Z-FiNit Stainless Steel









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Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, HRDA

.065 in 11.6 in 1.5 in $36.00
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BSZFN-0065-116015 2

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, HRDA

.065 in 11.6 in 2.0 in $48.10
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BSZFN-0065-116020 4

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, HRDA

.065 in 11.6 in 3.0 in $72.10
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BSZFN-0065-116030 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, HRDA

.064 in 23.5 in 11.6 in $555.90
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BSZFN-0064-235116 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, HRDA

.085 in 11.6 in 1.5 in $46.60
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BSZFN-0085-116015 6

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, HRDA

.085 in 11.6 in 2.0 in $62.10
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BSZFN-0085-116020 4

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, HRDA

.085 in 11.6 in 3.0 in $93.10
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BSZFN-0085-116030 2

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.088 in 11.6 in 3.0 in $136.30
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BSZFN-0088-116030G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.097 in 11.6 in 1.5 in $72.20
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BSZFN-0097-116015G 5

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.097 in 11.6 in 2.0 in $96.30
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BSZFN-0097-116020G 5

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.097 in 11.6 in 3.0 in $144.50
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BSZFN-0097-116030G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.115 in 11.6 in 1.5 in $79.30
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BSZFN-0115-116015G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.117 in 11.6 in 1.5 in $80.40
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BSZFN-0117-116015G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.119 in 11.6 in 1.5 in $81.40
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BSZFN-0119-116015G 4

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.114 in 24.1 in 1.5 in $163.70
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BSZFN-0114-241015G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.118 in 24.1 in 1.5 in $168.00
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BSZFN-0118-241015G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.119 in 24.1 in 1.5 in $169.10
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BSZFN-0119-241015G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.114 in 12.4 in 2.0 in $112.30
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BSZFN-0114-124020G 2

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.113 in 23.5 in 2.0 in $211.40
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BSZFN-0113-235020G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.117 in 23.5 in 2.0 in $217.10
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BSZFN-0117-235020G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.118 in 23.5 in 2.0 in $218.50
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BSZFN-0118-235020G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.111 in 24.2 in 2.0 in $214.80
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BSZFN-0111-242020G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.118 in 11.6 in 2.6 in $140.20
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BSZFN-0118-116026G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.159 in 23.5 in 1.5 in $192.10
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BSZFN-0159-235015G 1

Z-FiNit Stainless Steel, Flat Ground

.153 in 23.5 in 2.0 in $248.30
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BSZFN-0153-235020G 2


InformationZ-FiNit Stainless Steel Information and Composition

Condition:
Our Z-FiNit has been properly annealed and is in the soft condition. You do not have to do any non-standard wasteful processes before heat treating. The steel must be heat treated to get to a hardened state. Follow the heat treat recipe and the steel will harden.

Ratings:
73 = Maximum Toughness
38 = Maximum Edge Holding

The rating scale is 0-100, 0 being minimum and 100 being maximum. The ratings are the maximum potential of the alloy. I do not recommend heat treating to the maximum value. Choose a heat treat recipe that results in the attributes you want.

Thank you to Dr Larrin Thomas for all the testing he performed and information he has provided. Buy his book Knife Engineering to learn more about knifemaking.

Alloy Comparison Table:

Description:
Z-FiNit is a unique alloy. It has similar performance of A8 Modified with the addition of extreme corrosion resistance. Excellent toughness, good edge holding and superior corrosion resistance. A truly unique alloy.

I first read about the steel named Cronidur 30 in an aerospace magazine years ago. We looked for a source and learned the steel was available in Europe and was very expensive. A few years later we found a domestic source but the price was still too high.

In late 2013 we were reviewing Zapp steels and recognized the composition of a steel they called LC200N. It was the same chemical composition as Cronidur 30. We called Zapp and bought a small sheet for testing. In early 2014 we talked to Zapp and agreed to change the name to Z-FiNit,
(Zapp Fine grain Nitrogen steel).

Cronidur 30 = LC200N = Z-FiNit

At HRC 59 the steel performs well. The performance is better than 52100. Because it is a nitrogen stainless steel, the corrosion resistance is excellent, far surpassing 440C. The toughness is excellent. Do not be afraid to grind the blade edge very thin. In our experience, the edge does not chip.

There are several stainless steels containing nitrogen available to knifemakers. The advantage of adding nitrogen to steel is corrosion resistance. The nitrogen frees chromium to provide corrosion resistance.

Flat Ground:
Any alloy that has “Flat Ground” in the description has been Blanchard ground. Our tolerances for flat grinding are +-.001” across 12”. You can identify Blanchard grinding by circular grind marks. Do not be mislead by other descriptions. Others try to pass off less accurate types of grinding with lower tolerances as flat grinding. This is why we call out our tolerances.

Information Sources:
There are many sources of information regarding knifemaking. Some sources, like Dr. Larrin Thomas of Knife Steel Nerds, are excellent. Other sources are not as credible. It is important to vet the your information sources. Be careful of anyone who says the way to heat treat 1095 or O1 is to heat to non-magnetic and quench in used motor oil. Anyone who publishes this type of information is not credible. When possible, we use information from manufacturers and industry experts.

AI Information:
The latest trend of bad information is from Artificial Intelligence (AI). Multiple companies have AI programs. AI collects and compiles information. The problem is, AI is does not know if the information is accurate or garbage. When asked, AI regurgitates and merges good and bad data. Beware of AI data when researching materials. If you read material information that sounds like it was written by a poetry graduate student, compares materials that are not similar, contains blatantly false information, etc, it was probably AI generated. At AKS, we never use AI to generate material information.

Data Sheet:
Zapp Z-FiNit (LC200N) Data Sheet


Heat TreatZ-FiNit Heat Treat Information:

Note: Nitrogen stainless steel alloys are susceptible to denitrization. They must be protected during heat treatment or the nitrogen will be burned off similar to carbon and decarburization. I spoke to a metallurgist about denitrization. She recommended the following options:
- A foil bag inside a vacuum furnace.
- A heat treat furnace filled with nitrogen during heat treating.
- A sealed foil bag inside another sealed foil bag during austenitizing.

Preheat: Put in a preheated furnace at 1,110-1,200°F. Equalize temperature. Increase to 1,550-1,650°F. Equalize temperature.

Austenitize: It is critical to not exceed the maximum austenitize temperature. If you overshoot the maximum temperature by a small amount, toughness will go down dramatically.

Heat to 1,800-1,900°F and soak for a maximum of for 40 minutes.

Quench: Plate, air or medium oil quench. Cool to 100°F before tempering.

Cryo: It is recommended to perform subzero or cryo to -185°F for 30 minutes before tempering.

Temper: Temper immediately after quenching. Two temper cycles for two hours each.

Use the graph below to select your temperatures:


CertsZ-FiNit Certs

Chemical Composition Certification*

  1. Click on the button below to get the chemical composition of the steel you purchased.
  2. You will be required to enter the three character code written in red letters on your steel.
  3. If you do not see red letters on the steel, your specific chemical composition is not in the system.

Lookup Cert
 
* This material is NOT certified for medical or aerospace applications.
  .

BSZFN BSZFN-0040 BSZFN-0060 BSZFN-0080 BSZFN-0100 BSZFN-0120 BSZFN-0140 BSZFN-0160 BSZFN-0180 BSZFN-0200 BSZFN-0220 BSZFN-0240 BSZFN-0260
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Z-FiNit Stainless Steel
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