Knife steels can be confusing and intimidating. In addition to the alphabet soup of letters and numbers used to “name” steels, knife enthusiasts also have to navigate through chemical symbols, alloys, and countless acronyms to understand what’s really inside their favorite blades. And just when you think you have a handle on it, a new steel pops up and you have to start the process all over again.
If you are among the many knife fans who finally came to terms with commonly used knife steels like 440C, 154CM, and CPM S30V, the CTSTM BD1 steel used in the byrd Crow 2 and Raven 2 may have you scratching your head. Fear not. A little education will fix all that.
First of all, “CTS” indicates that is a steel made by Carpenter Technology Corporation, an American company and one of the world’s leading providers of high-performance specialty steels. Introduced in October 2009, Carpenter’s CTS “suite” of blade steels is a series of alloys developed for use in the cutlery industry and similar applications. CTS steels included three families of alloys: low alloy martensitic stainless steels, bearing steels and powder metals.
CTS BD1 is at the high end of Carpenter’s martensitic stainless steel family, offering good edge retention with machinability. A vacuum-melted steel, CTS BD1 is free from the impurities often associated with air melting processes and therefore polishes better and is less susceptible to inclusions. Its alloy composition includes 0.9% Carbon, 15.50% Chromium, 0.6% Manganese, 0.30% Molybdenum, 0.37% Silicon, and 0.10% Vanadium. What does all that mean? Well, it means that CTS BD1 has a moderate carbon content that offers good edge-holding properties and easy sharpening, as well as high chromium content for enhanced corrosion resistance. Its clean, relatively simple composition also makes it behave very consistently during heat treating while getting toughness and rigidity. CTS BD1 pushes the limits of stamping capabilities making it a one of the premier steels to work with in many knife manufacturing environments.
Although it may not be as familiar to you as some other blade materials, CTS BD1 is a reliable, user-friendly steel, balanced with unique properties and overall high performance.
Originally appeared in the June 2014 Spyderco byte e-Newsletter.
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