Infi?

J-siah

J-siah

Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Messages
1,876
I my question is what is with all the INFI hype. Is it really the be all end all steel? There are people who worship the stuff, and I can't figure out why. Does anyone have the charts for this stuff, do we know what is in it?

Does anyone have any opinions on the subject. I tend to think that if you make a knife .270" thick its going the be near indestuctable, INFI or not. Any steel, 1080 to D2 .270 thick is going to be pretty damn tuff.

Thanks guys, Josiah S, Gravelle.
 
When speaking about steel categorically, INFI would fall under the umbrella of A8, or one of its modifications, such as Chipper knife steel. While there are some differences (such as small additions nitrogen and cobalt, etc.), this is where a metallurgist would tell you it falls. For some reason Busse takes offense to these comparisons, perhaps because the steel is touted as being proprietary, but I can't understand that sentiment. Even if it is proprietary, that doesn't mean you can't compare it to something similar. Also, A8 and A8 mod. have an excellent combination of good wear resistance with high toughness.

In the end there are lots of steels for every application, and no steel is necessarily "better" than another, only different. Every knifemaker should be able to find one that fits his process, style, price, performance and advertizing requirements.
 
J-siah said:
I my question is what is with all the INFI hype. Is it really the be all end all steel? There are people who worship the stuff, and I can't figure out why. Does anyone have the charts for this stuff, do we know what is in it?

Does anyone have any opinions on the subject. I tend to think that if you make a knife .270" thick its going the be near indestuctable, INFI or not. Any steel, 1080 to D2 .270 thick is going to be pretty damn tuff.

Thanks guys, Josiah S, Gravelle.
Click to expand...

There are people that worship 1095 as the ultimate steel, or S30V or W2 or, or, or...... the list goes on

I was told by someone I trust that Busse's success has a lot less to do with the steel they use than the HT they use,

when you get down to it "indestructible" is more a function of Design and HT than material lists
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I had though that is might be a relation to A8 by the description on there site, it seemed to have the features of A8. I guess I have a hard time when someone tells me that one steel is the best and all others are inferior. I personally would take a knife made out of A2 than infi just because of personal preference.


I would also like to say that I am not trying to defame Busse or their steel, I think they are a great American company and I count them in the ranks of some of the best production knives money can buy. I just was a little thrown off when I heard someone say "IF it ain't INFI , IT ain't sh!t"
 
J-siah said:
Thanks for the responses guys. I had though that is might be a relation to A8 by the description on there site, it seemed to have the features of A8. I guess I have a hard time when someone tells me that one steel is the best and all others are inferior. I personally would take a knife made out of A2 than infi just because of personal preference.


I would also like to say that I am not trying to defame Busse or their steel, I think they are a great American company and I count them in the ranks of some of the best production knives money can buy. I just was a little thrown off when I heard someone say "IF it ain't INFI , IT ain't sh!t"
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Even many of the Busse fans on this forum have and appreciate knives from other steels and makers. They just may prefer their experience with that steel and HT of said steel better than others. I own some INFI pieces and I love them but I also have and equally love some in 10xx and 5160, s30V, CPM 154, and 3V. I'm trying my hand at doing some stock removal with 3V myself :foot:. Before INFI Busse used A2 and from what I hear the HT and designs were well received. I would say that IMO Stephen is correct about the HT being more important and I would add that also a maker's design and the intended function are too. If a steel has the potential to peform damn good at certain intended functions (ie. the functions of a paring knife vs a machete) then that performance can be optimized with a maker's design and HT. However, I'm a noob here though and have A LOT to learn still so....
 
INFI is Jerry Busse's Proprietary Steel and heat treat. It is a great "all around" steel. Easy to sharpen, very resistant to rust, Holds a good edge and doesn't chip out. Jerry has stated that it is not A8, and the steel's chemical composition clearly is not A8. . . Some people have an agenda for some reason and spread misinformation.

IF it ain't INFI , IT ain't sh!t
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Whoever said that is an idiot.
 
Rat Finkenstein said:
Whoever said that is an idiot.
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Just a guy I ran in to at costco who saw my custom knife and struck up a conversation. He seemed like a nice guy but he had this view that if it wasn't
BM or Busse that it wasn't worth owning. Myself, having a little experience as a knifemaker including some D2 knives/w Paul bos HT that I though were pretty tough and being fairly loyal to spyderco, thought he was a little off his rocker with some of the stuff that he said.
 
J-siah said:
Just a guy I ran in to at costco who saw my custom knife and struck up a conversation. He seemed like a nice guy but he had this view that if it wasn't
BM or Busse that it wasn't worth owning. Myself, having a little experience as a knifemaker including some D2 knives/w Paul bos HT that I though were pretty tough and being fairly loyal to spyderco, thought he was a little off his rocker with some of the stuff that he said.
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Next time you have a run in like that question the person's experience with the steel and their knowledge of steels and HT in general. If they provide educated reponses :thumbup: if not you can probably open their mind up a little by educating them with what you know. Either way both of you may be able to walk away and have learned something. I don't need the 1095 blade you made me to be bombproof I need it to cut and slice Sh*t, keep decent edge, and hold together doing it. Now if I was bombproof though....... than that would be cool. Why I might even be able to fight terrorism single handedly like a superhero.......
 
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When I run into morons, I just politely excuse myself from the conversation as soon as possible. Trying to pound sense into an empty head is an exercise in futility. Like trying to convince a lunatic he is in fact not Napoleon Bonaparte. :D
 
Rat Finkenstein said:
When I run into morons, I just politely excuse myself from the conversation as soon as possible. Trying to pound sense into an empty head is an exercise in futility. Like trying to convince a lunatic he is in fact not Napoleon Bonaparte. :D
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Reminds me of the guy that thought he was dead. He was sent to a psychiatrist and after a bit of discussion the shrink sent him home with instructions to stand in front to a mirror three times a day and say 20 times each time "Dead men don't bleed". Come back after doing that for 5 weeks. In 5 weeks the guy is back and the the doc takes his finger and sticks it with a pin and as the blood flows says "You know what this means don't you?" and the nut case replies "My God, Doctor, dead men do bleed!" Some people won't listen to reason.
 
my son only carries infi whiles hes in Iraq. we have been around knives all of our lives. ive used everything from stainless to Surgical Steel. This is my sons third tour and on the two tours before this one he went through knives about every 2 weeks. He loves sharpening and using them so he wore them out and eventually broke or chipped them to the point of no return. But on this trip he carries a Busse Batac le and has a HellRazor in his sack. The Batac is .27 thick but can slice with no problem. He has had that knife now for a good 3 months and with pictures of things hes done with it. I dont know how he hasnt broken it. and with busse lifetime warranty. I dont think you can go wrong. Now there are other steels out there that are good and im sure there are good warrantys to. but your not just buying a knife from busse your are being accepted into the Hog family. Its definatly an experience. Anyways that is my 2 cents.
Chris
(Fallons Knives)
 
You may find this thread helpful for you... It means very little to me: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=581917

Ive had 154cm, D2 and s30v from various manufacturers chip. I've never had infi chip and I've done some bad bad things to it, things youre 'never' supposed to do with knives.

I have had one rust a little: I think thats the only negative, but it's to be expected from a non-stainless.

Also there's the warranty. Part of the high price you're paying is for that unconditional warranty.
 
I think infi is a very strong steel. I think part of the thing is that the edge tends to roll rather than chip. It has a high resistance to chipping for a steel that is as hard as it is. I have chipped many many edges in my life, and broken quite a few blades entirely, plus snapped off a few tips. I have had several occasions where I was sure that something dumb I had just done with infi would result in a chip, but it did not, just a roll that I could steel out.

It is not the be all end all steel, it is sort of a jack of all trades steel. Great tensile strength, great edge retention, and better than average resistance to rust (it will rust, but much much less than other high carbon steels like 5160 etc).

I like it, but still wish I had more money to buy more knives, including non infi.
 
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