s been perfectly fine across the board. No signs of a bad HT, no signs of a badly burnt edge from power sharpening, not a single issue at all.

Grindability is about the same as VG-10, perhaps a bit better than S30V but it’s still not something I’d use an India stone to grind, for example. Best results are with fresh abrasive and preferably silicon carbide over aluminum oxide.

I usually prefer a DMT Fine finish or a Spyderco medium ceramic finish on the apex of most of my knives, and this one of course is fine for that but will also get very very sharp off the Spyderco fine rods as well. It seems to have no major issues with taking a high polish if that’s your thing, though I’d still recommend my personal favorite DMT Fine for the best edge retention on a slice while still being semi-decent with an occasional push cut.

Ryan,
What has you sharpening progression i.e. what stones did you use to sharpen the SPY27?

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jasonstone20
Ryan,
What has you sharpening progression i.e. what stones did you use to sharpen the SPY27?

I just shape it with a Crystolon, prepare the edge to take an apex with the SuperStone 400, and then apex it with either the DMT or the Spyderco ceramics. Same as most of my other knives.

Ryan,
What sharpening stones do you have at your disposal? I am interested how this steel would take a extra-coarse or coarse edge, along with a high-polished edge.

I doubt it will be significantly different from the other steels in that general S30V/VG-10 class. Differences might be observed with multiple runs of an experiment but I don’t think they’re likely to be significant enough to warrant the work necessary to find out.

Ryan,
That seems to be everyone's answer, including mine, for questions like this. Makes me miss Cliff, he would do the cutting like he was a human CATRA machine.

The Native 5 ins SPY27 tested at 59 HRC today. Readings on the spine were the same as readings on the flats close to the edge, so I don’t think Spyderco is doing anything in the grinding that’s burning the steel.

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Ryan Nafe
The Native 5 ins SPY27 tested at 59 HRC today. Readings on the spine were the same as readings on the flats close to the edge, so I don’t think Spyderco is doing anything in the grinding that’s burning the steel.

that seems a bit soft. BBB measured his para3 at 62hrc.

but your RC tester may not be calibrated the same. so 59 on yours could easily be 60-61 on another machine. only way to know is if you tested that machine with a matching calibration block to verify, and also test a knife known to be a certain hardness on another machine.

I think it’s accurate because I had the metallurgist test it with a portable electronic tester that found exact agreement with the Wilson 3JR machine I used. That probe can also check near the edge and it was the same number as the spine showed.

But it’s also not exactly surprising considering how it’s similar to other knives I’ve tested or other manufacturer specs on very similar steels like VG-10 and S30V. So while it’s lower than I would’ve guessed, it’s still right in the typical production range for knives in similar high carbide stainless.

Hi Ryan,

Thanx for the test and for sharing your thoughts. I thought a bit of history might be interesting.

Spyderco did the testing for Carpenter steel when they were developing their blade steels. I worked with Rick Gleisner, the head of the Metallurgy dept. He is a brilliant man and great to work with. Peter and I tested dozens of steels for them. Rick asked if we could do for Carpenter what some of the knife makers had done for Crucible. We had the knowledge, the CATRA and the Q-Fog so I said why not? It really was a very nice experience over a two year period. Once we had he different steels down, Rick asked if there was something they could do for us by way of "Thank you".

I told Rick that there was a steel made in Japan by Hitachi that we have to import because there is no American equivalent. It was called Gingami 1. I told Rick we needed to powder it and tweak it and make it in America. We still use Hitachi Steels (Great company making really refined blade steels) for knives we make in Japan. Long story short, a year + later, we get CTS-BD1N. I was kinda hoping I could get an exclusive on it (business strategy), but it was really a great steel and Carpenter is making it for us "Steel Junky's + others. We use the steel quite a bit and even export it to Japan for our knives. Carpenter did a fine job. Sometimes we don't stop and appreciate all they have to go though to make "stuff that will cut". for us.

Chapter 2 - A couple of years later, I decided I wanted to make a steel based on Cobalt, powdered and tweaked. I had spent some time with the President of Takefu, that makes our VG-10. He created the steel and he explained to me that he believed the Cobalt enhanced all of the other alloys. Is that true? Who the hell knows, but he's the guy and I believed he knew what he was talking about. I'm not a not a metallurgist, but I've learned a bit. Who do you get to question the expert/inventor/designer of a blade steel?

So I spoke with Crucible and Niagara, and they blew my mind and said we can talk. I would like to take the Takefu VG-10 as a base, powder it tweak it with good stuff, add as much cobalt as will work and I'll buy it and I would like it as an exclusive for Spyderco. For that we pay more, but........I worked with Bob Skibitski. One of Crucible's Metallurgist. Great guy, smart and patient (sometimes with me, patience is necessary) and we wen back and forth for a year and then started to run short melts. Some time later, we thought we had what I was after and we're making it. The goal was primarily to have an EDC steel that would very easily get very sharp and stay very sharp for a good working blade. That was in addition to the corrosion resistance and toughness that Bob put into the mix.

I'm pleased with what we came up with. It performs well, It's unique in the world of production blade steels. I have a Military model with a SPY27 blade (proto) which I use often. Thanx again.

sal