Best steel for a knife??

[Tuff]

Was wondering some things about steels. I was looking to see what steel holds the best edge, resists rust best, and which is strongest. Anyone know what steels would be the best in each category?
Also, what is everyone's favorite steel and why? Curious to see the good and bad of each steel.

 

[Adamantium]

Well Tuff, For edge holding it would probably be either CPM-440V or CPM-420V. Toughness is probably a toss up between L6 and 5160. And for stainless(as far as being a high quality knife material, 303 is by far more stainless than the steel I'm going to mention, but would make a crappy knife) it would be 440C. My personal favorite is also 5160.

Sincerely,
Adam

------------------
Self improvement is a hobby of mine .

 

[Larry in KY]

Tuff,

I feel that one of the best steels for edge-holding is L-6...most all of the high carbon steels will hold a good edge. IMHO 440-C resists corrosion very good. As to the strongest steel there is I don't know, however, carbon steels & Damascus are really strong. I base all of the above on my personal experiences and there are many other steels that are just as good. I feel that proper heat treatment is the most important factor in any steel's performance.

 

[Darrel Ralph]

420v and 440v are best imho in the stainless line for blade use.
As for carbon they and the stainless all rust to a degree. Best carbon 52100 L6 5160 CPM3v
Damascus Damasteel stainless and Mike Norris
Best carbon damscus most good makers make good steel. Some do not reveal what is in the mix.

------------------
Web Site At www.infinet.com/~browzer/bldesmth.html
Take a look!!!

 

I have advised others in the past -- mostly at knife shows -- that, "What steel is that?" or "What is the best steel . . .?" is really the wrong question.
The correct question is: Was the person who did the heat treating of that steel able to see it during the process or was his vision obstructed by his own lower intestinal wall? Heat treating is much more important that having the steel of the month.


------------------
Regards,
Desert Rat

 

[Tuff]

Yeah, but I thought all steels were heated to a particular heat, 440 is heated so long, ATS-24 heated so long. Don't know a whole lot bout heat treatment...

 

[Cougar Allen]

You can give the same steel different characteristics by varying the heat treatment. It's mostly about changing the compromise between edge-holding and strength, though corrosion resistance also changes with different heat-treatments. If there were only one way to heat-treat any one alloy there would be a lot less traffic on this forum....

-Cougar Allen :{)