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What's New:
Pro-Lite Series
I recently had the opportunity to try a somewhat thinner stock of *XHP steel – .089-.090, rather than the .103 I usually use, so I decided to make a limited series of ultra-lightweight knives and call them Pro-Lite.
The Pro-Lite knives (consisting of my standard designs – Aikuchis, Kinzhals, Pesh-Kabz, etc.) come with a “reduced” sheath system --- a Dual-Lock covered metal belt clip, a 30–lb test ball chain and an extra piece of Dual-Lock. The prices for this package start at $199. and go up to $275., a significant savings over the cost of our MCS II System knives, and will be available until I run out of this stock.We've added a few new knives to our Knives For Immediate Delivery pages. Check them out to see if there's anything you'd like to own.
XHP
We recently attended a symposium at the Carpenter Technology Corporation in Reading, PA, along with a group of other knifemakers, including Gil Hibben, Gayle Bradley, R.J. Martin, Joe Szilaski and Tommy Overeynder. The purpose of the symposium was to introduce some of Carpenter’s powder melt steels to custom knifemakers and we came home with a box of samples and plenty of information.
We’re just now experimenting with their XHP, a powder melt steel with a high chrome (16.00), high carbon content (1.60). Basically, this is a combination of the best attributes of 440C and D2 steels, thereby making a very beautiful, very tough steel. Feedback from other knifemakers who have used this steel is extremely favorable. It contains some vanadium (0.45), an important ingredient in S30V and not contained in CPM 154. Here is how some of the ingredients of XHP compare with S30V and CPM 154:
| Ingredient |
S30V |
CPM 154
|
XHP |
| Carbon |
1.45 |
1.05 |
1.60 |
| Chromium |
14.00 |
14.00 |
16.00 |
| Molybdenum |
2.00 |
4.00
|
0.80 |
Vanadium
|
4.00 |
-0-
|
0.45 |
We’ve just sent out a batch of XHP blades for heat treating. Included in this first batch are some of our production models, e.g., Aikuchis, Kinzhals, Pesh-Kabzs, PK-21s, Cave Bears and Cubs, etc. Initially, we’ll be keeping the same prices for these knives as our CPM 154 knives.
If you want to be one of the first to own a Bud Nealy XHP knife and want to reserve one of these blades for delivery in 3-4 months, email us at bnealy@ptd.net or call us at 570-402-1018.
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