I would like to learn about Blade Steel

There are several things that make a good blade other than steel type. Proper heat treatment, Rockwell hardness, edge geometry, & intended use are the main ones. Super-steels with inferior heat treatment will not outperform simple steel with proper heat treatment. If the edge is too soft for the intended use it will not hold an edge. If its too hard it will chip. If the edge is not ground to the proper thickness before the final bevel it will not perform properly. There is no "perfect" steel but there are several that will do many thing well if all of these factors are taken into account BEFORE the knife is made. Just my .02, feel free to disagree.
 
Search the Spyderco Website for their Mule series. Each Mule is the same shaped blade made out of a different (generally high end) steel, and they all have descriptions of the steel. As far as great up and coming steels, you could do a lot worse than M390. Elmax is supposed to be great, CPM-M4 is great, S90V is outstanding, S30V is quickly becoming the industry standard for high end steels, VG-10 is a great standard steel, 1095 is a Carbon Steel, which means it'll rust if not properly cared for, but will take a keen edge, AUS-8 (which is what your sog is likely made of) is an okay steel (more on the low end of decent steels, but you could do much worse), Buck uses a lot of 420HC which is a low end steel, but with the right heat treat is nothing to shake a stick at. I'd try to stay away from any knife which lists 440 stainless as their blade unless the 440 is 440C. 440 A and B are generally considered pretty low end steels and are what you'll find on most gas station folders. Definitely stay away from anything that claims to be "Surgical Stainless" as that's a euphemism for inferior steel. Pretty much any steel that has a CPM or CTX (and BDS I think) in front of it is going to be a good steel. CPM and CTX let you know that the steel is powdered metallurgy, which means you get a more even disbursement of Carbides. CPM and CTX refer to the powdered metallurgy process from two different companies. There are others as well, but these two are most common right now. There are a ton of different steels out there though, and this is just a short list of a couple I've dealt with or heard about.
 
All I can say is: KEEP READING.

You will most likely never know everything, or even close to everything. When I first joined I had similar questions to you, I read A LOT. I still read a lot, and still don't know much :P BUT I can tell you what I like, and what I don't like. Like said before, anything from the main good manufacturers should suffice for EDC uses. Then use the piss out of ONE knife for a few months. Sharpen it. Use it some more. Once you feel like you have a grip on it, get a new one in a different steel. Spyderco worked for me, which works because they have a lot of very useful, no nonsense styles, and they also love to change up new blade steels.

I ended up liking a lot of steels that aren't stainless. But they're still easy to keep rust free because I'm in California. People in Florida or other hot/humid states might not.
 
 
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mr_anderson said:
:foot:
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your ignoring the face that High Carbon steels are stronger, would you like a kukri out of 5160 or 1095 or would you like it in a stainless. Again there is no best steel man. M4 can cut better than most stainless steels and is stronger than some but it will rust. Stainless doesnt mean its stain proof either. It just means it stains less than high carbon. My S30v and S35vn I have to clean rust off of.
MJF said:
Search the Spyderco Website for their Mule series. Each Mule is the same shaped blade made out of a different (generally high end) steel, and they all have descriptions of the steel. As far as great up and coming steels, you could do a lot worse than M390. Elmax is supposed to be great, CPM-M4 is great, S90V is outstanding, S30V is quickly becoming the industry standard for high end steels, VG-10 is a great standard steel, 1095 is a Carbon Steel, which means it'll rust if not properly cared for, but will take a keen edge, AUS-8 (which is what your sog is likely made of) is an okay steel (more on the low end of decent steels, but you could do much worse), Buck uses a lot of 420HC which is a low end steel, but with the right heat treat is nothing to shake a stick at. I'd try to stay away from any knife which lists 440 stainless as their blade unless the 440 is 440C. 440 A and B are generally considered pretty low end steels and are what you'll find on most gas station folders. Definitely stay away from anything that claims to be "Surgical Stainless" as that's a euphemism for inferior steel. Pretty much any steel that has a CPM or CTX (and BDS I think) in front of it is going to be a good steel. CPM and CTX let you know that the steel is powdered metallurgy, which means you get a more even disbursement of Carbides. CPM and CTX refer to the powdered metallurgy process from two different companies. There are others as well, but these two are most common right now. There are a ton of different steels out there though, and this is just a short list of a couple I've dealt with or heard about.
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Mule will work well. Ignore what he said about 440s(no offense man) its a great way to test steels at different hardnesses and different methods of heat treatment. Buy a cheap chinese fixed blade and compare it to this http://www.arizonacustomknives.com/products/index.php?id=25265 There will be a noticeable difference. but they are the same steel
 
440 doesn't even really mean 440A, B, or C. Sometimes it's just something to stamp on a cheap blade.
 
Thanks FoxholeAtheist for your time. Your very right. I did not know how to ask the correct question.
Mainly I just would like to be able to go to Gun/Knife shows, see an nice looking knife for a descent price and hold it, feel it, open it or not, wiggle it, etc.. and have a good feeling that this will be a great knife for the money, as a gift, or whatever.
I just like knifes. I have several and I aways like looking for more. I am very out doorsy, bike, hike, kayak and I like having things that are useful.
 
darrin sanders said:
There are several things that make a good blade other than steel type. Proper heat treatment, Rockwell hardness, edge geometry, & intended use are the main ones. Super-steels with inferior heat treatment will not outperform simple steel with proper heat treatment. If the edge is too soft for the intended use it will not hold an edge. If its too hard it will chip. If the edge is not ground to the proper thickness before the final bevel it will not perform properly. There is no "perfect" steel but there are several that will do many thing well if all of these factors are taken into account BEFORE the knife is made. Just my .02, feel free to disagree.
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Thanks. Amazing stuff. Lots of info on this.
 
MJF said:
Search the Spyderco Website for their Mule series. Each Mule is the same shaped blade made out of a different (generally high end) steel, and they all have descriptions of the steel. As far as great up and coming steels, you could do a lot worse than M390. Elmax is supposed to be great, CPM-M4 is great, S90V is outstanding, S30V is quickly becoming the industry standard for high end steels, VG-10 is a great standard steel, 1095 is a Carbon Steel, which means it'll rust if not properly cared for, but will take a keen edge, AUS-8 (which is what your sog is likely made of) is an okay steel (more on the low end of decent steels, but you could do much worse), Buck uses a lot of 420HC which is a low end steel, but with the right heat treat is nothing to shake a stick at. I'd try to stay away from any knife which lists 440 stainless as their blade unless the 440 is 440C. 440 A and B are generally considered pretty low end steels and are what you'll find on most gas station folders. Definitely stay away from anything that claims to be "Surgical Stainless" as that's a euphemism for inferior steel. Pretty much any steel that has a CPM or CTX (and BDS I think) in front of it is going to be a good steel. CPM and CTX let you know that the steel is powdered metallurgy, which means you get a more even disbursement of Carbides. CPM and CTX refer to the powdered metallurgy process from two different companies. There are others as well, but these two are most common right now. There are a ton of different steels out there though, and this is just a short list of a couple I've dealt with or heard about.
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Wow what did I get myself into!!
 
Both Spyderco and Benchmade list their knife steels on their respective websites and they are pretty conclusive.

Also, do a search on Ankerson. He has YouTube videos as well as charts where he primarily rates steels according to their cutting efficiency, usually rope and/or cardboard. However, be aware that keeping a sharp edge for a long time does NOT mean the same thing as a tough steel that isn't brittle.
It will be fun for you. It was for me also.
Sonnytoo
 
There's nothing perfect.
You will have to make choices/compromises.
Typically it comes down to a choice between wear resistance and toughness. You can lean in one direction or the other.
Some of the really awesome steels, you might not find in any production knives, except maybe a rare limited edition.
 
Mule will work well. Ignore what he said about 440s(no offense man) its a great way to test steels at different hardnesses and different methods of heat treatment. Buy a cheap chinese fixed blade and compare it to this http://www.arizonacustomknives.com/products/index.php?id=25265 There will be a noticeable difference. but they are the same steel
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I agree that 440C's a good steel, when given the right HT. That having been said, 440A's generally garbage.
 
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