chopping with 440c steel?

R

rctk1

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I was planning on picking up an Entrek Destroyer bolo but have doubts about using stainless for heavy duty chopping. I normally like carbon steel knives but the Entrek looks like it would be a great brush cutter. Can anyone tell me how well 440c "heat treated" would do against hard notty wood and the occassional rocks?

heres a quick link on the knife: http://www.discountsupplyunlimited.com/entrek_destroyer_knife.html
 
I'd be a little nervous of any knife that you can't handle before purchasing.

440c's performance, edge retention, and capabilities depend entirely on its heat treatment and design. I've butchered more than one el cheapo 440c blade before doing normal work, sometimes impressively. I've also had a 440c blade of relatively weak design survive very heavy impacts.

That said, the geometry doesn't look bad, the blade itself is much thicker than an americanized tanto that I've used for very harsh work, so the design seems fairly secure. I know the blade as a whole earned a favorable review from Tactical Knives magazine, and they tend to be fairly critical of poor knives.
 
I like 440C a lot in my smaller blades due to its combination of corrosion resistance, edge holding and hardness but for heavy duty chopping I definitely would choose another steel. Entrek's use of 440C for choppers (Destroyer), sharpened prybars (Diver) and short swords (Master) always made me wonder. Compared to most non-stainless carbon steel 440c is very brittle. Even stainless steels like 440A and 420 are tougher than 440C.

This doesn't mean the destroyer necessarily is a bad knife. Unto a certain amount edge geometry and stock thickness can compensate for the shortcomings of a blade steel. With 440C used in a shopper you would look for a thick stock and a thick edge. Obviously the Destroyer has both. As Gattsuru said, the design seems fairly secure. But the knife will always be heavy and more brittle than non-stainless a knife in similar stock thickness. The required thick edge will diminuish cutting abilty. How may axes and machetes can be found in 440C?

So for chopping other steels are clearly better. I would look for a tough non stainless steel instead which can take a high polished edge. A Becker Brute (BK 1) in 0170-6C surely would suit your needs more. I have a BK 9 and I love it.
 
Those steels (high carbon and high alloy stainless) are really not the optimal choice for that style of knife, they are designed to retain coarse slicing edges. If you want stainless look for a lower carbon and ideally lower alloy, 440A is better, 12c27m better still. Ideally forget about stainless and look towards the carbon, low alloy and tool steels. For about the same price you could get a RD9 from Ranger Knives and have it customized for wood work.

-Cliff
 
Allobo, you are confusing me with the other Cliff Stamp, it is easy to do as the names are spelled the same. However in my name the second "f" is silent. I am just interested in the how and why of knife and steel performance so all my posts on bladeforums are about those subjects and they focus mailny on a dicussion of evalautions of knives towards those goals, methods I use and which can be used by others such as :

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=416896

The other guy, well, he mainly has a real issue with hype and misinformation which makes sense given his background. I give him some slack when he gets a little too adamant because he has taught me most of what I know. So I am grateful, though I wish at times he would relax a little. He isn't likely too though, that is just who he is, just like I am who I am.

As with all sources of information, choose according to your preferences. Bladeforums is essentially a large and interactive library. Read the ones you enjoy the most.

-Cliff
 
www.agrussell.com makes their kukri from 440B .A very suitable steel for that use . I've had mine for some years ,use it regularly [even today] and find it excellent. [I don't cut rocks !!!]
 
Thomas Linton said:
As he has done before, you battle-scarred BF vet, you.
Click to expand...


LOL:thumbup: , you forgot these after your post...:jerkit: :rolleyes:
 
It was just a pun fellas. I have read Cliff's information extensively and respect his views and his experience.
Battle scarred yes but not a BF posting vet.
Sorry if I offended anyone, did not mean to.
 
You didn't offend me, you have to try much harder to do that and quite frankly I really don't think it is possible. In general some people like to argue I am biased towards certain manufacturers up to and including that I get payed by them to promote their products and critize the competition, so your comments can get lumped into that viewpoint by default. Misunderstandings happen in real life as much as the internet. No harm, no foul.

-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
Allobo, you are confusing me with the other Cliff Stamp, it is easy to do as the names are spelled the same. However in my name the second "f" is silent. I am just interested in the how and why of knife and steel performance so all my posts on bladeforums are about those subjects and they focus mailny on a dicussion of evalautions of knives towards those goals, methods I use and which can be used by others such as :

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=416896

The other guy, well, he mainly has a real issue with hype and misinformation which makes sense given his background. I give him some slack when he gets a little too adamant because he has taught me most of what I know. So I am grateful, though I wish at times he would relax a little. He isn't likely too though, that is just who he is, just like I am who I am.

As with all sources of information, choose according to your preferences. Bladeforums is essentially a large and interactive library. Read the ones you enjoy the most.

-Cliff
Click to expand...

Cliff, I have read posts by you in the past that show a good sense of humour, but that one really shows me that you don't take yourself too seriously.
 
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