440C ok blade steel?

jpsmith said:
I have this knife. I think I was told it was 440B when I emailed Linder about way back when I first got it. I could be mistaken. They may have said 440A. Not 440C however. Still an excellent little knife. If you know how to sharpen well, or have someone close at hand who does, then I would say go for it. The construction quality is great.
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Hmm... I'll try to do some research into this. I don't know that I realized there was 440 A, B, and C grades. But it's nice to know that you still enjoy the knife. I am quite well versed in how to sharpen, so I'm not concerned about that.
 
Ok, so it looks like it's 440A steel. So, thoughts? Is the consensus that it's still ok for a pocket knife?
 
440A isn't a bad steel. But for $75, you can definitely do better in a traditional style knife, IMO.
 
I like it just fine. Good general-use stuff.

EDIT: That is to say, I like 440C just fine. I don't like 440A overmuch, but it does work. For $75, I'd expect a much better steel than 440A.
 
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For 75$ you can get a JYD with a CPM D2 cutting edge . I would rather have that than sub par 440
 
Of course, everyone above is correct. 440A is not particularly desirable. However, this is a rather specific sort of knife. A nicely made stag handled(key phrase, nicely made), old school looking raised lock-back. You take a big hit on the steel but the quality of everything else is quite good. If you're just looking for a good blade steel, or are simply looking for a stag handled knife folding knife then yeah, run away, run away. Seriously, there are loads of other options. But for this specific kind of knife, I can only think of 2 maybe 3 options. I would love to find something with a better steel, and if anyone knows of one, then shoot me a PM or an email. At any rate, I have been quite pleased with my little Linder. I don't use it constantly and certainly not on things that are known for dulling blades, because I know the 440A will go to hell real quick. So, I maintain my suggestion, if you are looking for this specific kind of knife, then I say go for it. Just don't look for too much out of that 440A.
 
so 440c is much better than AUS8 let's they are both heat treated the same way? and in a blade steel, the carbon content is for corrosion resistance and the chromium is for hardness? or is it the other way around?
 
FSCJedi said:
Hmm... I'll try to do some research into this. I don't know that I realized there was 440 A, B, and C grades. But it's nice to know that you still enjoy the knife. I am quite well versed in how to sharpen, so I'm not concerned about that.
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FSCJedi said:
Ok, so it looks like it's 440A steel. So, thoughts? Is the consensus that it's still ok for a pocket knife?
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440A can be acceptable. It depends on how you are planning to use the knife. How much cutting do you do on a daily basis?

440A is great for taking a good edge and doing reasonable daily cutting chores. It's easy to sharpen, as well. Schrade and Camillus both used it for years as their primary stainless steel. Howsoever, if you need to do more robust cutting between sharpenings, I'd look for something else. BTW 440C will hold an edge significantly longer than 440A.
 
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