5160 Knife Blade Hardness

[yahooty]

Hello y'al
In your opinion what is THE best hardness for a Hunting Knife blade made of 5160 ?

My opinion it is at least 58 Rc.
Others tell me 56 Rc. Isn't that too soft and wouldn't the blade need to be sharpened more often ?
I like a harder blade for better edge retenion,rather than a softer one.

Would someone give me thier opinion the best hardening and tempering temperatures to get the best edge retention ? IE. Temperatures Etc. Duration of soak,reheat temps to Temper the blade for the hardness I want.

Thanks a bunch .

[Ray Rogers]

You might want to take this question to Ed Caffrey's forum. He's the REAL expert on 5160.

My two cents though is that 5160 isn't one of the steels that you expect to use as a really hard blade. Ed gets good cutting performance from 5160 blades but he also makes them pass the 90 degree bend test and that's something that I wouldn't expect a really hard edge to do.

Anyway, if you have a really hard edge, you don't have to sharpen as often. But, all blades get dull eventually and a really hard edge is more difficult to sharpen, especially in the field. Also, a really hard edge is more likely to chip if you hit a bone or a rock while dressing an animal. In some cases, trying to hammer a blade through a pelvis might break a hard blade whereas a softer blade might survive. If the blade has a hard edge and a soft back it might not break but the edge might chip out a big chunk.

What I'm saying is, there is no THE best. It is a matter of opinion as well as a matter of how you think the blade will be used. It's all about compromises....

[whv]

It's all about compromises....

ah, yes.