Oh I always hear vim tools bragging on there S2 tool steel. I got a few of there stubby 1/4 bit sockets in torx and hex
if it’s not too big of a deal in a few sentences can you say the difference between s2 and cro-mo and cro-vanadium with respect to how there used in sockets? Durability, brittleness, strength, cost, impact rating, whatever else? Maybe whether or not you run them chrome or black?
i always see these three but honestly idk why I would want one or another
I could probably write a full page, but that would just be me distilling almost 2 decades of experience on how and why i prefer to these choices all for our competition on display. It's not hidden knowledge, but they'll have to earn it the same way I did. By making lots of mistakes of course, ahaha.
Generally speaking S2, S7 > Ni-Cro-Mo like 8660 > CroMo like 4140 > CrV like 6150 or 6140 for impact stuff. That's also in order of material cost as well, as some countries don't have domestic Cro-Mo production and have to import but CrV is readily available everywhere.
This is also in order of wear on forging dies, size of the forging machine needed and the level of sensitivity to temperature and blank size during forging and treatment leading to a good consistent product. It's also due to some of these details you can't just make everything out of S2, or even 8660.
I'd take a well made Cr-V over a shop spitting out 8660 with poor processes and tolerances out of their control for example.
That ordering is not to say Cr-V is bad, it's miles better than lots of other mid grade alloy some outfits will still use, on most hand tools for example I can't tell the difference in testing between Cro-Mo and CrV - it's gotten VERY good. To the point where there's no reason not to use Cr-V on chrome stuff.
This also assumes a fixed dimensional constraint, beyond a certain size/thickness for most practical purposes you're not gaining any toughness with like S2 vs Cro-Mo, maybe just hardness which isn't always the goal either.
How are we supposed to keep up on buying things with this rapid pace of new releases?
I'll make you guys a deal, you guys stop asking for them and we'll stop makin em
