Is ATS-34 a good steel?

Status
Not open for further replies.
H

Homer49

Joined
May 24, 2007
Messages
127
I'm looking at a custom folding knife and was wondering if that's a good enough steel?
 
Yes, it's an excellent stainless steel made by Hitachi in Japan.
It's essentially the equivalent of 154CM which is made by Crucible Metals in the USA and used by companies such as Benchmade and Emerson.

Takes and holds a great edge; highly recommended.
 
rifon2 said:
Yes, it's an excellent stainless steel made by Hitachi in Japan.
It's essentially the equivalent of 154CM which is made by Crucible Metals in the USA and used by companies such as Benchmade and Emerson.

Takes and holds a great edge; highly recommended.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.
 
THE PUNISHER said:
ATS-34,at one time was the only steel in knives.
Click to expand...


THAT is not true at all......440C is presumed to be the first quality stainless steel in custom knives....then it was 154CM, which Loveless introduced to the knife community........ATS-34 is a Japanese copy of 154CM, which was not doing well in custom knives after a period of "love" because they stopped vacuum smelting it, and pits became apparent while polishing.

440C has never really "left the building".

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
THAT is not true at all......440C is presumed to be the first quality stainless steel in custom knives....then it was 154CM, which Loveless introduced to the knife community........ATS-34 is a Japanese copy of 154CM, which was not doing well in custom knives after a period of "love" because they stopped vacuum smelting it, and pits became apparent while polishing.

440C has never really "left the building".

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
Click to expand...

I always thought Loveless brought ATS-34 here from Japan. He visited there many times. Shoot me if I'm wrong.
 
Kohai999 said:
ATS-34 is a Japanese copy of 154CM, which was not doing well in custom knives after a period of "love" because they stopped vacuum smelting it, and pits became apparent while polishing.
Click to expand...

IIRC this was a phase some years back, and ATS-34 today is once again held in appropriate high regard.

Another reason 154CM began replacing its essential equivalent (ATS-34) in many American knives is because it's a domestic rather than "foreign" steel - and could be termed as such.

_________________________________________

440C has never really "left the building".
Click to expand...

True of course; and when handled well it's a very good blade steel indeed.
 
Bruce Bump said:
I always thought Loveless brought ATS-34 here from Japan. He visited there many times. Shoot me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

From Phil Wilson's website:

Bob Loveless imported ATS 34 from Japan as a replacement for 154 CM more than 20 years ago due to availability problems with 154 CM. This is all history now since Crucible Materials has taken a renewed interest in the last 10 years in supplying steel to the cutlery industry. We now have a very high quality 154 CM product that is available from many custom knife supply companies and direct from Crucible. Both ATS 34 and 154 CM polish easily and exhibit an attractive grain structure on the steel surface.

rifon2 said:
IIRC this was a phase some years back, and ATS-34 today is once again held in appropriate high regard.

Another reason 154CM began replacing its essential equivalent (ATS-34) in many American knives is because it's a domestic rather than "foreign" steel - and could be termed as such.

True of course; and when handled well it's a very good blade steel indeed.
Click to expand...

Sorry if I did not make it clearer.....154CM was the problematic steel. The biggest reason that 154CM is experiencing the resurgence it is, because Crucible is doing it in the CPM process, and it makes a very good steel even better.


Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
ATS-34, is an excellent steel. A FB of mine is ATS-34 and it is one of my sharpest knives.
 
STeven,
At the risk of illuminating my computer ineptitude:o, I'll need to send you a pdf of Knife Steel Notes.
PM me your email,please.

Doug
 
Last edited:
marcangel said:
YOU are NOT WRONG!

154CM is an American copy of a Japanese steel!
Click to expand...

Not true. Crucible needed a steel for jet turbines and substituted some (4%) Mo for some of the Cr in 440C. They first called it 440MOD, then later changed it to 154CM.
ATS 34 is the Hitachi copy of 154CM.
 
From the pdf:

154CM: “American made premium grade stainless steel that was initially developed for the blades in jet engines. It is the predecessor of ATS-34 steel. Has good corrosion resistance and excellent toughness and edge quality.”A high grade steel. Considered by some as a Super Steel. Almost the same as “old” ATS-34. The US version of ATS-34. “154CM is modified 440C. 154CM/ATS-34 is a high carbon stainless steel generally regarded as a direct upgrade to 440C. It has a high wear resistance for a stainless steel and a low edge stability. It is one of the more brittle stainless steels and therefore works best on smaller blades indended for extended aggressive slicing.” “Some 154CM made from the late 1980's to the mid 1990's was not as good as ATS-34 [due to a relaxation of the quality of processing, which several sources say has once again improved to previous standards].” “An American made premium grade stainless steel originally developed for tough industrial applications. Known for its best all-around qualities, it offers great corrosion resistance with good toughness and edge quality.”

Doug
 
Doug C said:
From the pdf:

154CM: “American made premium grade stainless steel that was initially developed for the blades in jet engines. It is the predecessor of ATS-34 steel.
Doug
Click to expand...


"predecessor" means "come before":

"Something that has been succeeded by another".....this means 154CM came before ATS-34.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
"predecessor" means "come before":

"Something that has been succeeded by another".....this means 154CM came before ATS-34.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
Click to expand...

No offense intended but who cares if 154CM came before ATS-34.The point is Japan was dishing out a quality steel while we couldn't...plain and simple. You know there's a good share of people who actually think 154CM is a new steel and don't know the truth. The American knife manufacturers kind of swept ATS-34 under the rug as a dirty secret because they thought they could sell off the same steel more cleverly if it's made here in the states,It's just like the 420HC step in of the late 90's/early 2000's as American knife manufacturers like Camillus and Gerber using Taiwan for manufacturing and giving AUS-8 as a better steel offering.Japan cleaned up a lot of our messes steel wise in that time frame.
 
It is very similar to 440c with ~3% chrome being replaced with moleybedium. Reduces the corrosion resistance somewhat, but from my understanding, ATS-34 is tougher then 440c with about as good wear characteristics and can likely take a keener edge. So it's a excellent steel.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top