[ricky_arthur]

Jdale, Ed, If you look at the Crucible, Uddeholm, Sandvik data there are several very good stainless options that only need -100 sub zero quench. AEB-L and 154cm being 2 of them. Dry ice and acetone or denatured alcohol is the method I have been using. I haven't tried s35vn or a few of the "super" stainless steels because they really need a Cryo quench. However that being said, You would still get in the high 90's percentage wise of the performance they offer even with sub zero. The transformation of retained austenite to Martensite is not an on off switch that happens at a certain temperature, it occurs all the way down. The crucible Data is giving the temperature at which all the austenite that CAN be transformed WILL be transformed. By -100 most of the transformation has occured and it would be nearly impossible to tell a difference performance wise. S30vn for example shows it needs -112 degrees for complete transformation. Dry Ice and Alcohol will get down to -100 to -108 depending. How much are you giving up? It would be like a millionaire loosing a nickle. lol

154 cm is a pain to grind after heat treat, it's wear resistance make it about 3-4 times as hard to grind as simple carbon steel after heat treat. I hope in the end that is a good thing and shows up as edge retention. I have some AEB-L on its way and will be testing some of it because I have read so much good about it. Its supposed to be stainless for guys who hate stainless lol