8cr13mov: one of the best steels ever?

FCM415 said:
I dont think the OP meant it as "the best" as compared to premium steels. Looking at cost and other attributes to performance amongst other attributes.
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right, but there are still inexpensive, easy to sharpen steels that are more desirable for me, namely simple carbon steels. because they seem less likely to roll badly under the same uses.

8cr is a perfectly respectable user steel, though. I used the hell out of my tenacious, but at the end of a camping trip the edge is basically gone.
 
FCM415 said:
I dont think the OP meant it as "the best" as compared to premium steels. Looking at cost and other attributes to performance amongst other attributes.
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four_shore said:
However, I think the OP meant the best for him.
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I agree, I think he was talking about for him, but his title is "one of the best steels ever". The title did cause me to open the thread though:p

I'm thinking a title of "one of the best steels for me", or "one of the best steels for the money" would have been more appropriate for this thread.
 
Not the best steel ever no.
But as far as "value knives" (let's say under $40) I think it is one of the best.

Now for a little story: a couple days ago I got bored and sharpened up my kershaw antelope hunter (8cr13mov) to the point where I could push cut paper, I then batoned all the limbs off a dead pine tree (most of the branches where 1/3" to 1/2") I'd say about 30 branches in all, and I could still push cut paper!

I'm not going to say its the most amazing steel but its pretty darn good!
 
four_shore said:
However, I think the OP meant the best for him.
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Thats what I got out of it.

I prefer a good number of steels over it myself in the collection of knives that Ive gathered but 8cr does the job, sharpens easily and is available on knives costing less than a measley 20 bucks.
 
Yes, for the price it is one of the better ones. It is very difficult to rate steels because of so many variables you are talking into consideration. A "lower end" steel that I have always liked is AUS 6 and 8
 
Ken44 said:
I agree, I think he was talking about for him, but his title is "one of the best steels ever". The title did cause me to open the thread though:p

I'm thinking a title of "one of the best steels for me", or "one of the best steels for the money" would have been more appropriate for this thread.
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definitely a good point.

"best value steels".

i would agree with that one :)
 
goodeyesniper said:
right, but there are still inexpensive, easy to sharpen steels that are more desirable for me, namely simple carbon steels. because they seem less likely to roll badly under the same uses.

8cr is a perfectly respectable user steel, though. I used the hell out of my tenacious, but at the end of a camping trip the edge is basically gone.
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True, but they're not readily available on modern folders.

You should invest in a field sharpener like a two sided pocket stone. Have your edges nice and sharp all the way through.
 
Lol, def. NOT "the best" steel ever... not even close.. BUT it is a GREAT steel... for EDC particularly... considering you have access to a sharpener because after a good days work with the knife.. unless you dont use it or you only open your mail with it... then you'll have to sharpen it!..

For military purposes I would prefer S30V ... considering you won't be able to take ur good sharpening systems over there. S35V is good too, but maybe just a bit too hard to sharpen in the field..? (I cant stand the sharpeners that you pull your blade through).. those will ruin any knife..
 
It works out to same thing just different, how frequent touch ups are vs how much time, effort spent. A big difference in repairing the edge. If you have to cut very abbrasive material constantly you can also look at serrations. Would bet an 8cr chinese Spydie serrated would last pretty long in one of the rope tests.
 
For the money and regular EDC it's a great steel.
Though a "Better" steel would be more suited for heavier jobs.
 
my favorite is cpm m4. will keep a working edge about ten times longer than 8cr, and as long as you keep it stropped or honed, it touches up very easily.

whereas 8cr does sharpen more easily, if you use it hard you will have to do edge repair that you would NOT have to do on many "super steels".

So, yeah, it's all a trade off for what you like and need. But if you gave me the option of resharpening an 8cr knife that was used hard versus cpm m4 that was used hard for twice as long, I will choose the m4 over having to reprofile the dented and rolled Chinese steel.
 
Does any one know of a website that has prices listed for bars of different steels. Would be interesting to compare the cost difference of various steels.
 
Blades'n'45 said:
Does any one know of a website that has prices listed for bars of different steels. Would be interesting to compare the cost difference of various steels.
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I think it depends largely on where the blade is being made. A Chinese factory would use 8cr because it is a Chinese made steel, whereas 1095 is probably equally as cheap for American companies. If you have to import in bulk, it becomes much more expensive to use foreign steel.

Looking at price per bar might not seem like much, but a difference in even 4% in the cost makes a huge difference when you are making thousands of pieces.

that said, I have no idea where to find those numbers :p
 
You can't just look at cost. Super steels take lots more time and such to work into a blade than a softer 8cr or aus8.
 
It's one of the better value steels, but I think 440c fills that niche a little better for me. There are some very nice, inexpensive knives that use it, but you still see it in some very nice higher end pieces too.
 
Knife steels are kind of like top speeds on cars. You could buy a Camry and go a little over 100 for $5000(gently used one). Or buy a buggati veyron for 2 mill and go 250 mph. It's to say that price and performance don't increase at a 1:1 ratio.
 
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