How important is the Blade Material to you??

Blade material choice is very important. I tend to look at the design and purpose of the knife before choosing a steel to use. If I wanted a big camp knife, I wouldn't choose stellite or ATS34. I'd likely pick something along the lines of A2, CPM3V, 52100, 1084, etc... For folders, my choice as of late has been stellite, as I tend to sweat more then my fair share. I have been known to get blades of S30V and S60V to rust around the pivot simply from riding in my pockets. For hunters, i love D2. ATS34/154CM works just fine in that department for me as well. I have really started to dig that stellite stuff. I have a Camillus mini-talon and 2 Carsons with one on the way in stellite. It's amazing stuff.

JR
 
Blade material is important to me as I live on the windward side (more rain) of a hawaiian island, somewhat near the ocean. Metal corrodes verily in front of your eyes here. There is nothing sadder than to find one of your knives that has been left on the floor of your truck, or gotten wet and put on a garage bench and left for a while here........As a knife fan, I have to stay on top of my collection to keep it from rusting. Needless to say, I really like my talonite and stellite blades, and for my EDC knives one of the newer corrosion resistent steels is key.

wabi
 
Manicreader: The way I heard the story, the guy who founded Victorinox developed a new type of steel to use in the making of military knives. He sold the first models available to the general public out of his mother's hat shop. Mom-Victoria Steel-Inox. Victorinox.:cool:
 
My best camping knife is 440C, and some people can do it right(deep hollow grind, 6mm spine, 4" blade, satin finish) but most can't...

I prefer VG-10 and S60V... but ATS-55 works for me too... I have a couple 6A and 8A knives, but they always need touchups. and they're spyderco.

Not too picky about steel, but if I have a choice b/w 2 steels for a small difference, I'll spend more for a "better" steel. If I only have 1 choice, the steel isn't going to stop me from buying it.
 
In order of importance:
1.Heat treatment over specific material. Absolutely shy away from great deals on knives made overseas where the steel is apt to be improperly heat-treated and hence a piece of soft metal junk.

2.Overall-design over material. Blade/handle shape, thickness, length, etc.

3. General material. Sometimes I just want the next knife in carbon steel....

4. Price.
 
I have to admit to being a steel snob,and do tend to want the "latest and greatest", but heat treat and grind mean just as much to me as the steel involved. Just this past weekend, a friend of mine asked me to sharpen his mini TSEK folder that utilizes GIN-1 steel. Now, GIN-1 would not be my first choice in folder blade steel, since I have to have the latest and greatest snob steel, but I was amazed at how easily I was able to get that GIN-1 scary sharp.
 
i find it puzzling that people avoid the sXXv steels because they want to avoid sharpening them?
they're not that much harder to sharpen than any good steel out there
i actually found my s60v knife easier to sharpen than my 154cm knife (due to truly hardcore heat treat :) )
 
Gee Guys. It's nice to know everyone is so passionate about their
steels, but most buyers don't consider the three most important matters!

1. The intended purpose and use of the knife. (which dictates size,
shape and steel thickness)Don't forget the climate at the use
site, which is important when choosing handle material too!

2. The quality of the makers work, since most experienced makers
have tested their product and know what it will do, regardless
of the steel used. With reputations on the line, a good product
for its intended purpose will usually be delivered!!

3. Last, but not at all least in importance, is the type of grind.
This too should meet the criteria of what the knife is going to
be used to accomplish.
 
It's only important to me from the perspective of it's finished appearance for enjoyment and the potential resale value. For my personal mundane knife uses, any POS will do.

For example, say I'm cutting open cartons. I tried using some of my super-duper custom made steel knives and found that I had to go remove the adhesive residue gunk on them, which was nettlesom. Or I had to navigate large, hidden staples. So, I went back to using a box cutter.

Similar thing, such as cutting cord or cable ties. I use a pair of dykes for that.

So, steel is not that important to me, except in the knowledge that a given steel has a premium placed on it by others. So, there's a pride in ownership from that standpoint.

(Of course, my defensive blades are a whole 'nuther story)
:)
 
IMO steel quality has a direct relationship to edge holding ability.....which to me is important in varying degrees,depending on the particular use the knife is being subjected to.

For a hunting knife I want a steel that will hold an edge for a very long time before needing to be touched up....CPM10V,D2, or VG-10 come to mind for this use.To have a steel that looses its edge TOO quickly in this instance is to me a major inconvience,having to stop the chore at hand to attend to the edge.

On the other hand an EDC knife isn't usually used all that hard and can be touched up at home in a matter of minutes, so edge holding isn't as important in this type of use.

I am starting to give more thought on the steel in my kitchen knives, as they get the most use.I am considering AG Russell Deerhunter in VG-10 or D2 for kitchen duty.

I enjoy putting a good edge on a knife in the comforts of home or camp....but NOT out in the field.....this said:

HUNTING KNIFE
1.CPM10V
2.D2
3.VG-10

EDC
1.VG-10
2.ATS34
3.AUS8

Just my thoughts on the matter,

GH
 
This thread is neat in that there's exposition on a lot of steel and it's uses. Good to learn from.
 
If a manufacturer is trying to control the cost of making a knife, I prefer that they put their money into the handle material. For most uses of my knives, I can make do just fine with a "lesser" steel. For example, Danbo mentioned GIN-1. I have owned quite a few older Spydercos with this steel, and I know what to expect from it. I would like to see more knives made with higher-end handle materials such as G10 and cheaper but still adequate steels.
 
Blade steel is important in the fact that there are steels that I know and trust and I want my knives to have blades that are made from these steels. I am always willing to try new steels, but I have no more of a preference for the new steels than I do for those that are tried and true.
 
I never thought that the steel would make that much of a difference until I compared to similar grinds in a folder, and found that a good high carbon steel will keep it's edge much longer than AUS-8 when whittling wood. Now, the heat treat might have something to do with that, but I can't see the heat treat. I can see which steel (ok, I have to be told, but I doubt that a reputable manufacturer would lie about that), and I can see the grind.

So yes, I'm definitely gravitating back to the high carbon rusties. Love 'em. Which ones? 1095, Carbon V, 5160, 52100. I am also VERY impressed with INFI...

Haven't tried VG-10 yet, but enough folks here have talked it up that I'm going to make it my next purchase.
 
VG-10 is some sweet stuff indeed. It has a really toothy edge that holds for quite a while.
I'd love to see BM make knives with it. Imagine a BM94x in vg-10.............MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.:eek:
 
For me steel is quite important. I like my knife to as good a steel as possible.As many have already pointed out, knife grind, shape and use will dictate the knifes cutting ability as well.


Knife steels I will not except in my knives.
420,440a, aus6 and any uncoated carbon steels.
 
Seems important so far. I am only a relatively new knife enthusiast and already I have made some decisions about what I do and don't like. I like ATS-34 & 154CM. A favourite is my Cold Steel SRK. I think they have the carbon balance pretty good. I was defrosting my old fridge for the first time in 3 years the other day, you can imagine the punishment that was inflicted on the SRK. But afterwards the edge was still relatively good & only required a few strokes on the sharpmaker to get it back up to scratch.

I have a cheap 440C folder and a swiss army knife both of which have relatively high levels of chromium in the blades. I don't really like them. Apart from the usual complaints like they are harder to sharpen and lose their edge quicker, the edges on the blades seem to retain a roughness unlike the smoothness of higher carbon steels

Plus like most knife enthusiasts I enjoy regularely cleaning and protecting my knives, which makes the so called disadvantages of high carbon steels not really a disadvantage at all!!
 
The blade material depends on what you intend on using your knife for in my book. I would not want a sub standard steel however a lot of the complaints I read about some of the steels that are used is that they don't hold an edge well enough. So if I was buying a hunting knife to cut or skin an animal this would be a real issue for me perhaps. For an EDC self defense custom knife, I never use it for cutting anything other than what it is intended for therefore, ideally even, it could go its entire life without cutting or sharpening. If you need / use something for every day tasks, boxes, letters, tape etc. then any basic model spyderco or swiss army knife will do the trick and their steel will hold up for you.

Just my 0.02

Take care and stay safe
 
high carbon stanless,or tool steel.the heat treat is the soul of the blade.that is what makes a knife stand out.steel-proper temper=outstanding knife.
 
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