"Best" steel? NFC? Stellite?

[jd38011]

Presuming proper heat treatment; what are today's opinion's as to the "best" steel for camp/utility knife? Pertinent parameters are: 7-9 inch blade length, 1/8 to 1/4 thickness, durability and edgeholding paramount (NOTE: this includes ROUGH use chip resistance), stain/rust resistance always nice but always secondary to the other charateristics

Does anyone know how much Argonne National Labs wants to license their near frictionless carbon coating for knives?

Forgive an(other) ignorant question; what is stellite and is it any good for a knife?

 

[Rick Leeson]

There is no best steel or anything else for that matter. We do not live in a perfect world. Just go with what works for you and makes you happy.

 

[rdangerer]

On the camp knife, probably CPM 3V over the next tier: A2, 52100.

On stellite, it makes an extremely corrosion resistant blade that has great abrasion resistance for slicing. Too soft for chopping (edge rolls). Very pricey for raw materials.

Use the search engine to learn about Stellite and it's fraternal twin brother Talonite.

 

[Bronco]

Welcome to Bladeforums, JD.
While it is true there is no one "best" steel for all cutlery applications, there are certainly some steels which are better suited than others for the type of application you have described.

Some of my favorite steels for blades in the large "camp knife" category you describe include CPM-3V, INFI (a proprietary steel of Busse Combat), 5160, L6, A2 and 52100. I would recommend researching makers who use these steels (of which there are many excellent ones right here on this forum) and then find one who makes knives in a style that appeals to you. The combination is sure to be a winner. Good luck.

------------------
Semper Fi

-Bill

[This message has been edited by Bronco (edited 03-15-2001).]

 

[Andrew Lynch]

I think INFI is the best steel all around on earth. It has AMAZING resistance to chipping while still holding a great edge (58-60 RC). It also has pretty good corrosion resistance. While not having the corrosion resistance of stainless, it does compare easily to D2, so I've heard. Maybe even ATS-34.

But, at the moment, Busse isn't sharing its secrets or selling INFI as a raw material. But hey, they already make GREAT knives using the steel, so you don't really need to make you're own (though many of us do).