Do You Have A Cut-Off Point In Blade Steels?

It's become a moot point for me. Ever since I was lucky to get a knife in Rostafrei, everything else is just junk. Even Busse doesn't dare challenge Rostafrei in a chop-off, mon. They've learned...

It's very hard to come by, though.
 
sodak said:
It's become a moot point for me. Ever since I was lucky to get a knife in Rostafrei, everything else is just junk. Even Busse doesn't dare challenge Rostafrei in a chop-off, mon. They've learned...

It's very hard to come by, though.
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Rostafrei!!!! I'm not worthy!
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Noctis3880 said:
"Better" is relative. Finding the right steel is like finding the right knife(could be one and the same really).
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Exactly my point. People spend a lot of time trying to tell someone else why some steel is better than another. I get buying a certain steel for it's characteristics, like H1 for high humidity or known wet conditions.
But I have seen folks throw up a list of 15+ steel types they say they have used and they have them ranked out as to what is better. Pointless.
 
AUS8 is the lowest grade of stainless I would go.
Carbonm steel depends on the blade length/size....but 5160/1085 is about as low as I like to go.
1055 for $20 machetes I'm ok with :)
 
I'm not too picky about steel, generally. I'll be quite happy to use 440A, 425, 12c27, or victorinox's steel in my knives, even though they could certainly be considered outdated or low-end by today's standards.

I'd say my cut-off point is probably the 8cr13MoAlphabetsoup series of steels being used lately. My experience with them has not been positive, to say the least.
 
I like the wear resistance imparted to steel by the addition of Vanadium carbides at 82 RWc. I also like the finer grain structure that is achieved using the particle metallurgy process. For these reasons, I gravitate to S30V, S60V, S90V, and S110V. As the number designation increases, so does the percent of Vanadium carbide. The higher the percentage of Vanadium, the better I like the steel. These high alloy steels are harder to sharpen, but they are harder to dull. Wear resistance in equals wear resistance out. There is no free lunch.
 
One thing I do with my knives is cut gar-lock gaskets. If you want to dull a knife, this is the stuff. I've had lots of problems with even the mid level s30v micro chipping and thus dulling really quickly on it, not to mention harder steels such as zdp-189 and SG2. So that's one reason I prefer a "lower end" steel on my knives. I can sharpen them very very quickly and they generally hold an edge for a days worth of heavy work. AUS-8 is great, so is 8CR13MoV. VG-10 is as brittle as I like to go. I've had a FFG endura chip out cutting extremely thick card board.
 
AUS8 is usually my lowest but well made steels that are "lower quality" are fine by me as long as they perform at a level where i believe they should for the price.
 
ac1d0v3r1d3 said:
One thing I do with my knives is cut gar-lock gaskets. If you want to dull a knife, this is the stuff. I've had lots of problems with even the mid level s30v micro chipping and thus dulling really quickly on it, not to mention harder steels such as zdp-189 and SG2. So that's one reason I prefer a "lower end" steel on my knives. I can sharpen them very very quickly and they generally hold an edge for a days worth of heavy work. AUS-8 is great, so is 8CR13MoV. VG-10 is as brittle as I like to go. I've had a FFG endura chip out cutting extremely thick card board.
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I can see why AUS-8 would be a good steel for you, especially if you're around boats & in the water. With a coated blade and a a little extra care, would a good high carbon steel blade work pretty good?

My point in posting this thread wasn't so much of comparing blade steels, as much as it's about what one really needs vs wants. I admittedly haven't chipped out any of my S30V blades, but I also don't use them on stuff, usually, for that to happen. If I'm going to cut some tough material &/or chop, I'll use a tougher SS or a high carbon steel, not one of the "super steels."

I also admit that for certain uses, AUS-8 steel is a perfectly good, usable blade steel. At the same time, while I have & use Case's CV steel, I much prefer 1095, D2, or something along those lines for my slip-joints. While I don't mind sharpening & can sharpen fairly well, I just prefer not to have to do so too often.

There's a fine line between phenomenal edge holding & acceptable edge holding. Of course, I haven't figured out where that line is, yet.
 
Depends....I picked up a little Boker Escape because it was on sale for $15 and frankly, I thought it looked cool. It's 420, gets and holds a VERY sharp edge. I have a friend doing a Kydex neck sheath for it right now and will feel very comfortable carrying it as a back up to my back ups.

Second what someone said about the Ka Bar Doziers...for $20 or so, they might just be the best value in folding blades today!
 
Lower or upper cut-off point? My high-end is pretty much S30V, just because I love the level of sharpness it always seems to come with, and am willing to deal with the occasional rust issue depending on the finish.

Low end is AUS-8 or comparable, just because I've found it to be a great working steel.

154CM and VG10 are about my mid-points for now. I'm sure all of this will change as the addiction progresses, though. :D
 
I am quite happy with 440C, Aus 8, 154CM, ATS-34, VG-10.

I do not see any benefit to paying the price for M4, ZDP-189 and the like.

I'm also quite happy with 1095 and CV.

Ed
 
Design and ergonomics are more important to me than steels, since I rarely use a knife hard enough between sharpening to really notice the superior edge holding qualities of the super steels. One of my absolute favorite knives is the Beretta Loveless hunter and it's AUS 8, isn't generally regarded as a great steel. On this knife, however, the HT and edge geometry are just perfect. I can process my limit of whitetails without having to sharpen it. That's good enough for me!

I will confess that it is nice to have carried my S90V Manix 2 for a year without having to sharpen it--- but I am dreading the day when I do!
 
A year? You carried it a year without sharpening it?

I become really nerveous, if i can´t do any maintance, touching up or sharpening after a week or two. How could i stand a year!?:D
 
I have tried these steels as of recently.

O1 - holds a good edge quite long, cant really get it super sharp, it rusts but never chips.

1095 - Mora, good for abuse, edgeholding is not good, but sharpens very fast, sharpens to insane level though, stains extremely fast.

12c27, Mora underhardened 57-58, does not chip, quite good edgeholding, gets a very sharp adge, easily sharpened, very good stain resistance, DOES NOT chip, good for abuse.

12c27m - cheap kitchenknifes, probably underhardened, guesstimating 57-59. takes a good edge fast, really sharp. Does not stain, edgeholding not that good, does not chip.

13c26/AEB-L - Razor, capable of extremely fine edges, sharpens quickly, does stain but it takes some time, good toughness.

154CM non powdered - Emersons, ~58, sharpens quite fast, does not take that super sharp edge, does not hold a good edge for long IMO, probably quite tough but not as tough as sandvik.

Whatever victorinox uses - sharpens easily, takes very sharp edge, holds it longer than expected, can chip sometimes but easily fixed, seems very stain resistant.

VG10 - spydercos, does not take a really good edge, holds whatever you put there quite long, and is "usable" for a long time once it degrades, chips very easy, sharpens very slow, stains fast. All in all it looks good on paper with the tough cobalt in there but in reality its not better than 12c27, its actually worse. And alot more time consuming.

S30V - chips out very easily, the chips are often severe, takes a good edge, better than VG10 and on par with sandvik, holds it for a long time (until it chips out), total nightmare to sharpen. Have not noticed any staining. If you have diamonds for rough work this steel is much better overall than VG10, if you dont- dont even consider buying it. VG10 and this one is pretty much the opposite of tough, and are not suited for general abuse (=EDC) IMO, they need constant attention and are very time consuming however you put it.

Better than 154 CM? S30V is if you know its limitations (chipout mania).

I think the real good steels here are the sandvik and uddeholm, s30v is not that bad either but you have to remember its not a tough steel.

I would not consider buying anything made form VG10 ever again, nor 154CM it just does not deliver, s30v yes.

Maybe I´m biased but I use my knives for more than just cutting stuff, some argue use the right tool for the job, I say use the tool you have.
 
There was a time when i only bought the latest super steel . Now i feel the steel
is not as important as the knife maker. Bark River a-2 steel, Fiddleback 0-1steel
and so on. Esee for 1095 steel. Any one else feel this way?
 
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It's been awhile since since I studied German, but I think rostafrei= rostfrei= rustfree= stainless. You are worthy, but you may not want to be.
 
tiguy7 said:
I like the wear resistance imparted to steel by the addition of Vanadium carbides at 82 RWc. I also like the finer grain structure that is achieved using the particle metallurgy process. For these reasons, I gravitate to S30V, S60V, S90V, and S110V. As the number designation increases, so does the percent of Vanadium carbide. The higher the percentage of Vanadium, the better I like the steel. These high alloy steels are harder to sharpen, but they are harder to dull. Wear resistance in equals wear resistance out. There is no free lunch.
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I dont know, but all the steels you list are high carbide content steels, often with complex large carbides, harder to sharpen yes! Some steels like the sandvik ones have extremely low carbide content and the carbides themselves are small, (no high temp tempering, no large precipitation carbides) and the grain structure is as fine as you can get, some real science and research went in to these steels, as opposed to pretty much everything else on the planet (for cutlery) except from crucibles offerings.

When high carbide steels wear they pretty much chip out because the (comparably soft martensite) matrix gets worn down and the carbides rip out, high carbide steels dont like adhesive wear either, like cutting polymers.

At the end of the working day 12c27 and s30v have about the same sharpness but 12c27 only takes a few seconds to touch up and has no chips to grind out.

Whats really better here? I dont know. I prefer the sandviks though.
 
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