440 A - Why are so many people having problems with it?

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cgusek111

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I read a lot of post about how people have problems with 440A steel. Why? This is just something I have been thinking about over the week. I own a few blades made with 440A and have no problems sharpening them, keeping them sharp using them in the bush. And there a many legendary blades made in the past that were made with 440A. So why the dislike now?
 
I did a little research a couple months ago. One example off the top of my head is the Gerber LMF and BMF. I'll search my sources again and find the others. There were also some of the older model SOG's and ONTARIOS.
 
cgusek111 said:
I read a lot of post about how people have problems with 440A steel. Why? This is just something I have been thinking about over the week. I own a few blades made with 440A and have no problems sharpening them, keeping them sharp using them in the bush. And there a many legendary blades made in the past that were made with 440A. So why the dislike now?
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One of the turnoffs for a lot of folks is that so many 440A blades are currently on low end knives and do not receive a good heat treat. Properly done, 440A can reach a hardness of 57 Rockwell. I have one like that and it works pretty good for me, though it does not hold an edge as well as VG10 at Rockwell 59. When your only basis of comparison is poorly done 440A vs. well done VG10 or 440C, then it is easy to get a very bad opinion of 440A. Those legenadary blades of the past got a good heat treat.

Kershaw does a lot of 440A and I don't hear people complaining about their performance. They obviously give the stuff a good heat treat.
 
440A rust very easy!
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Compared to what?!?
I've never had any stainless steel that rusted.

440 A - 440 B - 440C...
...All three resist rust well, with 440A being the most rust resistant
-Joe Talmadge
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Heck, I've never had a carbon steel blade that rusted...
 
Isn't Randall using 440A in their stainless knives?
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440B, from what I've read.

One example off the top of my head is the Gerber LMF and BMF.
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Those would be excellent knives if made with 440C, or even a mid-range carbon steel. They're made with 440A because it's cheap.
 
My Kershaw Leek in what I believe is 440A has performed to satisfaction for me. No rust, sharpens easily and holds an edge well enough. Kershaw seems to do their HT's pretty well.
 
Vivi said:
My Kershaw Leek in what I believe is 440A has performed to satisfaction for me. No rust, sharpens easily and holds an edge well enough. Kershaw seems to do their HT's pretty well.
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Thats good to hear. I am planning on picking one up sometime next week. I was debating between the 440A and ZDP version. I think im going with the 440A so I can start saving the rest of my money for the new kershaw Tyrade.
 
There are so many considerations involved in picking a steel that just going by the name isn't usually enough. The old Gerber engineers chose 440A for its BMF, which I think it got to 57Rc, because it was the best steel they could find for a survival situation: very tough and hard to break and easy to field sharpen on rocks.
 
I recently bought a Randal Model 5 from Plaza cutlery and on their website it says the blade steel is 440A.
 
Could be then. Since they advertise their stainless models for saltwater use, the 440A, although softer than other stainless steels, is more corrosion resistent.
 
Yep, the problem is it's in so many BAD knives, that have a horrible or even nonexistant heat treat or temper, that people just kinda gave up on it. And no way does 440A rust easily, unless it wasn't really 440A.
 
I read somewhere that my Kershaw Ken Onion Tactical Blur was made from 440, but i love the knife it holds a good edge(though the tips of the serrations popped off cutting plastic, yah abused it) but when it was starting to dull i stropped it on some cardboard and i was amazed at how sharp it became (i havent even bothered sharpening it, yet). It holds up really well, guess its just the heat treatment and it my baby hasnt rusted (i live on the coast in surf city and seal beach, CA.

*update* turns out my tanto blur isnt made of 440A, its made from Sandvik 13C26 stainless-steel
 
Twindog said:
There are so many considerations involved in picking a steel that just going by the name isn't usually enough. The old Gerber engineers chose 440A for its BMF, which I think it got to 57Rc, because it was the best steel they could find for a survival situation: very tough and hard to break and easy to field sharpen on rocks.
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Worth noting is that the BMF scabbards have a coarse diamond hone attached. No reason to use rocks unless you lost or swapped out the scabbard. I mentioned elsewhere that these are pretty hard. Whether 440a or 440b, I'm not entirely certain anymore but I do know the steel is hard enough to be a chore to sharpen, hence the diamond hone is included as useful.

Picnic.jpg

BMF on the right near a subhilt Deleon in ATS-34. Both are tanks that hold edges pretty darn well and about equal in feel under diamond impregnated steels.

I have scraped rust off an axe on cinder blocks and finished on granite curb but various diamond solutions are easily packable. Really no excuse not to include one such in a possibles kit.

Cheers

GC
 
440a should be more rust resistant then 440c, the reason is because 440c has a higher carbon percentage then 440a. This is probably why 440c has better edge holding capabilites if both were heat treated properly.
 
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