I bit confused about steel...

R

Rhombifer

Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Messages
20
Hello my friends,

after reading so many posts I admit that I am a bit confused...so my question is:

from these types of steel what is the best for a folder:

ATS-34
VG-10
154CM


Thank you very much for your kind help
 
Rhombifer said:
Hello my friends,
from these types of steel what is the best for a folder:

ATS-34
VG-10
154CM
Click to expand...
They're all good stainless steels. I prefer VG-10, but the other two (very similar ;)) steels also great choice for EDC use. Your choice... ;)
 
Until they get a ton of experience working with lots of different types (and even once they do...), I'd be willing to bet most folks wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

In other words, they're all comparable, and all more than adequate. You really can't go wrong with any of them, especially from a reputable maker/company who does a good job heat treating their blades.
 
Any of the above would make an excellent blade for a pocket knife. To me, the performance is similar enough that I do let a choice between those three alloys become a factor in choosing a blade.

That being said, 154CM is supposed to have a tad more edge retention than ATS34. Almost dead nuts the same composition, but 154CM is said to have a better grain structure. RJ Martin, the custom knifemaker, had micro analysis done of the two steels and that was the result he reported.

Both 154CM and ATS34 have better edge retention than VG10. It is not day and night. In daily use I do not think you might not notice the difference. But there is a difference.

If there is any difference in corrosion resistance among those alloys, I have never seen it in any of my usages and I live a couple of miles from the beach.

Now re-read the first paragraph of my response.

Frank R
 
Those are all roughly the same, you probably wouldn't notice a difference.

I prefer VG-10 though.
 
154CM/ATS34 contains a good deal more molybdenum than VG-10, which many find makes them more difficult to sharpen (recently learned this myself, thanks to Jeff Clark.)

It's also usually reported that VG-10 has slightly better edge retention and resists corrosion better than the other two, which probably explains why many prefer it. As for toughness, I'm not sure where VG-10 stands compared to 154CM/ATS34.
 
VG-10 is finer grained than ATS-34/154CM. ATS-34/154CM is actually fairly coarse grained (not like D2, not fine either). That offers some advantages. I have my doubts though, that you would be able to tell the differences in cases where both steels are decently treated. Especially if you don't know what to look for. You should be happy with either. Between ATS-34 and 154CM quality seems dependent how carefully it was made and at what time. In principle they are the same steel though.

The general concensus seems to be that VG-10 is the better steel by a small margin.
 
I have owned dozens of ATS34, 154cm and VG10 knives over the last 12 years and all have been excellent and I really could not tell the difference between them.
 
In my experience VG10 seems to have a bit better wear resistance than ATS34 or 154cm ( but not CPM 154cm at higher RC's). IMO, the VG10 also is more corrosion resistant, and easier to sharpen up to very sharp levels.

I would give toughness to 154cm (and CPM 154cm) though. Just my opinion. As usual heat treats, maker, grinds, and RC can change things they are that close. Joe
 
ikiddp9 said:
How does S30V compares to VG-10?
Click to expand...

S30V is more abrasion resistant, on abrasive material it will excel. It is much harder to grind and more difficult to finish. From experience I would say it is not as fine grained but that might be a misconception, because it takes simply more time to polish. Some have had bad experiences with S30V in the past, though it has been some time since I have seen complaints. I know that some people don't like it because it hasn't held an edge for them. For me it has performed very well. I think it has the potential to perform better than VG-10, but the general opinion is probably more even for VG-10. I have yet to read ANY complains about VG-10.

But really, we are talking about fine differences here. They may have different advantages, but they are both really among the best stainless steels available.
 
ikiddp9 said:
How does S30V compares to VG-10?
Click to expand...

Depends a lot on the application in my experience. My knives are in harms way on a regular basis, and for me, I prefer a steel that is easy to maintain, tough, and takes edge damage gracefully. The uber steels can certainly display good edge holding performance but yet not be particularly forgiving if you should inadvertently bring the edge in contact with something hard. A few dents in a VG10 blade are fairly quickly redressed without too much effort. Similar chipping in the edges of these harder steels...not nearly so.

I would save the uber steels for environments where there is less possibility of the blade coming into contact with other hard surfaces, and use the somewhat softer but tougher blade steels when there is a high probability of occasional edge impacts during use.

On the whole, I am very happy with VG10. Good toughness and stain resistance, easy and quick to maintain and repair the edge, extremely high level of practical sharpness...overall, a good balanced working steel.
 
VG-10 is my favorite. you get a nice acute edge on a VG-10 blade and nothing will be able to stand in its way (within reason of course. dont go whittlin pipes ;) ). VG-10 just takes a scarry sharp edge.

154cm is also great and makes for a good, hard use blade where as VG-10 is better used for the presicion, not that 154cm couldnt. just my opinion.

nvr owned a ATS-34 blade, so i cant vouch for it.
 
Most of my daily cutting chores are in safe environments, so I edc an S30V Sebbie. It's terrifically hard to grind, but provided it doesn't dent, it holds an edge so long that I scarcely need to sharpen it.
At work, however, when my knife is much more likely to inadvertantly contact metal, I've been getting into carrying a Spyderco VG-10 folder because it still holds a great edge - not quite S30V but close enough for my purposes, and unlike S30V you can put a great 30 second edge on it at the end of every day.
 
Rhombifer said:
Hello my friends,

after reading so many posts I admit that I am a bit confused...so my question is:

from these types of steel what is the best for a folder:

ATS-34
VG-10
154CM


Thank you very much for your kind help
Click to expand...

They're all great steels for a folder.I'd also like to add S30V.As far as the three you mentioned,I'd go with VG-10.It's easiest to sharpen.You can get it razor sharp & it holds an edge a quite well.:)
 
Agree with all of the above ... all 3 steels are good, the differences aren't enough to sway me one way or the other. If I was choosing between two folders, with any permutation of those three, I'd base my decision on other factors, like blade geometry, lock type, etc.
 
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