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

Only one vote For RAT? I've used lots of 1095 knives.. RCs heat treat is by far the best. It is outstanding. I also agree with Spyderco, Buck's BOS heat treat, as well as BMs and KA BARs. Hit and miss? Ontario.... and cold steel.
 
Any steel Paul Bos treats is good as gold. He is the man for Buck and many custom makers. Dozier is the D2 master. Kershaw, Spyderco, Bark River, older Blackjack, Queen, and many older model slip joints in carbon steel are also great. 1095 with a good HT is truly outstanding, and many makers do it well. 440C is great with the right HT. Randall comes to mind first. It is actually hard to get a really poor HT unless you buy cheap crap or get a lemon from an otherwise reputable maker.
 
I've found Paul Bos' heat treat (whether it be for Buck or for other makers) to be excellent. Spyderco's heat treat has always been great as well, regardless of the steel. For S30V, I've found whomever BladeTech uses to treat their steel to be great. Also on my list is Ernest Emerson/EKI for whomever they use for their 154CM. Benchmade's 154CM is very well done, but I've not been impressed with their heat treat on S30V.

Regards,
3G
 
Knivesandgear.com said:
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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negative, no difference after proper thermal cycling; and steel is crystalline with metallic bonds, not molecular.
 
Dozier-D2
Rat Cutlery-1095
Fehrman- CPM-3V
Bark River- Anything they do
Busse Shop- Anything they do
Paul Bos- Anything he does

There are quite a few people/companies that excel at what they do. I only listed those I have first hand experience with.
 
Dozier D2
Busse INFI
anything done by Paul Bos

I'm sure they are plenty of great ones but those three are the ones that instantly come to mind.
 
Any thoughts on the s30v that Gerber uses? I have heard that their heat treatment is not quite on par with other users of this particular steel. What are your experiences?
 
For choppers, it seems like the Busse family blades seem to have a pretty damn good HT.

For folders, it's difficult for me to say because I haven't tested and compared them in a controlled manner.
 
jfever311 said:
Any thoughts on the s30v that Gerber uses? I have heard that their heat treatment is not quite on par with other users of this particular steel. What are your experiences?
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Based on a couple of 06 autos, Gerber seems to do well with S30V.
 
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Been impressed with Buck knives, good inexpensive knives (BOS).

Have not been impressed with Boker Knives, but don't know if it was due to heat treat or not. I couldn't get a nice edge on 2 different knives.
 
The only knife I have ever been unhappy with was a cheap Frost Cutlery Chinese made knife that I bought at the "factory". All those knives just overwhelmed me and I had to buy a couple. Guess all the name brands are good.
 
Normally, I can't tell from the kind of use I give knives.

Certainly Dozier and Busse and Bos are well known, and the better brands all do an excellent job. But the one knife I have where I actually am amazed at the good heat treatment is a Crusader Forge.
 
my experience with a wide variety of makers from USA, Germany, Japan and China would indicate that heat treatment is NOT an issue. even my Rough Rider and Steel Warrior $10 knives hold their edge well.
roland
 
In order I would say from my use and abuse of said knives.
Busse A2
RAT 1095
Spyderco VG10
Cold steel whatever they used in the Voyager series
everything else....Kershaw,SOG,Benchmade,
 
RAT Cutlery does an excellent job treating their 1095.
BOS heat treated blades are, from what I've heard, superb.
You can't go wrong with any of the big name manufacturers (Spyderco, Benchmade, KAI/ZT/Kershaw, etc.), but keep in mind the higher end knives are probably going to have better heat treating, and craftsmanship in general, than the lower end ones.
 
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