Different types of metals...

C

ckj

Joined
Jul 24, 2005
Messages
35
Well I'm in need of a knife but I have a question. What's the difference between say a 420HC a 420A and a 440A? And then there are the ones like AUS6A stainless steel? Basically I'm looking for a folding knife for $60 (upper boundary) that needs to be shorter than 2.5 inches and want to know how the different metals should factor into my decision. I'm looking at the mini mojo and the chives from kershaw but am open to anything that fits my criteria. Thanks ahead of time.
 
420HC and 440A are generally considered to be bottom of the barrel blade steels. They work though. They are pretty tough and pretty corrosioin resistant. They can be brought up to a shaving sharp edge but the real difference is in how long they keep that edge which varies depending on the size and thinness of the blade along with heat treatment and also edge geometry.

Buck does a pretty good job with the heat treatment on thier 420HC because of Paul Bos' heat treatment skills. I've had several blades of both 420 and 440A and they do the job. The Kershaw Vapor I had is a fine knife for the money, and the Black Out assisted opener was just plain fun and a pretty good knife also. Kershaw has an excellent customer service dept. too.

Aus 6 is a good tough steel but not quite as good at edge holding as the AUS8 or 10 is. I think personally that AUS6 is a better choice than 420HC or 440A but not as good as 440C so you may or may not agree. I have a couple of blades of all these steels and 440C would be my choice over all of the others I've mentioned.

My fave blade steels are BG42 and D2 but you didn't ask about those so I'll stop here.
 
All the steels you listed are low-end steels. You might want to look at some spyderco's- you could find better steel and stay within your budget.
 
Theres three important factors when it comes to knife steel. Heat treatment, carbon content, and chromium. Heat treatment is the most important, and changes the rockwell hardness of the blade. Making it tougher(durable) or stronger(rigid). 420 is basically the worst knife steel. 440 is a step above. The letters following 420 or 440 represents how much carbon is in the mix. 440A is usually around 0.75% carbon, 440B around 0.9% carbon, and 440C about 1.4% carbon. These are the common American stainless steels. 440A is usually considered junk, but 440C is a very good steel used often by many of the top manufacturers (spyderco and benchmade). Aus6, aus8, and aus10 are basically the Japanese equivalent to the 440 series. Aus6 is fairly soft, but aus8 is on par with 440C, usually. You then have your high carbon steels, 1050-1095. They have no or very little chromium and are very prone to rust, but these are popular steels for bigger blades, including swords. You then have your top quality stainless steels, like VG-10, Ats34, and 154cm. These are a step up above 440C. Check http://www.bladeforums.com/features/faqsteel.shtml and http://ajh-knives.com/metals.html for more info on knife steels. There's a lot to learn, but you will get the hang of it. Also, for $50-$60, you should be getting 440C/VG-10 or better.
 
Sorry, I forgot to add this. You can learn a lot on your own just from reading at the Spyderco Steel chart and the steel element information links pasted for you below. Also, Rat is correct that if you compare prices you can in many cases carry and use a blade made of premium steel via a Spyderco for about the same money as the ones you already mentioned and sometimes less depending on the model. VG10 is another great steel and certainly far better than any of those you are looking at that you asked about. Spyderco makes great use of that steel as well as others.

http://spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/index.php?item=3

http://spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/steel.php
 
So I took a second look at spyderco. At first glance I didn't really like their knives but i took a liking to the cricket and the dragonfly c28. Does the v-10 metal really make a difference over ats-55 in such a short blade or is the extra 1/2 inch in length better? Any other knife reccomendations would be heartily appreciated.
 
Well, if you are looking at Spyderco you may as well check out the BenchMade knives also. I just bought my first ever BenchMade Axis lock. I venture to say it is the smoothest opening knife I have ever owned. It was like nearly $120 though. I got the Snody Resistor 420. Great knife. So great I have another on the way in a combo edge. A bit thick in the pocket but the clip sits the knife nice and low when you carry it just like I love it to be.

The Ares and the Mini RSK are both pretty good knives also from Benchmade. Many of the guys here love them and I'm starting to see why. They are pretty sweet and the Axis lock is perhaps the strongest lock on the planet. Most of the BenchMade knives feature 154CM blades which is also a premium steel.

Spyderco is pretty nice though. The Delica is the number one seller and the Endura is quite popular also. Personally I like the Calypso Jr. best though. They are coming out with another in the much raved about ZDP189 steel here very soon. It may be worth waiting on because it is going to be a great knife.
 
Yeah I like the bench made knives, unfortunately I can only carry knives that are shorter than 2.5 in at my school. And I don't really want to spend much more than $60 so benchmade is out.
Edit: missread the law... i can get a folder any length and still carry at school. :D And since i'm getting a bigger knife I may want to spend alittle more... Thank you all for the metal info though that's really useful.
 
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