list of kinife steels in order of quality

I think different people will have different lists. Depends what "quality" you look for in a steel:)
 
as in "quality" rockwell and edge retention,,IIRC CPMS30V > VG10....but i'd like to see other steels in a list in order including 440,,aus 8 8cr14mov just to name a few zdp189 ...
 
Check out some of the threads in the testing and review subforum. Steels with the same composition will can be heattreated to different hardness, which can bring out different qualities eg. toughness, edge retention.
Sometimes a softer treatment can be desire able for easier/faster sharpening. Max hardness is not always desire able.
 
I'm no steel expert but a lot of it boils down to the heat treat and your sharpening ability.

154CM--my favorite
VG10
S30V
1095

I'm sure that there are alot of other steels just as good but this is what I have had experience with.
 
HEMI 1500 said:
as in "quality" rockwell and edge retention,,IIRC CPMS30V > VG10....but i'd like to see other steels in a list in order including 440,,aus 8 8cr14mov just to name a few zdp189 ...
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There isn't a list like that anyplace really, it would take CATRA to even think about making a list ranking the steels in order.

However if you look at the Alloy Content of the steels that you are interested in and add up the Carbide formers you can get a good idea of how they should line up.
 
Morrow - that's the first I've seen of that chart and site. Mind bending amount of knowledge.

Thanks very much!
 
I've been thinking about dropping A.G. Russell an email about this very issue. I believe that, with his experience in the industry, he could write a definitive essay on this topic.
 
ragged edge said:
I've been thinking about dropping A.G. Russell an email about this very issue. I believe that, with his experience in the industry, he could write a definitive essay on this topic.
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As members have said, there is really no definitive list or essay to write. Even when narrowing your criteria down to hardness and edge retention. Heat treatment plays a significant role in hardness and edge retention, so steel X heat treated by Y and by Z can come out with a different set of properties.

Then you run into the question "Are hardness and edge retention are the most important metallurgical characteristics of a knife steel?" They may be for person A who mainly does B with his knife, but that's about it.
 
Superdave1 said:
Check out some of the threads in the testing and review subforum. Steels with the same composition will can be heattreated to different hardness, which can bring out different qualities eg. toughness, edge retention.
Sometimes a softer treatment can be desire able for easier/faster sharpening. Max hardness is not always desire able.
Click to expand...


Hardness actually doesn't play much of a role in ease of sharpening. It's a widely accepted idea here on the forums, but it doesn't work that way.

ZDP-189 at 66rc would be no more difficult to sharpen than the same steel at 60rc. Difficulty in sharpening has more to do with the steel's composition. (ie: wear resistance)
 
HEMI 1500 said:
looking for a list of knife steels in order of quality,,best to worst,,,or vice versa
Click to expand...

Doesn't exist. Can't exist.

First of all, you are using the wrong term. "Quality" only means how well it meets its performance spec. Such a list might have had relevance in the 1800s when the steel making process had more art than science to it. Today it is the rare batch of steel which does not meet its spec,

Second of all, even if you said you were looking for "performance", what property do you want to maximize. You cannot maximize them all. Many of them are opposites.

Third of all, even for a single property such as "edge retention", there is no comprehensive list. The results vary depending on heat treat, and how you run the test.

Not ever going to exist.
 
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