Carpenter CTS-BD1N Knife Steel
Composition Analysis Graph, Equivalents And Overview

CTS-BD1N(Carpenter) - CTS-BD1N is a high Carbon, high Chromium, Nitrogen martensitic stainless steel. Can be hardened in oil or air. CTS-BD1N was designed as an improvement or an evolution of the Carpenter CTS-BD1 stainless steel, which was also used in knives. Overall, CTS-BD1N has higher working hardness compared to CTS-BD1 steel, up to 63HRC. The most notable difference between CTS-BD1N and CTS-BD1 steel is the Nitrogen. To be more precise, or at least according to the official specifications, 0.10% Vanadium present in CTS-BD1 steel is gone from CTS-BD1N, and instead we have 0.10%-0.15% Nitrogen. While it may look about the same amount, in reality 0.10% Nitrogen will produce almost 4 times more atoms than Vanadium due to its smaller molar mass. Vanadium is a welcome addition to any steel, but to be honest I am not sure if it's completely gone from CTS-BD1N, because in other alloys 0.10% Vanadium is considered trace amount or unintentional. On top of that, CTS-BD1N has more Chromium, Manganese and Silicon in its composition. Anyhow, if CTS-BD1N contained or retained that Vanadium it'd not hurt for sure. Overall, CTS-BD1N is a very decent candidate for a knife blade, fine grained steel, with high corrosion resistance and respectable edge holding ability. At max hardness CTS-BD1N can sustain high polished, 12°-15° per side edge.

Manufacturing Technology - Ingot

Country - United States(US)

Known Aliases:
Carpenter - BD1N, Carpenter - CTS BD1N