Chinese steel - Is it worse than other steels?

jimh0220

jimh0220

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So I found a nifty little app that tells me the composition of different steels, their country of origin, and comparable versions from other countries. So, if the steel made in China is compositionally equivalent to other steels, isn't the quality the same?
I see a lot of Chinese steel hate here, but this really makes me wonder why. Is it a theirs is not ours thing, or is there a fundamental difference in the quality?
 
It's a trust issue.

I don't trust any Chinese company to actually deliver what is asked of them unless the importer, Apple, Spyderco, etc., has the pull to get what they actually pay for.

Since most knife companies don't have that clout, I don't buy anything with Chinese steel composition markings upon it, especially when for just a few dollars more, I can avoid the whole issue of Chinese Mystery Metals.
 
If they can get the heat treat right, then yeah it should be functionally the same. If I'm not mistaken, AUS-8 and 8Cr13 are fairly close in composition and they perform about the same for me at least. With that said though, I don't like the names most Chinese steels get. I think it's the low numbers, 8Cr13, 9Cretcetc sounds not as fun sounding as M390, S35VN, CPM 440V, S110V, etc etc. These all sound fierce and aggressive and 8Cr13MoV sounds like a fax machine model. Although M4 is probably more well known as a motorway than a knife steel so it goes both ways I guess.
 
As boats said, it's about quality control. Chinese companies can produce an amazing product, or an absolute piece of s*** one. All depends on the quality control enforced by the company who commissioned it. In many cases, us knife snobs prefer a trusted product. That being said, my spyderco persistence was made in China, and it's a stellar product for thirty bucks. :)
 
I will find out soon ... I heard good reviews of the Boker Plus Exskelibur and my order is on the way. =)
 
Good thread.... well what about a company who's quality you trust (the big three), who are having blades made in China. Do you think that the steel on a Tenacious is inferior to that on a Delica? Not the S30V Delica, of course.
 
I've had good luck with 8CR13MOV, in my own knife (CRKT Ripple picket up on a trade), and I sharpened a friends CRKT Drifter on one occasion. It seems to take an aggressive edge, with serviceable edge retention. For the average person it could even prove ideal. Some nonknife people I know who own knives appreciate ease of sharpening.
 
For me it's a case of not wanting my money going to a commie country and the slave industries many use. I buy as little from such countries as possible. Plus I'm not as trusting of what the Chinese say as so many apparently are. Caveat Emptor.
 
I try to buy American whenever possible but I did pick up a CRKT Bull 4-5 years ago from a gun store....great knife. Its my EDC. I work in Aerospace so I m lucky enough to have an X-Met 5100 handy to check metals out. Here is what it said about the Bull knife.
IMG_2895.jpg
 
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ok went ahead and hit my knife on the RC hardness tester....56.3 RC....but this CRKT is made in Taiwan not China
IMG_2896.jpg
 
Azcountryman said:
ok went ahead and hit my knife on the RC hardness tester....56.3 RC....but this CRKT is made in Taiwan not China
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Not as hard as I would have thought. Cool that you have access to machines like that.

To the op.....I have had good luck with modern chinese steels. I expect others havent or are hung up on bad experiences years ago....and cant move on.
 
I read something interesting about Chinese business ethics once. Apparently they are pretty rapacious. They will sign a contract to deliver a certain product at a certain price. They will deliver as promised for a while, then they start taking shortcuts. They will substitute cheaper screws, or cheaper dyes or something. If the company notices, they will apologise and fire some middle level manager. After a few months they will try again. of course the guy they fired walks down the street and gets a job somewhere else, because of course he was following orders, and saving the company money. Just as a matter of interest, I notice that a few people have mentioned that their Tenacious has screws that are easily stripped.....
 
For me it's a trust issue. They had been exporting drywall that is suspected to cause illness, baby formula that contained melamine, and putting lead based paint on kids toys. I have to wonder if the steel is irradiated, i'm half joking, half serious...
 
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numbersman said:
I read something interesting about Chinese business ethics once. Apparently they are pretty rapacious. They will sign a contract to deliver a certain product at a certain price. They will deliver as promised for a while, then they start taking shortcuts. They will substitute cheaper screws, or cheaper dyes or something. If the company notices, they will apologise and fire some middle level manager. After a few months they will try again. of course the guy they fired walks down the street and gets a job somewhere else, because of course he was following orders, and saving the company money. Just as a matter of interest, I notice that a few people have mentioned that their Tenacious has screws that are easily stripped.....
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Absolutely true. My cousin is an engineer and works for a company in China and has seen first hand what you describe.
 
You know what steel it is because it's written on the blade, right? That's for ANY blade. What company do you trust?
 
jimh0220 said:
So I found a nifty little app that tells me the composition of different steels, their country of origin, and comparable versions from other countries. So, if the steel made in China is compositionally equivalent to other steels, isn't the quality the same?
I see a lot of Chinese steel hate here, but this really makes me wonder why. Is it a theirs is not ours thing, or is there a fundamental difference in the quality?
Click to expand...

It depends how the steel is treated before being made into a blade. The way it is tempered and treated can greatly effect the quality of the steel blade of the knife.

Here is what Mr. Joe Talmadge, renown Bladesmith, says about knife steels. It may be of some reference value.



http://www.zknives.com/knives/articles/knifesteelfaq.shtml
 
It's not about trusting the company, it's about "trust" of the chinese manufacturing process that is constantly refusing to be consistent in their quality to the point where the company that I "trust" has to keep attempting to hold the chinese in line just to get a reliable product within a contract deadline. I just find it very strange that the Chinese refuses to have consistency across the board, choosing to take short cuts when they think no one is watching.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, you're not getting my money. That's how I move on. ;)
 
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Does the end products of any Chinese objects still justify the mean? How do we prove, let alone keep track of, the quality of steels/knives with no real Western oversight across the sea?
 
The steel in the receivers, etc of Norinco 1911s and M14 clones is supposedly pretty good stuff...
 
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