Tried a new blade steel from a supplier in Ohio and it chipped on the first bone

Last month I ordered some fancy CPM S35VN steel from a place in Akron because I wanted to try something tougher for breaking down deer. First day I used it, cutting through a shoulder joint, a piece the size of a rice grain just flew off the edge. I was so mad I almost threw the knife across the cooler. Talked to an old timer at the shop and he said that steel is great for EDC knives but it's too brittle for heavy butchery work. Learned my lesson the hard way - now I stick with 1095 or simple carbon steel for bone work. Anyone else have a blade steel fail on them in a weird way?

2 comments

2 Comments

casey39314d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, that "rice grain" chip you described hit me right in the feels because I've been there too. S35VN is just not the right call for heavy bone work, no matter how fancy the name sounds. I had a set of kitchen knives in S30V that chipped on a chicken thigh bone, and that was the last time I trusted anything but 1095 for that stuff. Simple carbon steel is just way more forgiving when you hit something hard, even if you have to wipe it down more. Some steels are hyped for toughness but they really just mean edge retention, and that's a totally different thing.

evab5214d ago

Oh, absolutely. @casey393, you nailed it about edge retention vs. toughness being two completely different things. I think a lot of folks get sold on the marketing and don't realize that a super hard steel can be like glass - it holds a great edge but shatters when you hit something unexpected. I had the same learning curve with a nice fillet knife in S35VN that chipped on a fish spine, of all things. Ever since then, I stick with 1095 or even O1 for any knife that's going to see real abuse around bone or hard material. That extra bit of maintenance is a small price to pay for a blade that bends instead of breaks.