Do certain steels mean anything to you and if so which ones?

[cbr900son]

So my little knifemaking thing has been doing real well. This tax return I plan on buying a very nice heat treat oven which gives me the ability to heat treat any steel without sending off or using friends ovens. Ive been testing different steels to see things like edge retention and how nice of a polish it can take and harness among other things. My question to yall is how important is the steel used in a knife to you? What steels do you prefer?

I like high carbon steels like O1, 1080, 1084 adn 1095. Im starting to play with and respect some of the stainless steels a lot more like 440c and cpm 154. Soon Ill be running some test pieces and test blades in s30 and some of the other "super stainless steels" and for the chef guys I might be getting lucky and getting some japanese white #2 and a small sample of white #1 in the near future. I have a friend who can test the rockwell hardness and analyze the steels which helps me know the quality of certain heat treatments and kind fulfills the knife nerd in me lol.

I come to these forums a lot for advice from a users standpoint well because I try to stay local with anything I do. Wether it be business or hanging out on a local internet forum local is always better.

So if you have any questions or comments about certain steels as related to blades I guess lets use this thread as a discussion on that.


BTW if you want the occasional update on what I'm up to knife wise I made a facebook page just for the bishop custom knives with a link in my sig. I'm not spamming on it and just showing recent knives finished and the occasional update about things going on in the shop. Might be a new post once maybe twice a week at most.

 

[Gus McCrae]

I don't really, but I might research a steel that a maker specifies to see if it's a steel I want. Sometimes you want something that stays sharp.... sometimes you want it easy to sharpen.... Can I get easy to sharpen and stays sharp?

 

[cbr900son]

I don't really, but I might research a steel that a maker specifies to see if it's a steel I want. Sometimes you want something that stays sharp.... sometimes you want it easy to sharpen.... Can I get easy to sharpen and stays sharp?

Yes you can. Its more of a balancing act between how sharp,ease of sharpening, how long the edge will last, how tough, and if its stainless or not. There is no perfect steel just better steels for certain situations.

 

[returningliberty]

It kind of depends on what you're doing, man. I'm not an expert by any means but I do a little blacksmithing when I have a chance. A lot of high carbon steel is difficult to work with, very hard to forge weld, and requires careful or special quenching techniques and materials. O1 is oil quench, W-1 is water, A-1 is air etc. if I'm making fire pokers or other non hardened things I use mild steel. The few knives I've hammered out have been rail road nails.
I used some w-1 or a derivative thereof to make some steel handgun targets and noticed a very large distortion of the shape after quench. Oil quench metals distort less, and air cooled even less, but take hours before you can play with them.

 

[Leadfoot]

S30V is the new hotness.

 

[DAVE_M]

Yes you can. Its more of a balancing act between how sharp,ease of sharpening, how long the edge will last, how tough, and if its stainless or not. There is no perfect steel just better steels for certain situations.

Pretty much what I would have said. I like certain knives in 440c and AUS-8, especially if I'm going out in the boat. Kershaw's 13CrMov began to rust after one outing on the lake. Nothing I couldn't clean up, but it rusted faster than 440c and AUS-8 would have. The carbon steel blades are nice, but must be kept up. The high humidity of Louisiana loves to make them rust.

 

[cbr900son]

Pretty much what I would have said. I like certain knives in 440c and AUS-8, especially if I'm going out in the boat. Kershaw's 13CrMov began to rust after one outing on the lake. Nothing I couldn't clean up, but it rusted faster than 440c and AUS-8 would have. The carbon steel blades are nice, but must be kept up. The high humidity of Louisiana loves to make them rust.

I love carbon blades but you are right the downfall is rust. I'm actually becoming a fan of 440c lately. I think I gave it a bad rep in my head due to cheap knives made from it. Cost wise its not nearly expensive as other stainless steels and performance wise it can hold its own too.

 

[SirIsaacNewton]

S30V is the new hotness.

That is soooo last year. LOL Now it is S35V, S60V, and S110V not evening mentioning CTS-XHP. Personally I really enjoy VG-10, CPM154, and I am giving CTS-XHP a whirl as we speak. I like H2 for my saltwater blade and really any high carbon steel with a quality heat treat for my axes and outdoor blades.

440c, AUS-8, and 13CrMov is inferior in my opinion. Why not invest another 15 bucks and get a decent steel?

 

[cbr900son]

That is soooo last year. LOL Now it is S35V, S60V, and S110V not evening mentioning CTS-XHP. Personally I really enjoy VG-10, CPM154, and I am giving CTS-XHP a whirl as we speak. I like H2 for my saltwater blade and really any high carbon steel with a quality heat treat for my axes and outdoor blades.

440c, AUS-8, and 13CrMov is inferior in my opinion. Why not invest another 15 bucks and get a decent steel?

Well 440c, aus-8 and others are about 1/3 the cost of say s30v and about 1/3 the cost to heat treat. Stuff like that adds up. Cpm 154 is becomign one of my favs all around for stainless especially in the kitchen. I just think there are certain steels for certain jobs and certain price ranges. I also enjoy vg-10 despite it being a older steel.

PS - there is a difference between cpm 154 and 154 cm. Cpm 154 is a powdered metal which has to do with how carbides form. Is basically a version2 of 154 cm. Slight upgrade with no real downside over 154 cm. Also Hitachi makes ATS34 and Crucible makes 154CM. They are near identical in chemical make up. The biggest difference in ATS 34/154 CM from 440C is that they both have about 3% less chromium and 4% more molybdenum than 440C as far as I can tell. Its kind of gettign to the point where different companies have different names for almost the exact same metal. Another example is some of the japanese steels used in chef knives like Hitachi white #1 and 2 are similar to w1 and w2 steel commonly used in the US from what I hear.

If you got some chemistry or knife nerd in you this stuff is kinda neat to learn about. This is also why I like performing test when I can. Other things to remeber is things like a knife that gets tooo hard will chip on the edge rather then dull. For example a kitchen slicer might want a 60-61 rockwell hardness but a camp knife/chopper might want more close to 56.

 

[FRANKEIGHT]

Well 440c, aus-8 and others are about 1/3 the cost of say s30v and about 1/3 the cost to heat treat. Stuff like that adds up. Cpm 154 is becomign one of my favs all around for stainless especially in the kitchen. I just think there are certain steels for certain jobs and certain price ranges. I also enjoy vg-10 despite it being a older steel.

Unless I know the person for whom I am making the knife I allways use 440 C because many years ago I made four skinning knives for a family out of O1 and they were returned with the complaint that after skinning a deer they rusted when they putup without cleaning. I have just made two knives using D2 for a man in England but he knows how to take of his knives.
frank cole

 

[cbr900son]

Unless I know the person for whom I am making the knife I allways use 440 C because many years ago I made four skinning knives for a family out of O1 and they were returned with the complaint that after skinning a deer they rusted when they putup without cleaning. I have just made two knives using D2 for a man in England but he knows how to take of his knives.
frank cole

Yeah I feel the same way myself. If they arn't familiar with knife care (usually rinsing and drying off) I try and steer them toward stainless. Someone like Sirisaacnewton who posted a few post earlier would be the type of person I feel more comfortable about doing a carbon blade for. I myself like patinas and 9 out of 10 times make carbon blades for my house or personal use. Of course every one has different taste too.

 

[gunslinger]

I like carbon blades for ease to get a scary edge on ,got a knife from david farmer in L6 sharpest thing i own.Now that fine edge will dull easy but i don't mind ,,,a few licks on a loaded strop and good to go.

 

[cnodie1]

ZDP189

 

[SirIsaacNewton]

I love patinas. I have been fiddling with forced patinas for quite sometime. You really can't beat a high carbon steel blade however since I get the most use out of my pocket knives and your not always in a position where you can really give your blade the attention it needs. With my high carbon blades I usually clean them pat them dry and depending on what they are used for either cover them with a light coat of rem oil or extra virgin olive oil.

In regards to 154cm being identical to ATS34 I to have read this as well and from what I have come across 154cm is extremely similar to VG-10. Almost so similar that I consider them the same. I know there is a slight difference but it seems negligible to me.

The funny thing about steels are they become fashionable. ATS34 was the big thing in the 90's now it is S30v and it will continue to change like fashion. Funny stuff IMO.

I really prefer the softer stainless steels like VG-10 since it is less likely to chip and when it rolls you just take a steel strop to it. The edge might be not as durable however it is also a lot easier to get back to shaving sharp. A few licks on the strop and bam. S30v stays sharp longer but if you push the edge until it gets dull it is a bear to get back to shaving sharp.

 

[cbr900son]

Yeah a important part of a knife to me is ease of resharpening. I think 01 is a good all around carbon steel.

 

[762NATO]

Carbon steels all the way here.

 

[Hunh Bruh]

I like busse. Infi baby!

 

[jmcrawf1]

I like busse. Infi baby!

Busse combat makes some sweet knives.

 

[Swami]

Since my ONLY custom knife is made from ATS-34, I am really fond of that steel. It's an ICC knife that's been through Katrina and has seen extreme use and is just unstoppable. I'd actually love to polish it up and restore it to glory...

 

[cbr900son]

Since my ONLY custom knife is made from ATS-34, I am really fond of that steel. It's an ICC knife that's been through Katrina and has seen extreme use and is just unstoppable. I'd actually love to polish it up and restore it to glory...

I havn't worked wityh ats-34 in awhile but It is a GREAT steel!