Crucible CPM S45VN Knife Steel
Composition Analysis Graph, Equivalents And Overview

CPM S45VN(Crucible) - Newest knife steel from Crucible, announced in November 2019. CPM S45VN is a collaboration between Crucible and Niagara Specialty Metals. Initial composition was developed by Niagara and then production and final composition refined by Crucible. As far as I understand, the main highlight is the new steel, with improved corrosion resistance without sacrificing any other properties, i.e. toughness, edge retention. I am guessing, comparison is with the earlier Crucible CPM S35VN steel. According to the specs, toughness is slightly decreased, CPM S45VN has 11lbs on C notch, vs. 12lbs on CPM S35VN steel, but better than 10lbs on earlier CPM S30V steel. Along the same lines, CPM S45VN has slightly better edge retention in CATRA test results(all % numbers relative to AISI 440C steel) when compared to CPM S35VN steel, 143% vs, 140%, and slightly worse than CPM S30V steel - 145%. So, based purely on tech specs, it's somewhere between those two in terms of toughness and edge retention, but differences are small enough, so that the blade edge geometry and heat treatment will be much more important. Still, in Larrin's tests, CPM S45VN showed improved toughness at higher hardness compared to CPM S30V steel. I suppose that would be thanks to CPM S45VN finer microstructure, which among other factors, can be attributed to the presence of Niobium known for its very fine, hard carbides. At this point, there are no knives made out of the CPM S45VN, but that will quickly change. I am guessing CPM S45VN will be positioned as a replacement for both CPM S35VN steel, and CPM S30V steel.

Manufacturing Technology - CPM

Country - United States(US)

Known Aliases:
Crucible - S45VN