440C & AUS8 cannot be fine blanked. Fine blanking is when you use a die to punch the blades out of a sheet of steel. The higher the carbon content of the steel, the faster the dies wear out. Fine blanking dies cost lots of money.
Steels like 440C, AUS8, S30V etc are laser cut. Laser cutting is much slower than fine blanking. Slow production means each blade costs more*. Laser cutting production can be increased by buying more machines which cost huge money.
* = The cost of difference of the two ways of making the blades is not that much at the manufacturers level, but we do not buy knives at the manufacturing price. Knives are manufactured, distributed and sold at retail prices. For example, if a blade is $10 at the manufacturers level, the distributers level price is $20 and the retail price is $40. A difference of a few dollars at the manufacturing level makes a huge difference at the retail level.
When a manufacturer makes a new knife, part of the design is deciding what market price will be. The lower the price, the higher quantity will be sold. A difference of a few dollars makes a huge difference it the quantity sold. The higher quantity sold, the faster the knives must be made. This forces the manufacturers to reduce costs and increase production every place possible. One way to cut big costs and increase production is to fine blank the blades.
440A and AUS6 are NOT bad steels. However, they are not all the same. The alloy numbers may be the same but the alloy content and heat treat can vary dramatically. One way Kershaw and Spyderco have distinguished themselves is by getting the most out of the steel. I've noticed that knives with 440A and AUS6 from Kershaw and Spyderco stay sharp longer than knives with the same alloys from other companies.
Don't make the mistake of lumping all companies together.
