How do these compare?I'm buying a new knife and I can't afford high end steels.Do te steels old an edge for long or is 440A better?
Yep. I remember back in the '80s when 440C was the shiz. It's still a very good everyday user steel, though it's been surpassed in different areas by different subsequent steels. :thumbup:
That's fair, my experience with 420HC is largely Buck and my experience with 440A is either Jarbenza type knives or cheap kitchen cutlery, so quality has likely played a significant role in my perception.
440c is a good thing in any budget knife, and better than 8cr and even Aus-8 IMHO. 440a sucks, VG10 and Sandvik 14c28n are better than 440c IMHO.
I have 5 kershaw knives with 4 different blade alloys. They are all good. 1 is 420hc. The tempering and blade geometry along with the ergonomic handle, make it a very good slicer and is equally suited to push or pull cutting. While not even an upper mid range steel, a very useful inexpensive steel.
AUS8 has that there Vanadium in it. It is more wear resistant than 440c. In the best examples I have used with both Steels, AUS8 took a better edge and held it longer. 440c is more stain resistant though.
No way. I've done side-by-side testing cutting manila rope. At the same hardness, 440C outperformed AUS8 by a sizeable margin. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...tainless-alloys-using-a-visual-inspection-tec At 0.2%, there is only enough Vanadium in AUS 8 for grain refinement. It is an insufficient amount to generate enough carbides to affect wear resistance.
I bought a new Buck 124 just a few weeks ago and I love it. I haven't had the chance to really put the 420HC blade to the test yet. Just wondering why it's your favorite EDC steel.
