AUS 8A Steel

W.T. Beck said:
I am suprised to read some equating AUS 8 with 440C. Shouldn't 440C have better edge-holding, since it has more carbon?
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440C has the potential for more wear resistance, however how it is hardened can effect this significantly. It depends on how much of the primary carbides are dissolved during the soak (the austenizing temperature) and how it quenched (air vs oil and cold treatments) and how it is tempered.

It would be easy to produce AUS-8A which had more wear resistance than 440C. One of the trade offs is wear resistance for corrosion resistance because the chromium can only be in carbides or the ferrite, not in both.

However edge retention gets a lot more complicated that wear resistance in general. It is no use for example for a steel to have a high wear resistance if the edge can't stay properly formed, thus you need a high strength and sufficient toughness, then there is the issue of corrosion.

Consider for example :

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=386998

Where H1 had *many* times the edge retention of S30V.

-Cliff
 
Amazing info and a totally unexpected comparison.

I've been using 8A for years in Lakotas' fixed blade Hawks and a Cold Steel SE Voyageur and they have always impressed me with their ability to take and hold an wicked sharp edge. I've reprofiled to 30 deg. with no secondary bevel and hone polish to mirror with fine alumina (aka SM). I use them for big game exclusively and have never rolled an edge ... until this passed fall, when I hit vertebral bone with the SE and it rolled the arc of the serration but didn't damage the tips. As a matter of fact, up until then, I'd skinned 2 elk and one muley with the same knife without a touch up. I'll agree that this duty isn't typical of the average EDC use ... my point is it has a narrow niche that it fulfills perfectly for the right user.

Thanks again!
 
Has anyone try the AUS8 is 30 degree and test?

I think if you reduce the edge to 30 degree, then try to use the knife. I am not sure if the knife will perform better without edge roll.
 
This explains a great deal. I sharpened a friends Ambush on a belt sander w/ 320x and leather w/ white compound. The few passes I gave it would normally have removed the chips he put in the edge (not knocking the steel, he used if for heaven knows what), but on this blade, they were very small but still there after sharpening. The edge was very crisp and it seemed to have a different "sound" when cutting. I may have to get one after all. My only gripe w/ the ambush is its not very pointy, but thats easy enough to fix. The edge is also very thin, which I like for a folder.
 
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