NEW FIRST HAND LOOK AT HOW KNIFE STEEL IS MADE
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- Have you ever wondered where the steel in your knife comes from? In this video TC and Isaac take a trip to Syracuse and Buffalo New York to visit Crucible Industries and Niagara Specialty Metals. If you have ever heard of CPM-S35VN or any CPM product, it came straight from Crucible Industries. After it leaves Crucible Industries, those metal slabs are sent to Niagara Specialty Metals to be shaped and sent out to knife manufacturers. This video will help explain the process that goes into making some of your favorite knives. If you have a favorite blade steel, let us know in the comments below and thanks for watching!
For Knives in...
CPM 20CV- www.smkw.com/k...
CPM S30V- www.smkw.com/k...
CPM S35VN- www.smkw.com/k...
www.smkw.com/k...
CPM 154- www.smkw.com/k...
CPM 3V- www.smkw.com/k...
CPM M4- www.smkw.com/k...
Cru-Wear- www.smkw.com/k...
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i was fortunate enough to get a tour of Niagara Spec Metals last year - was such a cool experience!
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This is the "How It's Made" episode I have been waiting for! Thanks!
Thank you! We love "How it's Made" If you have any suggestions on other things you want to see please let us know👍
I wish there was less talking and more continuous footage. Too many unnecessary stops. If we have come this far, we are not in elementary any more.
I never in the world thought about how much time and work go into producing these speciality steels. Just bought a Spyderco Native in S35VN steel and it makes me appreciate it all that much more.
Knowing what goes on long before it makes to our pocket makes the stories we make with all that much more special👍
Metallurgical engineer here that worked at mills - just a couple points :) The big vat is called a furnace ladle, or melt ladle. The samples are tested like you said for chemical accuracy to the requirements of the grade, and is a byproduct of industry standards like ASTM and AMS. And the stuff on the outside of the bar after it has been pressed that got peeled off is called scale or mill scale. The reason why knives and tool steels are primarily made by powder is that the powder or atomization process allows for a much finer distribution of carbides which are doing most of the work in what makes a knife steel last (edge retention, sharpness, hardness). Most of our metals used in commercial application today do not require these crazy properties so we mostly are OK with a cheaper method of production called casting (ingots or strand). PM is a wonderful process, thanks to take the time to expose everyone to it!
This was one of our first videos and we have learned so much more since then! Thanks for watching and helping us understand even more
Dude you added so much. Sincerely. It’s like How It’s Made mixed with Popup Video; I quite often learn as much from the comments as I do the video content. Tanx large, Mac!
Wow! I appreciate everything all those people do. It’s amazing to see the quality they put into it
Thanks for watching and they are awesome folks that make great products
I have no issues paying 250-500 for a knife so long as the steel and materials are top notch. American made has a price after all. Supporting jobs here in the U.S.A is very important to me. Thanks for the inside look SMKW!
Thanks for watching BGS!
I love that you guys are doing stuff like this and allowing us to put a “slab to the cpm name”! Also thanks to Crucible for making such great steel! CPM-SMKW anyone???
I guess this makes us all a bunch of scientists! Seriously, we have to be some kind of smart or we wouldn't buy the things we do.
I feel like I've been waiting all my life for this one program of information. Now, I can die a happy man!
Thanks T.C, Isaac and everyone for a fascinating look into what we all love, and the one thing that keeps us sane! Big hugs from the UK to everyone! 🇬🇧🇺🇲🤗❤️
Thank you. Raymond! T.C. has a back ground in metallurgy and enjoys passing this type of info along! We are just afraid he will start passing out homework any day now....
Now that was very interesting to see. The pride those man have about their work, works thru into the finished blades and that's how you get quality. Thank you T.C. and Isaac for the great detailed video.
Thank you for watching!
Wow! Impressive process.
We love knowing where our knives come from 👍
I worked there for a few years I loved everything about that place!
Thanks for watching!
i have been into knives for i don’t even know how long, a few years ago i learned that crucible is literally 10-20 mins away from me. what a crazy world we live in
That is awesome!
Wow... A show I actually want to see.
Thanks guys!
We would love to do more of these so be on the look out in the future👍
Great video. Very informative.
Thanks for watching Larry!
NSM is literally right down the road from my work. This was a nice little look at their process. Thanks!
Thank you! We love getting the opportunity to learn more and pass it along as well👍
Absolutely Love my S35VN STEEL WILL Apostate.....my EDC.
Live videos that show how things are made and not just your 5min clips like they do on a tv show per say. One of the most favorite things do like to watch are those older government videos and military videos from early 1970s to when video actually came to be. They were great at showing people 45min or hour and more of how things were made from the factory itself. Loved those videos and still look for em. Knowledge is power and can never stop learning. Thank you for this video
Thank you for watching!
Great video. It's neat to think that piece of steel in my pocket went through every piece of machinery in the video.
That was part of what made us want to shoot this! "Where do our knives come from and how do they make it to our pocket?"
Just a thought, but with all the Effort, Planning, Machinations, Testings, Inspections, etc., I find it astonishing that these ‘Super Steels’ aren’t Prohibitively Expensive… That these CPM Workers can endure such heat, working day in & day out is a Testament to their dedication and skill, not to mention their’ Pride in their Product ~ for which, I am NOW Truly Admiring! Kudos to these Workers and SMKW for this Wonderful Video & ALL the efforts that led to it’s final result🇺🇸
Thank you for watching and for the kind words!
This was awesome. Good men that are good at their job!
Thanks for the upload
Thanks for watching! Everyone that worked at both places were awesome and watching them work was a treat👍
Wow thanks everyone involved with this.
I'm not a steel snob by any stretch. But I do make folding knives and the extra cost (trust me, it's minimal) to use their steel is more than worth it. It's always consistent and finishes like a dream. And customers ask specifically for their steel/s.
FYI ending something you have written with "/s" can often be used to denote sarcasm especially in an informal internet platform like a RUclips comment.
New York has some pretty awesome industries and crafts people!
They used to have more, then came the Democrats.
It improves dramatically as you travel west of the Hudson River.
@@ericpitre4031 show me on the doll where the democrat touched you
Woot! That is literally where some of my blade steel comes from! Awesome!
Bro, you're a legend. Thank you for doing this.
TC and his family have a background in metallurgy so this and the blade steel series are near and dear to him
Guys, this is revolutionary content! keep it up!!!
Thank you!
Grrrreaaaaaaate show guys, thx
Thanks for watching!
We call the “casing” a “can” before its HIPPED and a “compact” after its hipped ;)
Nice job!
Chris, you guys are awesome! Thank you so much for showing us around and letting us see the process!
Very fine production gentlemen! Quite educational. I hadn’t a clue on the origins of knife steel until I saw this. Good work!
Thank you for watching Robert!
Thanks for showing this guys! We feel that Crucible and Niagra are a big part of what we do and it's nice to see even a small part of the process. There are so many folks at both Crucible and Niagra that make our American knife steel great. It also shows just how much work it takes to make a great steel. Oh those were Spartan-Harsey Folder blades in the video...LOL
Thanks for watching and knew those were great blades when we saw them! You all have an open invite to come and crash the store any time!
Really impressed with that forklift operators control of that piece
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Thanks guys for taking time and effort to produce this video. So cool and very nice divergent from all the other more common knife related content!
We love seeing where our knives ,and so many other things, come from👍
That is the greatest store I've ever seen.
Thanks for watching
BTW, Thx for this excellent video, SMKW..!!🇺🇸
Thanks for watching A.M.!
Great work fellas! Who doesn’t want to know this stuff?!
Thank you! We love knowing what goes into our knives and the hard work that makes them stand up to anything! We are just always afraid T.C. is going to start passing out homework
This was great. You guys should do more content like this
We would love to! Any suggestions to more content you would like to see is always welocome👍
Great to see the process that goes into making the steels that in our knives. 🎸🔪
Always good to know where our things come from and knives are some of our favorite things!
Crazy how Larrin was able to pitch both Crucible and Niagara CPM-MagnaCut. I am curious to see how that steel pans out in the market. It’s amazing to put the theoretics into an actual slab.
You know you've done good when you've convinced buck to make a knife in it!
Absolutely fantastic video! I found myself mesmerized several times! I need to make a trip down the road to see you guys! Y’all are the best!!
Thanks for watching
Love to see the process. Amazing work guys.
Thank you!
Super interesting. Makes me really want to make the jump to high end steels. This is such an intricate process it's unbelievable.
Thank you for watching!
I worked there in the 70s.
I always wanted to see this stuff, you guys came up with a good idea by making this video. Cheers!
Thanks for watching!
Awesome video guys !!!
Thanks for watching!
Fascinating process!
Thank you for watching!
Very interesting information. Thank you.
This was awesome
Thank you for watching 👍
Smkw should buy crucible
If only. We are a retail store that sales knives, and designs a few, but we don't make the metal to make the knives
What about Buck joining forces with Kai and Spyderco to buy the formulations
That was fun I love watching this kind of stuff. Thanks 😊!!
Thank you, Mike!
This is pretty bad ass, and not something I have seen on the tube before
Thank you, Jason.
Fascinating!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Thank you for watching!
Man keep this content coming SMWK! Let’s do a US factory tour!
Thank you and we would love to do more like this!
Awesome video, thank you guys!
Thank you Josh!
Wow,who knew, that's pretty cool.
Thank you for watching, Kenny!
@@SMKWcom ,no problem ty.
This video was fantastic. As a knife enthusiast, collector and professional sharpener I cannot count how many times over the years a scene like this has played out at my jobs (universally I've worked warehousing/logistics jobs, lots of cutting involved).
Co-worker - "Why in the hell did you spend so much on that knife?! My cheapy from Big 5 does just fine!"
Me - (Knowing full well I can't explain it in one sentence) - "You'd really have to use one for a while to understand.
-- later that same day --
Co-worker - "Hey man you got a knife on you? I gotta cut these boxes down."
Me - (hands my pocket knife with M4 steel over)
Co-worker - (cuts up stuff) - " WHAT in the HELL kind of Excalibur knife is this?"
I'm not even trying to gloat, that's just the nature of the science and technology.
The work and detail that goes into not only making the knife but the materials is astounding!
Another cool thing is when they scale out the raw materials they will add the machines chips to increase the batch volume. As an electrician i’ve worked in a few different metal manufacturing facilities.
This was awesome. Never really thought much about the steel making process. Super interesting
Thank you for watching
CPM S35VN is great, extremely pleasant to sharpen, very expensive in EU but in my opinion worth it.
There are also very good ingot steels but Crucible made high performing steels, I like their ability to develop easily a very keen edge, for me edge retention is secondary, accurate edge is priority.
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Thanks for watching and well said
OK, so you guys schooled me recently, that knife companies don't own the patents for knives. I have an s35vn ruike knife. It's interesting to know that the blade I have is from there. It's great to see where it actually came from
We love knowing the story behind our blades and that makes the stories we make with them going forward that much more awesome👍
My cousin works in a heat treating plant. Seems like an interesting job
Can be harsh but very fulfilling
Great video thanks! We were at SMKW last week and brought home a bunch of steel!!! Love that place!
Thank you for stopping in and we are glad you had a great time!
Again.... I love these informative videos! This is really good stuff.
I have been looking for a video about making powdered steel. Very nice. Thank you.
Thank you, Jeff.
I loved this video you guys should do the same thing with other materials like the handles for knives like g10, micarta, etc. Great video as usual.
Thats a great suggestion, and something you might see in the future!
Now we know why it cost so much ! Great Vid Guys
Thanks for watching!
Great topic for a video gentleman, and awesome that Crucible and Niagara were open to showing everyone a little bit of their processes! A little bit of unsolicited constructive criticism: it would’ve been nice to have heard the process in better detail with accurate terminology in interview format from someone with a solid understanding of the processes. Or if you guys had taken notes during the walk-through so that correct terminology and important notes in the manufacturing process were hit after the fact when making this video. Working in manufacturing myself, and having an interest in different manufacturing processes along with being a knife enthusiast/maker, I was excited when I saw the title of the video, but was pretty let down on the execution. I had to look at the comments and perform Google searches after watching to learn the correct terminology for what was actually happening and the equipment being used. I’m sure the people at Crucible/Niagara also would have appreciated seeing a more thorough video with more accurate explanations after taking the time to let people in to explain and see their processes. Again, this is just constructive criticism on things that could be improved upon in the future, and not meant to offend anybody. Hope to see a follow up video of some sort or maybe another tour in the future!
I work at Crucible but at the time you filmed this video I was in the department called Bar Finish which is the last department the steel goes through and at 3:15 the door that says A1 I was actually in that building (yes I did see you guys filming). Now I actually work in the CPM department on the powder line which you can see in the background at 5:46. So when the melters are finished with a heat (every bar in that mill has a heat number) they deliver it to me and I take care of it from there.
That is really cool! We really enjoyed visiting you guys and it was an incredible experience getting to see the process and how this steel is made and the care that is taken to get everything just right!
@@SMKWcom I no longer work there. Unfortunately the mill is getting ready to close doors.
this was surprisingly informative. thanks!
Thank you for watching!
Recently I was fortunate to come by a Spartan Blades Elite Grade Horkos Fixed Blade Knife (New!) in CPM S45-VN Stainless Steel and after cutting quite a few pieces of thin/.25” to .50” [Estimate] wood, I can say this steel’s edge retention is SUPERB!!! Given that this is from a 62-yr. OLD, & Broken, US Army Veteran…, take it with a grain of Bourbon 🥃🇺🇸
PS: I do have a Winkler II S.A.R. Knife (VERY HARD TO FIND) in 80CrV2, a Busse TGULB in INFI Steel; a Microtech Arbiter in 204P, think M390 SS, and a TOPS Operator Seven in 1070.., so I know Knife Steels, as well as a Mere Layman-Apprentice for Blades should.🇺🇸
BTW, I’m not bragging, just explaining that I know my knife blades 🔪
Feel free to brag anytime about great knives!
That’s a smelter and the metal is smelted in a crucible.
Awesome to see, thank you.
Thank you for watching, Shelley!
That was very interesting to see. That is an awesome video.
Thank you for watching!
Veo tus vídeos desde chile y son geniales soy fanático de los cuchillos y artículos tacticos y las tiendas son muy completas seria genial visitarlos te felicito sigue mostrando parte del gran país U.S.A mi país favorito lejos el mejor 🍻👍😎
Thank you for watching and if you ever find yourself in East Tennessee please stop in!
Gracias por mirar y si alguna vez te encuentras en el este de Tennessee, ¡pasa por aquí!
Thank you for this!!!
Thank you for watching! We had a blast👍
I recently got my first two fancy steel knives, one in Magnacut and one in Cru Wear. Seems what they are after is a stainless tool steel, at least what the cutlery market is looking for.
Thanks for watching and we hope you love both of them!
awesome
Thanks for watching
They lied to us ! They told us that various dwarven clans mill these super steels deep beneath Mordor. Really cool video !!
The beard ones guard their steel like they guard their gems but share the stories...wait... wrong job. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for this. I need one of their ball caps. Cant find one anywhere.
CPM def needs a merch store
It's like making fresh pasta!!
mmmmm pasta
Lots of specialty equipment as well on the cost value chain
This was one of the reasons we wanted to show where the metal comes from and the extra steps involved
I was thinking about wanting to see a tour of crucible like two days ago you guys are good!
If you have suggestions for other places and things you want to see please let us know
Would love to see a tour of Rowen facility that makes esee knives.
@ 4:20 OMG "They put the crucible steel in this 'holder'...this "vat thing'." Good God, man. It's in the name. "Crucible"...Say it....It's a crucible for the sake of all that's holy.
Very interesting video guys 👍🏻
Thank you! We had a blast and hope that everyone else enjoyed it as much as we did👍
Very awesome video! I learned quite a bit. T.C. has that ASMR type voice. Man you could be talking about shoveling turds and I would listen lol! Keep up the great work. I wish I could make it to the blade show this year but work keeps me from it.
Thank you James! We truly love and enjoy bringing this content to everyone! And since you can’t make it to blade, stay tuned, we will give you daily updates on everything going on at blade show this weekend
All this so I can slice through photocopy paper with no snags or drag.
💯 and we thank them for it
Too real
Great vid, Thank you
Thank you for watching
I drive past that Crucible plant everyday but have never seen the inside! I have a ZT knife with Crucible steel that was made there.
We love knowing where are knives come from!
18:05 looks like the Harsey folder from Spartan blades!
Could be but we were not told any specific brand. There are a lot of great knife companies who get there blades there👍
Lol I’ve been trying to figure out what blades those were, they look like a blade to a beast of a folder!
Cool.
been waiting for this video since you guys talked about it in that knife show
Thank you for watching!
This is sick! Love this shit
So now i CAN justify that price for that S90V steel.
You totally can and we will back you up on it😉
Thanks. Informative and enjoyable. May I suggest slower panning? Sometimes the camera isn't focusing, and then you continue panning. Love your show.
Thank you for watching
Great video. These crucible steels are amazing.
Thanks for watching!
Look on the ceiling and I bet you’ll see lava marks on the ceiling from a water bottle being added to the smelter and it exploding all the molten metal.
Unfortunately there are small number of customer who need premium knives and so the steel manufacturer. Thats why premium steel not become cheap anytime soon.
Thanks for watching
I was fidgeting around with my 940 Osborne in s30v while watching this video. Definitely makes my knives more special knowing kinda how it was originally born. Thanks for the video guys !
We love knowing where our knives come from👍 Thanks for watching!
I think the knife industry have to thank crucibal and Chris reeves for coming up with s35/s45vn powdered steel in my mind Chris reeves is a genius
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Caps Lock is a button on a computer keyboard that causes all letters of bicameral scripts to be generated in capital letters. It is a toggle key: each press reverses the previous action. Some keyboards also implement a light, to give visual feedback about whether it is on or off.
Now I want a caps lock key in S35VN--to retain my edginess.
This is a video of steel being made with commentary by a very informed gentlemen and his nephew that he brought to work for the day, hahaha.