440C Knife Blanks

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Forgedfixedblade

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Jul 10, 2014
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Hello, question about some of the 440C knife blanks that seem to be surfacing on ebay, found a seller that advertises all his blades as 440C. I've been wanting a nice heavy duty bushcraft style knife for a while now and I pulled the trigger on this one,...<link removed>. love this blade design and price is cheap, I have bought a few blanks from this guy before that have turned out to be pretty decent blades. Apparently Chinese made, I also ordered a set of G10 scales and haven't decided whether custom Kydex or leather for the sheath, any of you guys have much experience with the Chinese 440C, possible hardness rating? Thanks, Rob.
 
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Hi Rob,

Welcome to the site. A couple of things....please don't link to live ebay auctions as it's against the rules. It is however okay to link to a closed or ended auction if you need an example to use for discussion. Also, these blanks you're asking about have nothing to do with custom or handmade knives which is the forum you posted you in. I've removed the link and moved this thread to the General Knife Discussion forum.

Thanks

Jason
 
I have gotten a couple blanks from USAknifemaker that are pretty good. I think that's probably where these sellers are getting their blanks, because some look awful familiar. The steel seems to be of good quality, but of the 4 that I got, most didn't have the best grind geometry.

I tried 2 different types of the small hunting style for use as paring and steak knives, but they were both too thick at the spine and the edge. It says 1/8" thick, but it looked thicker than I expected. My fault for buying "hunting" knives for the kitchen. Lesson learned

The other 2 I got were the dedicated kitchen knives that came with thinner spines, but semi-thick edges. I did 2 of the 6" Santoku Chefs, and 2 of the 4" trimmer parers. I bought 3 of them as gifts, which were received well after putting some wood scales on. I kept one of the Santoku Chefs, and it performs well. The flaws were uneven grind and thick behind the edge. After thinning the shoulders of the edge quite a bit I am much happier with it. Its a decent chef knife for $15, and holds a good edge. I'd say they are worth the price, but you won't get an optimal grind for these budget blanks.
 
It will be hit and miss on these as far as hardness. I have found that smaller people make smaller handles. Do not be surprised when you get it that it is only about 3mm thick and your "Western" fingers don't fit the handle.
 
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Forgedfixedblade said:
Hello, question about some of the 440C knife blanks that seem to be surfacing ...

... any of you guys have much experience with the Chinese 440C, possible hardness rating?
Click to expand...




Without knowing more about these blades, I'd be a bit leery of the Chinese 440C.


It may be a quality Chinese version of 440C stainless, with the best Heat Treatment,

...but then again, it may be a "more economically favorable" alloy and HT. :eek:




Big Mike
 
Thanks guys for the responses, I did question the seller on the blade thickness, it is 5mm thick and handle measures 5 inches in length, appears to be a big boy knife, should be a pretty good fit for me. Hoping that it will be a quality piece, last blade I got from this seller has been a good one, I did a paracord handle for that one.
 
I also think that the heat treat might be hit or miss. There are some reputable online retailers that sell blades, I seem to remember one place that makes their own blades in their factory in Oklahoma and theirs are available in a variety of decent steels.

For a heavy duty bushcraft knife, you might even be better off with 440C that is not hardened up to its limit because that would allow the steel to be a little tougher. No matter what the steel is in your blade, it will be fun to assemble it and fun to show it off to other people. Be warned though, some people here are sensitive about people saying that they "made" a knife when they didn't actually grind the blade themselves. You can just say that you "assembled" the knife and you will be OK. And I think I have "assembled" about 8 or so from pre-made blade blanks, and given them away to family and friends.
 
I would be leery of the heat treat as well. What temperature was it austenitize at? Was it given a cryogenic soak? And how many temper cycles was it given? At what temperature? This is what you need to ask. DM
 
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