Best steel AUS6 or 440C

P

patrickjames

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Feb 11, 2006
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2 of my favorite knives for all around woods use have different steels.My SOG has AUS6 and my Benchmade and Boker has 440c steel.I realize this might be like comparing apples and oranges to you more experience knife collectors,but is there one better than the other?
PJ
 
I would take 440C over AUS6 or AUS8 everytime.

STR
 
I would rate 440C better for edge retention, stain resistance, polishability. Just all around its better. 440C is a 'premium' knife steel and still holds its own with a lot of the other so called super steels although some of them are noticeably better. 154CM is an enhanced 440C basically. (enhanced for better corrosion resistance) So, in many ways 440C is the foundation of where the super stainless steels started out.

STR
 
patrickjames said:
...but is there one better than the other?
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It depends on what you do with the knife, AUS-6 is softer, tougher, with a finer grain and carbide structure, more ductile, and easier to grind, and likely more corrosion resistant. 440C is harder, stronger, and more wear resistant.

-Cliff
 
It also depends on who's treating the steel. Many Smith & Wesson knives boast of 440C steel blades, yet their reputation isn't very good. I'm amazed that more knife companies don't use 440C. I've read some web sites that say that 440C is one of the most commonly used stainless steels used in knives, but I've found that today 440A has replaced it for the most part. After 440A, companies seem to favor AUS 8 or AUS 6.

Even with AUS 8 blades, the tolerance runs anywhere from an RC 56 all the way to 58, so it's conceivable that you could buy, say, a CRKT or Cold Steel and be getting a softer steel. And unless you used a lot of knives and knew your steels, you would never know. Chances are you'd blame the knife, and I've seen that happen a lot.
 
tarmix101 said:
What about it?????? I would take 440C over AUS8 any day for edge retention!
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Have you ever had an Al Mar Hawk with AUS8? Mine is superb and I am honestly a fan of Benchmade's 440C.

Precision in heat treat and geometry make so much of a difference.
 
Heat treatment does have a lot to do with any steel. I've had AUS8 blades that were great and some that just sucked. Same with 440C but many of my favorite carry knives are 440C blades. I still see a lot of older 440C knives in the deer camps every year that have served their owners quite well for many years too. Many custom makers like it for the mirror polish it can take where there are virtually no lines in the steel when its done, one so good you can make mirrors out of it. Of course you can do that with a lot of the 400 series stainless though.

STR
 
cmd said:
Have you ever had an Al Mar Hawk with AUS8? Mine is superb and I am honestly a fan of Benchmade's 440C.

Precision in heat treat and geometry make so much of a difference.
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No I have never has an Al Mar... but I do own a CRKT with AUS-8. I still like 440C better. Remember this is just a personal preference, but it seems a little easier to sharpen. Also... I am a much bigger fan of carbon steel, and to me 440C (compared to AUS-8) seems to get a little sharper. I still would take a 1095 blade any day over both of them! Just MO:D
 
Not to stir the pot,but I went to the SOG web site and this is what they say about there Seal 2000 that uses AUS6 steel."winner of the most extensive testing ever under taken by the US goverment" and the reason the SOG won out over other knives is 1.tip breaking strenght 2.blade toughness 3.sharpness and edge retention 4.chopping,hammering and prying. 440c is better than this?
thank you PJ
 
patrickjames said:
Not to stir the pot,but I went to the SOG web site and this is what they say about there Seal 2000 that uses AUS6 steel."winner of the most extensive testing ever under taken by the US goverment" and the reason the SOG won out over other knives is 1.tip breaking strenght 2.blade toughness 3.sharpness and edge retention 4.chopping,hammering and prying. 440c is better than this?
thank you PJ
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O.K. SOG is trying to sell knives up against Benchmade, Spyderco, and many others. What would you guess they would say about AUS-6. If SEALS say it's best.... well it must be. I'm not trying to say they are full of it... but it is a marketing ploy after all:rolleyes:
 
You have to take those things with a grain of salt really. I did have a SOG Twitch XL that they do an excellent job on though.

Even still I always have to stand back and wonder when awards are given like that. Kind of like the Motor Trend car of the year awards to me. What does that really prove except maybe that it was x manufacturers turn or that they spent more money with them that year? I don't know. Just seems highly suspicious to me personally when I read that kind of stuff especially when I weigh those results against my own experience with both steels. Then I have to say to myself, something ain't quite adding up here???

STR
 
STR said:
You have to take those things with a grain of salt really.
STR
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I agree. Marketing can make a turd look like a gem. I am not saying SOG SEAL brand of knives are junk, but why the Government would buy in mass quantities is subject to consideration. There isn't a better marketing ploy than that?
 
In terms of the heavier things like hammering, prying, toughness, etc., AUS-6A and in general lower carbon and simpler alloy steels are the better choices. Edge retention is a complicated issue and there are ways for which AUS-6A would have superior edge retention than 440C. In general when you start thinking of a knife as more as a general purpose tool and not a precision cutting instrument, you move away from steels designed to cut things (W1, M2, etc.) and towards steels designed to take impacts and in general be very durable (L6, A8, S7, etc.).

-Cliff
 
I thought AUS 6 was just the japanese version of 440A while AUS is equal to 440B, and finally AUS 10 is equal to 440c..so AUS 6 could only only be rated as a competitor to 440A, which is not as good a 440C. Heat treatment does make a difference ofcourse. I have AUS 6 CRKt knives and they roll all the time. I am getting a sog tech bowie in AUS 8 so will see how that goes. All my other stuff is either N690, 154cm, ATS 34 or 1095.
 
In the last few months I've noticed something with the increase in shipping going out of my front door. One of the things I've found to be a good way to test edge retention is cutting fiberglass tape. Doing all my projects all the time I cut a good bit of that for mailing packages. That stuff is as hard on an edge as anything else I cut routinely and I have used AUS6 through 10, H1 steel as well as D2, S30V, BG42, VG10 ATS34, 440C and many others in my line up of EDC knives and none of the steels listed hold up or cut as long going through that tape than the D2 and S30V knives. Those two leave all the others in the dust really with the exception of Bos heat treated BG42 and the Bos heat treated ATS34which seems to hold up just as well as the D2 and S30V to me. In fact that Bos heat treatment makes a lot of differencs to me on edge retention. None of my other ATS34 blades cut as well as Pauls stuff does. That little Buck/Strider I have cuts and cuts and cuts all day long man!

Anyway, the point is I would say that H1 does the worst in cutting fiberglass tape of all the steels I mentioned above. Fiberglass tape dulls a razor sharp H1 blade almost immediately and then it gets steadily duller with each slice after that. The AUS6 of my Sears Craftsman Work Knife isn't far behind H1 IMO on fiberglass tape. The 440C is for sure better than all the AUS steels on this media anyway. At least thats been my experience.

STR
 
Irezumi said:
I thought AUS 6 was just the japanese version of 440A while AUS is equal to 440B, and finally AUS 10 is equal to 440c..so AUS 6 could only only be rated as a competitor to 440A, which is not as good a 440C.
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No, the 440 series and AUS steels are different steels. There is a rough equivalence of carbon content between, say, 6A and 440A, etc., but still different steels overall. You can look at the steel content yourself here: http://spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/index.php?item=3
 
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