In your opinion, which brand(s) of knives use the best heat treating?

The Best: most expensive (use better steels)
The worst: the cheapest (garbage steel)
This is very subjective. One of the best heat treaters is Bos in California IMO
 
All my Buck BOS stuff is outstanding!

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:D
 
Bos' BG/ATS, Busse's INFI, CRK's S30V and MD's 01 are the ones that stand out in my memory. Not that I know anything much about the science of H/T, talking more from user experience here.
 
I'll have to go with my Buck BOS heat-treated knives also. I have a Buck Mayo Waimea that is the best cutter I have in a folder and it came from the factory razor sharp and I don't use that term for very many knives.
 
Paul Bos, the best all-around. He does a great job on all the steels he does.
INFI
Bark River
 
GEC does a great job with their 1095.

Spyderco is great with their stainless, especially the vg-10.
 
I am unaware of any quality maker that has a crappy heat treat.
 
From experience, SOG must be doing something right. I've had several SOGs that I've carried and used a lot and was always surprised at how well they held and edge. Sometimes it was better than expected for the price. For example, I'm surprised at how well their inexpensive Autoclip knives perform.

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rpttrsn said:
The Best: most expensive (use better steels)
The worst: the cheapest (garbage steel)
This is very subjective. One of the best heat treaters is Bos in California IMO
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The best steels can have a crappy heat treat and have bad edge retention.

Not very good steel (most consider 420HC junk) can be heat treated exceptionally well and perform good (which is what Buck does with the above mentioned steel).

I don't think price had anything to do with heat treating protocols and the end result.

However, I'm not sure I have encountered enough knives and steel to say one company does it better than another.
 
IMO, Knives of Alaska for production knives, especially their D2.

Buck and Bark River do very well too.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
I don't think price had anything to do with heat treating protocols and the end result.
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I agree. Buck historically hasn't used fancy steels, especially in their traditional knives we all like, like their 110, 112, etc. lockbacks and their phenolic-handled knives that have been around forever, but they DO have a good heat treat that makes their knives perform really well considering their relatively low price point.

In fact, I'd venture to say that Buck is one of the best examples we have of using a good heat treat on an otherwise unremarkable steel and creating a good product at a good price.

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In my experience, Buck and Japanese made Spydercos have had the best heat treats.

US made Spydercos, at least from my sampling, have seemed to be hit or miss, which is why I prefer Seki-made Spydercos to Golden knives.

I've had knives from high end makers that had less than perfect heat treats, but I've never had one that was just outright poor. I've had plenty of knives that had the heat treat at the edge messed up by factory sharpening, but they tend to sharpen out and perform fine after a few sharpenings.
 
Psychopomp said:
In my experience, Buck and Japanese made Spydercos have had the best heat treats.

US made Spydercos, at least from my sampling, have seemed to be hit or miss, which is why I prefer Seki-made Spydercos to Golden knives.
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Me too.

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H/T is very important but what about hammer forged, like custom hand made knives. Aren't they supposed to be the strongest made because of the way the steel molecules are lined up when being forged?

I think they at least should be better than stamped steel?
 
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