Did you get the steel quality you paid for?

T

tuatara

Joined
Jan 30, 2007
Messages
13
420, 425, 440C, 134, 154, BG42, Talonite, Stellite 6K, S30V, 440V?

Is there a simple way to determine if the knive you have bought is made
from the steel as in the advertisement or on the box?

A while ago i bought a knive from a glass display in a shop.
There where at least 200 knives there, out of the box opened and displayed.
The thing, is when i bought my knive, the shopkeeper had to search the box
that belongs to my knive.

Although it was a old model knive, i recieved a box from a newer model.

I had no problems with that, because i knew which model it was.
And which kind of steal it was made of.

But in some cases, you don't know which kind of steel a knive had
1 year or 2 years ago.

So i think there must be buyers that have a knive made of steel
the manuf. used earlier, before it was upgraded, without knowing it.

If so, are there any simpel test sets to see
which kind of steel your knive is made of?

Or can a knivemaker switch between one steel or another without anyone
can find this out forever?

:)
 
The knives I buy are customs, so YES, they are the steel that they say they are.
 
are there any simpel test sets to see
which kind of steel your knive is made of?
Click to expand...
Well, if it holds a much inferior edge than expected... This might not indicate worse than advertised steel, it could be heat treat also. There are no simple tests as I understand, if you want to be 100% sure. There are companies who offer spectrometer analysis. I imagine the cost for a single blade is around 20-30 dollars. They might have to sand down the object some, and localized heating is involved.
 
I personally find that steels break down into a couple broad categories, and it's not all that possible to tell the difference between steels in the same class with casual use. Some simple steels, like the 10xx, have so much overlap in composition that you could get the same carbon content out of 1085 and 1095, even though one is ostensibly .85% carbon, and the other is .95%.

You're pretty much working on faith, the manufacturer/maker might not even know. I've seen posts by knifemakers complaining about steels they received, only to find they were getting a different steel, and that's why their results weren't coming out as expected.
 
I won't buy a knife unless it is exactly the steel I want. It's been 10 years or more since i've done that. I have my favorite steel for every situation.
 
Most knives I own have the steel stampd on the blade so there is little worry about what the box says. Now whether the stamp is right? Most companies I buy from I feel that i can trust to stand behind what they say their product is. I just went and looked. Every knife except for my HI JKM is stamped on the blade.
 
Yeah, if a company is using a premium steel, they are going to want to advertise it. However, there is nothing really stopping a company (except for fear of loss of reputation) from using one steel and stamping it another. I've heard of knives from one manufacturer being made from one steel, but stamped another.
 
If nothing is branded on the blade or even mentioned on the box, odds are that the manufacturer are going for low price materials. If it says "stainless" or something dumb and meaningless like that it's usually 420 steels from a crappy supplier, China probably.

I dont buy knifes with "no name" steels. It's not worth it.
//Jay
 
tuatara said:
If so, are there any simpel test sets to see
which kind of steel your knive is made of?

Or can a knivemaker switch between one steel or another without anyone
can find this out forever?

:)
Click to expand...

No there is no simple test for chemical composition, you would need fairly advanced optical instruments and good polishing and etching equipment. And even if chemical composition was established it would be even more difficult to establish purity and carbide size, in other words the whole background to identify the steel supplier.
 
If it rusts, its carbon steel, if it doesnt its stainless. If the guy needs to find the box and subs a new box for an old knife, the knives we are talking about will cost less themselves than the cost of figuring out what kind of steel they are. I would guess you can find almost any decent knife's steel through a google search...
 
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