Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but I have a specific question. Above knarfeng mentioned that Buck hardens their steel a notch higher than Ka-bar (talking about stainless steels).
I have seen and handled some bowies made by Linder. I believe most of them are made of 440A. To my knowledge this steel is not inferior, but does not take as sharp an edge and does not hold an edge as well as example Buck. Am I right? I ask this question because I have become particular about making my edges as sharp as I can and experiment with sharpening. Linder Kentucky is made of 440C so it should hold an edge better. Should I steer clear of knives made of lover grade 440 steels?
I will go ahead with getting a decent, not too large bowie style knife sometime soon and need this information.
I hate to echo an oft misused phrase, but truly, in this case, a lot depends on the heat treatment.
It is possible to heat treat 440A to 58-59. Phil Gibbs, formerly designer for Camillus and currently for AG Russell told me that Camillus used to do so.
That being said, a traditional hardness for pocket knife blades is 54-56HRC, and a lot of companies still do that with 440A and 420HC. This leads to their current commonly held status as a steel which is not desirable for the blade of a "quality" knife.
The difference in performance between 440A hardened to 54-56 vs 58-59 is quite noticeable. The problem is that a lot of times you do not know to what final hardness a blade has been heat treated prior to purchasing it.
Neither 420HC, 440A, 12C27, nor AUS6 have any carbides to speak of. 440B and AUS8 contain enough carbon that they have some fine carbides. 440C definitely has carbides.
Carbides are like aggregate in concrete. You start with a fine edge, and as the steel wears away, the carbides are exposed. You then have an edge which is not as fine, but which will keep cutting because the carbides, which are harder than the steel, keep cutting. A blade made from steel that does not have carbides will maintain a fine edge longer than a blade made from steel containing carbides, but will wear to the point where it stops cutting altogether faster than the carbide containing blade.
Carbides provide abrasion resistance. If you are going to be push cutting with a blade, carbides don't help as much as if you are draw cutting. ("push cutting" is pushing the blade straight into the material without drawing it across the surface, which will also define for you what "draw cutting" is.) For push cutting, hardness is the key to edge retention. For draw cutting, abrasion resistance is the key to edge retention, especially if you are cutting abrasive materials such as rope, fur, or cardboard.
So there is not a single answer to the question. It depends on how hard the steel was heat treated and it depends on what you are intending to cut with the knife.
Anyway the Special is in the size range I wanted. I happen to have the Cold Steel Trail master (the black bladed version) and I must say that I dont like it very much. I plan to do something entirely different about it, like stripping the blade and re-hafting it when I have time.
