Best knife make when comes to heat treat

[Jason B.]

In my experience from putting steel to stone...
Spyderco
ESSE
Kabar/becker
Buck
Old S30V Striders with Bos HT
Shirogorov
Big Chris
TOPS Knives
And probably a few others i cant think of at this time.

 

[ty_higg]

I’m gonna throw in John of Jk Handmade knives in here for his 01 heat treat. I get great results based off his knives I use.

 

[Jeremy D Bittler]

Production knife makers?

 

[tyyreaun]

I'm gonna assume "best heat treat" equals most wear resistant. That's not always the case, of course, but for the sake of the discussion.

With that assumption, then, some of the recommendations here surprised me. Some production companies with reputations for having the softest knives were mentioned as "best". I guess personal experiences will vary - I'm going by what I understand to be general consensus.

With that said, I think most production companies will run their steels soft, compared to what's possible. That makes sense, of course - it's probably cheaper (mainly around needing less process control when aiming for the middle of the hardness range - lower tolerances, more room for variation). Plus, if you consider your average consumer, it makes sense. If a knife gets dull, well, that's what knives do. If a knife chips, on the other hand, it's much more tempting to blame the company for poor manufacturing or quality control. If that perception is true, then of course it'll be in a company's best interest to run a bit softer, reduce the chances of chips or breakages, and keep your general customers happy.

For specific production companies, I'd say any Buck knife with a Paul Bos treat should be excellent - they have strong reputations. Note that not all Bucks get a Paul Bos treat - check for the "BOS" logo on the blade.

Likewise, Spyderco. My personal guess is that on their sprint runs/limited editions with high-end steels, they go for harder heat treats, mainly cause they know the main customers there will be knife nuts. For general models (e.g., S30V), they may be running a more pedestrian heat treat, for the reasons mentioned above. No strong evidence of that, mind you, but in general I find their higher-end steels get great results within what's expected of the steel, while their S30V results are more middle of the range - see Pete's numbers (Youtube Cedric and Ada).

For customs, you can of course get much better (harder) heat treats, from the custom makers that are interested in putting up strong numbers. Not all custom makers do, though, so don't assume custom always equals better.

My personal pet peeve on customs is the recent trend of running K390 in the low 60s hardness. K390 is high-carbon, high-vanadium, super steel. Spyderco runs theirs in the 64-66 range, I believe. When I see custom makers putting out K390 knives in the 62-63 range, I really wonder why. Sure, it'll be tougher, but so would Vanadis 4E at 62-63 HRC, or multiple other Bohler steels, that are cheaper and (probably) easier to work. Why take a steel that was designed for maximum hardness, and then run it at a relatively low hardness?

 

[SpyderPhreak]

Spyderco has definitely gotten the most mention here. There's a reason for that!

Ehhh. Peter's is capable of doing amazing work but they follow the customer's requirements, which is often spec'ed soft. That's not a ding against Peter's. They're a business.

While that's true, if the customer works with Peters and listens to them, Peters will steer them right. Peters is responsible for several of the popular protocols for some of today's "super" steels. I can tell you from first-hand experience that their Elmax protocol is top notch at 61-62 Rc. They actually developed the baseline Elmax protocol for Uddeholm.

Again:
Fredrik Haakonsen
Adam Kornalski
Jerry Busse.

Really should add Nathan Carothers to that list for his Delta 3V.

 

[hugofeynman]

Spyderco has definitely gotten the most mention here. There's a reason for that!



While that's true, if the customer works with Peters and listens to them, Peters will steer them right. Peters is responsible for several of the popular protocols for some of today's "super" steels. I can tell you from first-hand experience that their Elmax protocol is top notch at 61-62 Rc. They actually developed the baseline Elmax protocol for Uddeholm.



Really should add Nathan Carothers to that list for his Delta 3V.

Never tried it.

 

[afishhunter]

For specific production companies, I'd say any Buck knife with a Paul Bos treat should be excellent - they have strong reputations. Note that not all Bucks get a Paul Bos treat - check for the "BOS" logo on the blade

Actually, According to Joe Houser, every blade Buck makes has the BOS heat treat.
They just don't put the BOS logo on the 420HC blades.

I was going to say Buck because they use/have the Paul Bos heat treat on every USA made blade. Even the multipul bladed knives.

I don't know if their offshore produced knives have the BOS heat treat.
From my experiance their offshore produced knives hold an edge just as well and are as easy to sharpen as the domestic made knives though.

 

[cistercian]

Based on use...Spyderco and Buck. The buck was my first big folder
a Bucklite 110. When the nylon sheath fell apart I retired it because
it was too big in pocket. Spyderco S30V is fantastic for my EDC chores
and making the Lil Native hair popping is a 2 or 3 minute task on the
Sharpmaker. Para 2s in S30V are also epic. I still don't need to sharpen
my Blue M390 Para2.
Spyderco has the full flat grind down to a science and the thin edge
really makes their heat treat shine. Best cutting tools I have ever owned.

My ZT knives have fat profiles in comparison but they are toys for me
mostly. They do not cut as well as the spydies do.
My new Native Chief is a wicked slicer. I expect it will perform like the
Lil Native...but much better for onions and tomatoes!

 

[AntDog]

At the top of my production knives list: Spyderco, Busse (and kin), Buck, Becker.

There are tons of custom makers out there who know how to get the best out of the steels they use.