Spyderco C36GGY Military Cruwear

[kwakster]

Look what the mailman brought me this morning:

This Military Model Sprint features a conventional Military Model PlainEdge blade-profile with a flat-grind and oversized blade hole.
Machined onto the blade’s spine and choil are sections of jimping that inhibit the knife from slipping forward or backward when forcefully cutting or sawing.



The blade is matched with peel ply grey G-10 handle and a Michael Walker LinerLock®.
The lock's liner is nested into the scale which augments lock strength without having to rely on bulkier full-length internal liners.



Crucible Steel Company produces performance automotive, aerospace, defense, and consumer-products steels.
They also manufacture high-performance steels for the knife industry.
Recently they presented Spyderco the opportunity to be the first production knife company to offer CPM® CRU-WEAR® to the public.
A CPM® CRU-WEAR® Military Model Sprint Run became a reality.

Together with my 2 other Millies:



CPM® CRU-WEAR® steel is an air-hardened powdered metallurgy tool steel.
Crucible’s original smelted-produced CRU-WEAR® was created as an upgrade to A2 and D2 tool steels, both have earned longevity and respect in the cutlery business for their wear resistance and tough cutting performance.

Powder produced CPM® CRU-WEAR® ups the ante.
Through powdered steel technology, the steel is made easier to machine with improved resistance to chipping over the original smelted CRU-WEAR®.
The powdered variety also attains a higher hardness factor through greater percentages of tungsten and molybdenum that result in a secondary hardening response.

Specs:

Length overall: 9.52" (242 mm)
Blade length: 4" (102 mm)
Blade steel: CPM CRU-WEAR
Hardness: +/- 61 HRC
Length closed: 5.52" (140 mm)
Cutting edge: 3.65" (93 mm)
Weight: 4.5 oz (128 g)
Blade thickness: 0.145" (3.7 mm)
Handle material G-10

[enki_ck]

Haven't heard about this CPM® CRU-WEAR® steel before. Thanks for the short intro to it and the pics. Also nice Millies.

By the specs it seems quite hard. Did you try sharpening it yet to give it that famous Kwakster edge? I know it shouldn't be a problem for you to get a good edge on it, but how do you think regular users will handle the job. And do you know how the knives with CPM® CRU-WEAR® will compare price-wise to knives made from other super steels?

[jekostas]

Interesting they got around to making Cru-Wear a powdered steel.  As I understand it few companies used Cru-Wear originally because it was an absolute nightmare to manufacture with.

[kwakster]

By the specs it seems quite hard. Did you try sharpening it yet to give it that famous Kwakster edge? I know it shouldn't be a problem for you to get a good edge on it, but how do you think regular users will handle the job. And do you know how the knives with CPM® CRU-WEAR® will compare price-wise to knives made from other super steels?

Nope, i haven't sharpened this knife yet, as first i want to see how the factory edge holds up.
My guess is that it will be noticeably easier to sharpen than for instance S30V, mainly due to the lower amount of wear resistant vanadium carbides in it.
With for instance a Spyderco Sharpmaker most people will have no problems keeping this knife sharp.
Pricewise this Cruwear Military was about the same as a standard S30V version, at least when i bought it.

Spec sheat CPM Cruwear: http://www.nsm-ny.com/files/CPM%20CRUWEAR.pdf

[David]

Great score Robert!      This is high on my list of next Military's. I cant seem to catch the dealers when they are in stock. I've yet to succomb to ebay prices for one. i have the Mule Team 12 which is an ingot Cru-Wear Steel so feally want the powdered Cru-Wear also. Plus the Spyderco Military is my favorite knife.