Determining the Best Budget Knife Steel

[Alberta Ed]

Thanks guys.

Two great books every knife nerd should have.

 

[Cognoscenti]

I think 420J2 is closer to 3CR15MoV or MAYBE 5CR15MoV?

I know Buck uses 420J2 on the offshore 300 series knives.

BTI Schrade-Impeial uses 3CR15MoV on most of the Imperial line.

7CR17 and 9CR18MoV on the Schrade/Old Timer/Uncle Henry lines.

My offshore Old Timer 858OT has 7CR17MoV blades, while the 858OTB with bone covers has 9CR18MoV.

Both Buck and BTI Schrade have a lifetime warranty on their offshore knives, so the 420J2 and 3CR15MoV can't be total garbage?

I don't have anything I know of with 3CR.
My offshore Buck 371 stockmans and 389 canoe hold an edge long enough to be useful, and don't chip or roll the edge when re-profiled to 10 degrees per side/20 degrees inclusive.

I ask since i saw the latest RAMBO III is made of 7cr18mov

I know my old (sold) United Cutlery Rambo III was made of 420J
but when i discovered this i said to myself : "holy fuckkkk !!!!)
the blade is TRULY more resistant to shock/penetration that i have ever expected !!! :

Rambo III Knife Standard Edition Hollywood Collectables
STEEL: STAINLESS STEEL (UNKNOWN ORIGIN)
someone know the steel used on the HCG version ?

START THE VIDEO TEST AT 05min15sec :

 

[Tsujigiri]

Interesting read, on a side note I've come to the conclusion that 14C28N is the ideal steel for a kitchen knife (at least if you're running the ultra thin Japanese-style grinds that I like).

The rise of 14C28N has taken me by surprise; I remember when I started in this hobby there wasn't a lot of info on it and only Kershaw used it. What's more, Kershaw used to offer an upgraded "composite blade" version of some of their knives that supposedly combined a more premium steel at the edge with a basic one at the spine. In this case, the "premium" steel was D2 and the "basic" one was 14C28N; I'm sure that colored a lot of people's opinions. Flashforward to now and I gravitate towards the Twosun knives that use 14C28N instead of D2 (their two most used steels).

Thanks for another interesting article, Larrin.

What's the attraction of O1? It's not very tough. It rusts badly. It doesn't hold an edge worth a darn. And yet it's widely used by the custom guys.

I'm late to this, but O1 takes an edge very well. I think it's more of a feel thing that can't be easily quantified. Whether that's more important than more toughness, edge retention, or corrosion resistance is up to you, but O1 is the gold standard for custom straight razors for that reason, and is also well-liked for thin traditional blades.

 

[Shorttime]

Since this thread rose back to the front page, I am kind of curious about heat treat. You can put any kind of steel on there that you want, but if it's the same hardness as it came from the strip mill, it won't do much.

I know Kershaw gets good performance out of their budget steels, and Buck does some good things with the old warhorse 440 alloys. Are there others?

 

[Alberta Ed]

Krupp W9 a.k.a. 01 is used by Roselli and it performs very well, judging by my Roselli Carpenter and erapuukko. Tough, takes a very fine edge, easy to sharpen.

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Since this thread rose back to the front page, I am kind of curious about heat treat. You can put any kind of steel on there that you want, but if it's the same hardness as it came from the strip mill, it won't do much.

I know Kershaw gets good performance out of their budget steels, and Buck does some good things with the old warhorse 440 alloys. Are there others?

More important still.....is Geometry.

But Yes, all 3 are important.
Geometry, Heat Treating, and Steel