I have had many people ask recently what steel is best for them (not on this forum but elsewhere) and since it took me years to figure out even what I know now (which is not EVERYTHING. Don't worry I'm not claiming expertise) I figured I'd share all my collective knowledge and opinions here.
If I'm wrong, please just correct me. I hope to learn something if I am. If you have tested or used steels, feel Free to list opinions. I'm hoping if anyone ever needs help with steel choice this thread will provide EVERYTHING they need to know.
First of all I found this. It's another thread with some information but it didn't provide me with enough when I was looking a while ago, so here's my 2 cents WHICH IM LEAVING HERE ONLY SO PEOPLE KNOW WHY THE HECK PEOPLE RESPONDED THE WAY THEY DID. THE INTENT OF THIS THREAD HAS BEEN FOR EXPERTS TO PROVIDE INFO AND IT WAS A MISTAKE TO TRY TO DO THAT MYSLEF. PLEASE, PROVIDE YOUR INFO IF YOU WANT, BUT DONT TAKE THE FOLLOWING AS ALL FACTS.
THE OVERSIMPLIFIED BASICS:
at the basis of steel There are two basic categories. these categories DO NOT always dictate real world performance: stainless and non stainless. Generally, non stainless steels contain more of the element C or Carbon and this is what it means when you hear of "high carbon steels". However, I think I should warn you now that companies like Gerber will often try to fool you by stating the phrase "high carbon steel" on the box, but in reality it is "high carbon STAINLESS steel" which is not the same thing. It will have more carbon than most stainless steels but it is not truly "high carbon". Now that that's settled lets talk about the basic advantages of each category:
Stainless is more corrosion (rust) resistant than non stainless steels. This may make you wonder why anyone would ever want non-stainless. Here's why. Adding carbon (among other elements) to iron hardens it creating steel. The more carbon, the harder it is. This leads to better edge holding but more brittleness so it may break unless heat treated and tempered right. This is fixed with the hundreds of alloys we see today. The mixing of other metals along with carbon and iron in steel make it springier and more corrosion resistant but not as much as stainless. Stainless, having less carbon, will not hold an edge as well as high carbon, but can be sharpened easier as harder carbon steels take a while to wear away at compared to softer stainless steels. You could write a book on stainless vs non stainless steels but what you need to take away from it is the constant dilemma of knife makers and consumers: do I need the edge holding more than corrosion resistance or not? This is the basic question nagging me with every one of my purchases. That is the one question I can't answer for you as it depends purely on the situation. I can however provide a lot of information on each steel.
THE REAL WORLD TRUTH:
Though the generalizations above may be useful, in real life performance depends on these metals being added:
Ni Nickel - used primarily for corrosion resistance. Too much prevents hardening.
Mn Manganese - hardens the steel primarily and improves strength and wear resistance. Removes oxygen and molten metal.
Cr Chromium - Increases hardness strength, and toughness. Prevents wear and corrosion. More than 11% makes it "stainless", by causing an oxide coating to form.
Mo Molybdenum - Increases strength, hardness, hardenability, and toughness. Improves machinability and resistance to rust.
Ti Titanium - increases all around performance.
V Vanadium - Increases strength, wear resistance, and increases toughness. Improves corrosion resistance by contributing to the oxide coating. Expensive.
Ni Nitrogen - can be used to harden steel as replacement for C Carbon.
this is the chart I generally use. It provides a lot of useful information.
That may be all you need, but I will also list some of my opinions based on use and a few other important things:
one VERY important thing to remember is that no matter what quality steel is used, without the proper heat treatment or tempering the steel will not perform well. Take this into heavy consideration before buying.
Another piece of advice I'd give is to ALWAYS make sure the steel type is listed. If they don't list it, try to fond out what it is. If you can't find anything on it, the manufacturer has a good reason for this. Most of the time it is junk steel.
I'm going to let people respond before giving my opinions on individual alloys and will do is In another post.
PLEASE DONT ASK QUESTIONS ON THIS THREAD! IT IS NOT MEANT FOR THAT. IT IS FOR REFERENCE, NOT INDIVIDUAL HELP. THANKS!
If I'm wrong, please just correct me. I hope to learn something if I am. If you have tested or used steels, feel Free to list opinions. I'm hoping if anyone ever needs help with steel choice this thread will provide EVERYTHING they need to know.
First of all I found this. It's another thread with some information but it didn't provide me with enough when I was looking a while ago, so here's my 2 cents WHICH IM LEAVING HERE ONLY SO PEOPLE KNOW WHY THE HECK PEOPLE RESPONDED THE WAY THEY DID. THE INTENT OF THIS THREAD HAS BEEN FOR EXPERTS TO PROVIDE INFO AND IT WAS A MISTAKE TO TRY TO DO THAT MYSLEF. PLEASE, PROVIDE YOUR INFO IF YOU WANT, BUT DONT TAKE THE FOLLOWING AS ALL FACTS.
THE OVERSIMPLIFIED BASICS:
at the basis of steel There are two basic categories. these categories DO NOT always dictate real world performance: stainless and non stainless. Generally, non stainless steels contain more of the element C or Carbon and this is what it means when you hear of "high carbon steels". However, I think I should warn you now that companies like Gerber will often try to fool you by stating the phrase "high carbon steel" on the box, but in reality it is "high carbon STAINLESS steel" which is not the same thing. It will have more carbon than most stainless steels but it is not truly "high carbon". Now that that's settled lets talk about the basic advantages of each category:
Stainless is more corrosion (rust) resistant than non stainless steels. This may make you wonder why anyone would ever want non-stainless. Here's why. Adding carbon (among other elements) to iron hardens it creating steel. The more carbon, the harder it is. This leads to better edge holding but more brittleness so it may break unless heat treated and tempered right. This is fixed with the hundreds of alloys we see today. The mixing of other metals along with carbon and iron in steel make it springier and more corrosion resistant but not as much as stainless. Stainless, having less carbon, will not hold an edge as well as high carbon, but can be sharpened easier as harder carbon steels take a while to wear away at compared to softer stainless steels. You could write a book on stainless vs non stainless steels but what you need to take away from it is the constant dilemma of knife makers and consumers: do I need the edge holding more than corrosion resistance or not? This is the basic question nagging me with every one of my purchases. That is the one question I can't answer for you as it depends purely on the situation. I can however provide a lot of information on each steel.
THE REAL WORLD TRUTH:
Though the generalizations above may be useful, in real life performance depends on these metals being added:
Ni Nickel - used primarily for corrosion resistance. Too much prevents hardening.
Mn Manganese - hardens the steel primarily and improves strength and wear resistance. Removes oxygen and molten metal.
Cr Chromium - Increases hardness strength, and toughness. Prevents wear and corrosion. More than 11% makes it "stainless", by causing an oxide coating to form.
Mo Molybdenum - Increases strength, hardness, hardenability, and toughness. Improves machinability and resistance to rust.
Ti Titanium - increases all around performance.
V Vanadium - Increases strength, wear resistance, and increases toughness. Improves corrosion resistance by contributing to the oxide coating. Expensive.
Ni Nitrogen - can be used to harden steel as replacement for C Carbon.
this is the chart I generally use. It provides a lot of useful information.
That may be all you need, but I will also list some of my opinions based on use and a few other important things:
one VERY important thing to remember is that no matter what quality steel is used, without the proper heat treatment or tempering the steel will not perform well. Take this into heavy consideration before buying.
Another piece of advice I'd give is to ALWAYS make sure the steel type is listed. If they don't list it, try to fond out what it is. If you can't find anything on it, the manufacturer has a good reason for this. Most of the time it is junk steel.
I'm going to let people respond before giving my opinions on individual alloys and will do is In another post.
PLEASE DONT ASK QUESTIONS ON THIS THREAD! IT IS NOT MEANT FOR THAT. IT IS FOR REFERENCE, NOT INDIVIDUAL HELP. THANKS!
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and I do mean every use. Made the mistake with a CS bushman. It's like brushing your teeth.
(and keep them coming! I don't want to mislead anyone). So now that all the above has been given to me and I altered the post, is there anything I still need to change before I begin the long job of listing my opinions on all steels I have worked with (and research every other one so I provide all I hoped for in this thread) ?