Böker 500 stainless & Best steel for a diversknife?

[Bart student]

Hello Folks,

I own a knife from Böker (Europe), brown zytel handle, backlock, flatgrind, broad blade. Lightweight, multipurpose good knife. About 8 cm of blade. Hadle is marked 'treebrand' an both sides with a copper plate above the pivot of the blade.
Now the question: the blade is marked 500 stainless. and Solingen Germany. I do like this steel, because it performs like Böker 440-C (Böker does not use the usual 440-C), but does not rust at all. I even put some acid on to test. Now I know there are much better steels available, but I am planning on making my own diversknife. A 6mm thick full tang with micarta scales and a kydex sheath. But the steel must not rust, and since I preferably use 51200, 5160, O-1 and 1095, I do not have any stainless. And I would like to know what is the best steel for a diversknife? I must be tough, not rusting and resonable edgeholding, and not cost too much like Talonite, or the CPM-stuff.
thanks in advance.

 

[AchimW]

Hi Bart!

I don't know the Böker 500 steel. For diving knives, i would suggest to use a VERY stainless steel, as rust resistance is much more important for most under water uses than edge holding.

If you want to have quiet good edge holding anyway, use something like 1.4034 or 12C27mod of Sandvik, both having about 0,5 % C and 15 % Cr. More stain resistance/less edge holding you'll get with Sandvik 6C27, which is the same steel as AISI 420 with 0,32 % C and 14 % Cr. For best stain resistance, but shi##y edge holding use 18/10 (Cr 18 %, Ni 10 %) or try to get a piece of surgical implantation steel.

Achim

....ehhh....where's the bearing steel???