How much of your knife is "in your mind?"

L

Lavan

Joined
Nov 8, 2000
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2,301
I'm guilty. I love VG-10. I now look DOWN on lesser steels. Even the ones that hold an edge as well. For instance, by old Buck 110 first model. 1960's vintage. Sharp as heck and even harder to sharpen, but it HOLDS that edge even though it's hard to get it.

I even cast a jaundiced eye at all 440C (an I bet my Buck is 420 :barf: :D )
And AUS-6A and 8. All probably perfectly good steels......BUT.....not the "TREND !!!"

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I now look at S30V as possibly eclipsing my vaunted VG10.........and with no ....proof. And realistically, probably no appreciable difference that would matter to me in any situation.

Forget the education on heat treating. It matters not to an ignorant gullible snot like me. The MAGAZINE says........"blah-blah-blah."

Are any of you in this arrogant, snobbish boat too?

:confused:
 
Lavan said:
Forget the education on heat treating. It matters not to an ignorant gullible snot like me.

Are any of you in this arrogant, snobbish boat too?
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Meee? NOOOO!!! NEVER! I am just a steel junky who needs his daily fix :). But honestly I can stop anytime.....if I want to..... :o Ahhh...denial is bliss :D. Remind me, why do I really need a Pacific? Right! The H-1! Not that I have gotten S30V to rust or VG-10 or even ATS-34 for that matter but...... ;)
 
I've got a Swede 88 in my pocket that I'm pretty fond of. Takes a good edge and sharpening it isn't a full time job. I also like simple carbon steels. I guess I'm just a simple caveman.

Frank
 
About the only people, the world over, who are really hung up on the steel in their knives are forumites like us.
The rest, the overwhelming majority of knife owners, make do - successfully - with much lesser steels (420 class and simple carbon steels).
 
I'm a sucker for S30V on small knives and carbon steel on big ones.
And shamefully I've been biased against ATS-34 and 440C, but no longer.
Down the line I'll be getting a forged folder and a CPM3V hunter.
 
I hear ya loud and clear, my spyderfly is vg10 and I love the knife. They have switched over to 440c which shouldnt be an issue cuz I already have a vg10 model right? Wrong, they are releasing a rainbow finished spyderfly but ya know what if it ain't in vg10 then I don't want it. I am only like this with some knives, the kershaw folders I have owned have been great, sharp and easy to sharpen knives and they certainly aren't made from wonder steel. All in my head, yep but I am still not gonna get the 440c fly, well probably not anyway.
 
I rotate 3 slipjoints, have customs made of 1084, 5160, 440c, and carry 2 ats-55 folders daily...

steel isn't as important as handle material and comfort.
 
I strongly favor certain steels, but I have to sample everything. My minimum standard for most knives I buy is AUS-8 if I'm really interested in the design (and VG-10 more generally), but my most recent purchase was AUS-6 just so I could experiment with it.

By the way Lavan, if your Buck 110 is 1960's vintage it probably is 440C. That is a large part of why it is tough to sharpen. My last Buck folder is a 560 with the same shape blade as the 110, but a finger-grooved titanium handle. This one is a semi-custom with a BG42 alloy blade.
 
I really do prefer a premium modern steel, but I don't believe it's all in my head--they really do perform better overall.

But the good thing is that there are quite a few blade-steels that I consider premium:
440C
AUS-8
154CM
ATS-34
ATS-55
VG-10
S30V

All of these are good enough for me.
I really don't see alot of difference between the premium steels when it comes to everyday performance.
As much as I like VG-10 and S30V, my current EDC is a Spyderco G-10 Police with ats-55 steel.

But I do look down upon 420, 440A, and AUS-6.
They are too soft and don't hold an edge for very long, and with so many better steels available, why settle for 440A, AUS-6 or 420?

The only 420 knife I use is my Victorinox SAK. And if Victorinox produced a SAK with better steel I would buy it in a heartbeat.

Allen.
 
Eh, my Kershaws all have 440c I believe, and they are really soft. The edges fold pretty easily and what once was a shaving-sharp knife becomes quite dull. My mystical spyderco Manix on the other hand, that things like a lightsaber. Ok, not quite, but it sure cuts beautifully, and seems to hold its edge really well. This also could have to do with the grind, I for one now am a fan of flat grinds. Go Spyderco!
 
I'm not a steel snob unless it is pure junk. Like the bulk of those commemerative knives you see.
 
I can actually say as long as it's a quality knife that holds its edge and doesn't cut my fingers off when the lock fails, it doesn't matter what it's made of.

If I have to pick a steel that I would like my knives to be made from... I don't have a problem with 420, if it's heat treated properly. Buck does a good job, few others do. So... I guess I'm guilty then... if it's not a Buck, I won't have 420.

I like 440 for food prep. AUS-8 is good and I don't really have edge retention problems with any of my AUS-6 knives either (only two and neither over 3.5 inches), but would prefer AUS-8. I like 1095 a lot. I don't have a lot of experience with ATS-34: I've only had one knife of ATS-34 and wasn't too fond of the blade design... won't name any names though because it held a good edge and was a quality knife. I like D2 an awful lot too.

I really think any quality steel, properly heat treated can perform as a knife blade. Of course various steels will do different things at different blade lenght/thickness, so these wonderful katanas made from 420j2 won't be of much use no matter how well they're heat treated (who ever heard of heat treated 420j2 though?). But a well treated 420 blade will out perform a poorly treated higher end steel.
 
averageguy said:
About the only people, the world over, who are really hung up on the steel in their knives are forumites like us.
The rest, the overwhelming majority of knife owners, make do - successfully - with much lesser steels (420 class and simple carbon steels).
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That's very true. A kid I work with doesn't have a lot of money and he had some trouble fitting in when he first started there. Myself and the customer service manager at the store are the resident knife nuts, and this kid attached himself to us. He started buying some knives, all garbage as far as any of us are concerned, but he was proud of them. I felt bad when he'd hand me one and the first thing I did was look at the tang stamp and shudder on the inside.

I felt bad enough to actually take the time and try my best to teach the kid about at least how to sharpen his knives. A crap knife is one thing, but a crap knife with a crap lock and a dull blade is a disaster waiting to happen.

He graduates high school at the end of the month. I've got a few old Buck 112s lying around that don't get much use because I don't like knives that small, but they're damn good knives. I think I'll give him one just because he made it (he's not the smartest kid in the world, he tries hard and is a good person though). Show him a quality knife that won't let him down.
 
Psychopomp said:
I've got a few old Buck 112s lying around that don't get much use because I don't like knives that small, but they're damn good knives. I think I'll give him one just because he made it (he's not the smartest kid in the world, he tries hard and is a good person though). Show him a quality knife that won't let him down.
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I love stories like this. Kinda’ like a chick flick movie for knife knuts! Seriously, though, sounds like an awesome way to celebrate a step into the real world.

-Duffin
 
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