Thanks to its excellent toughness with a hardness range of 63-68 HRC, ApexUltra surpasses other steels with such a high hardness. To improve the steel even further, it has been provided with rust-resistant cover layers. Developed and manufactured to high quality standards, this forge-welded steel is perfect for the production of extremely hard knives using the stock removal process.

The cutting layer makes up around 30% of the material thickness.

Recommended hardness range of the cutting layer: 63-68 HRC. 3-layer steel with ApexUltra core layer and martensitic hardening, rust-resistant cover layers. The cladding achieve a good spring hardness of 40-50 HRC and are therefore easy to grind and tough.
We normalize, grain refine and anneal the steel after forge welding and forging/rolling to save you these time-consuming steps as a knifemaker and to get the best possible performance from the steel. So you can start sawing or grinding the contour straight away.
To bring out the natural texture of the steel, we gently remove the scale instead of just grinding the surface.
We straighten the steels as best we can in this step. Fine straightening can still be beneficial after contour grinding and before hardening.
Recommended hardening: 830°C for 10 minutes, quenching in medium or fast oil. Temper at 175°C for 2x2 hours with cooling to room temperature before each tempering cycle. For more information on hardening, see the ApexUltra data sheet: [https://www.apexultrasteel.com/downloads].

It is a raw material for making knives using the stock removal process. Pictures of the knives are merely examples of how this steel can be used; the knives are not part of the article offered here. The steel offered has a core layer made of non-stainless steel.