Zapp LC 200 N Knife Steel
Composition Analysis Graph, Equivalents And Overview

LC 200 N(Zapp) - High nitrogen, alloyed tool steel. Produced using PESR technology, which is pressurized Electroslag remelting. Increases cleanliness and refines micro-structure. New alloy, appeared in late 2013. New refers to LC200N itself, otherwise, this is the same Cronidur 30 which has been used in Knives for a while, and even longer by NASA for ball bearings. So far, only Spyderco lists in it their steel listings used in knives, Tusk being the first knife offered in LC200N. Several custom knife makers expressed interest and posted positive feedback. Main positives for knife use would be corrosion resistance, good machinability(easier for makers actually, and easier to sharpen too). I am not sure into what "LC 200 N is the high end solution for tools facing high static and dynamical load under a high corrosive environment at higher temperatures" would translate when used in knives. Corrosive environments and dynamic loads, both apply to knives, that's clearly good, static loads not so much, high temps, well you really shouldn't be sticking your knives into high temp environments anyway. 99% of the steels were not designed for knives, but lots of them work out just fine. Apparently this alloy is used by NASA as a replacement for AISI 52100 steel in ball bearings. Max working hardness in 60-62HRC range. Can be forged. Alpha Knives Supply sells LC200N as Z-FiNit steel, where Z-FiNit stands for Zapp Fine Grain Nitrogen steel.

Manufacturing Technology - Ingot

Country - Germany(DE)

Known Aliases:
Zapp - Z-FiNit, Zapp - LC200N