Blade Steel Ratings

T-BAG

T-BAG

Joined
Dec 1, 2006
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I am fairly new here so this may already be in existence...I was looking for maybe a chart that would grade blade steels from say 1 to 100 with the worst steel being 1 and working up to the best blade steels like ATS-34, D-2, INFI, etc.

I always like the look of some knives but then I see their AUS-6 or something of that nature which means it is a fairly cheap knife...bur I have nothing to compare it to. Any help in this area would be greatful or direction to a site that does already have this info....thanks.

The A.G. Russell site has good info on steel quality but does not rate them against each other. Thanks in Advance.
 
I don't know specifically of a numerically graded list, but there's a good steel comparison on this site. Also, if you go on Google and search for "Knife steel" or "knife steel grades" you can find some good comparative info.

There may not be a 1 to 100 list of steels. Reason being, from what I've seen all steel has trade-offs: for instance, s30v holds a fantastic edge--it was specifically engineered for knifemaking--but doesn't do well in a wet environment, because it rusts fairly easily. Or, 440a is considered a low-grade steel, but some people will tell you that depending how it's finished, it may out perform 440c.
 
You really can't make such a list as different steels are better for different types of knives and applications. Some steels that hold an edge really well are good for small pocket knives that won't see hard use, just a lot of slicing, but woudn't be a good choice for a large knife designed for chopping.

The quality of the heat treat also has a lot to do with how well the steel will peform.
 
WadeF said:
You really can't make such a list as different steels are better for different types of knives and applications. Some steels that hold an edge really well are good for small pocket knives that won't see hard use, just a lot of slicing, but woudn't be a good choice for a large knife designed for chopping.

The quality of the heat treat also has a lot to do with how well the steel will peform.
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What Wade said. Different steels for different jobs.
 
As someone said, Google search will help. It'll be a little more difficult to find the steels (and rank them, if that's possible) for knife use.

Probably a good starter is to pick up a Benchmade catalog. The knife shops should be back from the SHOT show next week and they'll probably have boxes of the 2007 BM catalogs. It wouldn;t even hurt to grab the 2006 catalog right now if you're in a knife shop or Sportsman's Warehouse.

ANYWAY, Benchmade runs a chart in the back of their catalog showing the most common steels, and the percentage of alloys used in each one. They'll list ATS-34, 154CM, S30V, 440a, 440c, AUS8, 12, etc etc. They won't be foolish enough to rank them in order of best to worst, but you'll get an idea of each steel's makeup.

By the way, S30V is said by some to be today's "premium" steel. I can;t attest to that because I don't own any, but I know knives with S30V will cost considerably more than say 1095, 154CM, etc, although who's to say that isn;t hype.......
 
Ratings:

G: 1084, 1095, M2, VG-10, 52100, S7, INFI, 5160, AUS-8A, ZDP-189

PG-13: 440C, S30V, 154CM, 13C26, 420HC, 440A, AUS-6A

NC-17: D2, AUS-6M, 420J2, AUS-4

R: Mystery steel on tourist knives
 
A list of steels with descriptions of their pros and cons and what types of knives they'd be good for might be fun.
 
Problem is you get a lot of biased info with a list such as that. For instance with thombrogan's ratings, I would have S30V at the top with the others.:p To me, a list that's worth seeing would be one of makers. Like has been said, a super steel would be good at slicing but not chopping and vice versa with a cheap steel. You just need to take a look at all the info out there and figure out what your needs are and see what steels are good at that. But, makers are either bad or good no matter what steel they're dealing with. There is no short/concise list you can just look at and know what's the best steel.
 
There may not be a 1 to 100 list of steels. Reason being said:
It is very dificult to get S30V to rust

Comparing steel is kind of like comparing cars, you must know what performance factors are most importent to you. In a car performance factors would include items such as Top speed, accelaration, handling, fuel econemy, maintence cost etc. In a knife you need to consider, what you will be cutting, how much abuse, what kind of abuse, corrosion and/or stain resistance etc. The performance order of the steels would depend on the list of performance factors that you desire. It is a compicated process with many things to consider.

Leon Pugh
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thombrogan said:
Ratings:

G: 1084, 1095, M2, VG-10, 52100, S7, INFI, 5160, AUS-8A, ZDP-189

PG-13: 440C, S30V, 154CM, 13C26, 420HC, 440A, AUS-6A

NC-17: D2, AUS-6M, 420J2, AUS-4

R: Mystery steel on tourist knives
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D2 grouped with 420J2, AUS6M and AUS-4?

Why?

(Wonder what Bob Dozier would think 'bout that ;).)
 
leon.pugh said:
It is very dificult to get S30V to rust
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Unless you go and bead blast it.

I was searching for such a rating too, as i never had thought, that there could be anything like a "right steel for the task".

There are differences.

There are many steel grades and names on market.

At least differences are not that much.

If you were used to stainless and switch to carbon... I was surprised how "stainless" a carbon blade can be and i have looked at some blades of different steel grades.

Therefor i don´t really look if the steel grade is stainless. I just look, if there is much alloy in the steel and how many carbon is in it.

440C, 154CM, S30V, ZDF2000, ATS 34, VG10 have in common, that they are high carbon (1% + carbon content) high alloyed (15%+ alloy content) steel grades. Therefor they behave comparable. Some have personal preferences and not any blade is like the other and maybe every grade has something special within. But they are pretty comparable.

Look at the manufacturers reputation for edge quality.

You can compare low carbon, high alloyed grades like AUS 6, 440A, 420HC

personally i would take the hardest and have heard, tha Bucks 420HC is run at 58HRC, where mostly 440A and AUS6 is run at 56 to 57 HRC.

The bridge between high and low carbon with high aloy contnet is represented by AUS8 and X7Cr14 and as a special M2. The bridge try to bring together what is best of the both. Tougness and hardness (edge holding) M2 as a high speed steel is special because it contnets very much tungsten, vandium and molybdenium, is tempered high and comes out pretty hard (65 HRC but for blades 62 to 63 HRC) it is special but not on market at the time.

The same comparision can be made for carbon steel, wich has much less alloy content. Like 52100, 1095, i guess the older INFI, A2...

Low: 1050, INFI M, C60, X6WCrV6..

Bridge: 1085, X8WCrV7..

I personally found the "bridge steel grade" perfect for me. tougher than high carbon more edge holding like low carbon they can be run at high hardness 59 to 60HRC.

Take the low carbon for the axes, machetes and swords, the high carbon for the really fine sharp edges and the bridge for hard use all around knifes.

Benchmade offers AUS8 at 60HRC. Excellent!

Just m.2ct.
 
rifon2 said:
D2 grouped with 420J2, AUS6M and AUS-4?

Why?
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Sharpening and reprofiling. Getting a clean edge on any of those steels in production knives requires lots of patience and a fine edge requires high-test abrasives.

Obviously they're leagues apart in what they do and don't do and while AUS-6M and AUS-4 have the potential to offer higher edge stability than D2, we're more likely to find D2 heat-treated in a using-knife-friendly manner than those steels and its satanically higher levels of wear-resistance can more than overcome the comparative lack in edge stability.

No one complained when I placed ZDP-189 and S7 in the same rating even though they're no where near each over in perfmance. ....yet :rolleyes:
 
WadeF said:
You really can't make such a list as different steels are better for different types of knives and applications. Some steels that hold an edge really well are good for small pocket knives that won't see hard use, just a lot of slicing, but woudn't be a good choice for a large knife designed for chopping.

The quality of the heat treat also has a lot to do with how well the steel will peform.
Click to expand...

A list of steels with descriptions of their pros and cons and what types of knives they'd be good for might be fun.
Click to expand...

Nails it :thumbup:
 
WadeF said:
You really can't make such a list as different steels are better for different types of knives and applications. Some steels that hold an edge really well are good for small pocket knives that won't see hard use, just a lot of slicing, but woudn't be a good choice for a large knife designed for chopping.

The quality of the heat treat also has a lot to do with how well the steel will peform.
Click to expand...

Another parameter that needs to be taken into account is the geometry / blade profile.
 
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