Need steel recommendation (narrowed it down to 440c)

R

rockfishbrewery

Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Messages
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Hello,

I'm planning on making some kitchen knives for my family members for xmas, and I need a steel recommendation. Mostly I want to make these knives because I want the practice. I can also give them out as XMAS gifts, thus killing two birds with one stone.

The biggest factor here is stain resistance, because I highly doubt they would properly care for a carbon steel knife. Edge retention is not that big of a deal, as most of their knives are quite dull (unbeknownst to them). I would like it to retain a good usable edge though.

I've used the search function (and google) extensively on this and determined that 440C would be a good candidate. I would use ATS-34, but 440c has 3-4% more Chromium added, and I'm assuming it's more stain resistant because of that.

In your opinion, would 440c be a good candidate? If not, what would you recommend? I'm not really interested in "super-steels", because they are hard to work with (from what I've heard), and I'm trying to keep the cost down.

Thanks in advance for any input.
 
440C steel is fine. The key is to make sure you get it to a heat treating place that can do it right with cryo. The heat treating makes all the difference in the world with 440C.
 
AVigil said:
440C steel is fine. The key is to make sure you get it to a heat treating place that can do it right with cryo. The heat treating makes all the difference in the world with 440C.
Click to expand...

I agree, 440C can make a very good kitchen knife. I use Peters' myself, but I send in batches of at least a dozen blades at a time, so the minimum charge doesn't really affect me. I would consider TKS for just a couple blades; DO pay the extra charge for cryo. They also list 440C barstock.
 
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