Pick a metal and defend it!

My all time favorite is 5160.A forged ,properly heat treated ,custom knife made of diffrencially tempered 5160 is one of the best in my opinion.It is incredible tough ,holds an edge as well as 1095 and does not prone to pitting.I say this as a proud owner of many busses and other customs.I actually sold all my busses but one ,and I am waiting for two customs in forged 5160.I also like A2 and forged 1095 and O1.[I HAVE A VEEKNESS FOR FORGED KNIVES]In small ss I like VG10.It is easy to sharpen and holds a good edge for a fair amount of time.I like Fehrman blades in 3V in small knives ,it is tough,has good edge holding but it chips in large blades if the edge is too thin.
 
Lithium.

Light as hell. Plus it burns on contact with water, so corrosion and edge retention is excellent.

Great for use as a fishing knife, if you drop it in the water, not only does it float, you will easily be able to find it--just look for a ball of steam and fire.

Also, Zombie thread.
 
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Cynic2701 said:
Lithium.

Light as hell. Plus it burns on contact with water, so corrosion and edge retention is excellent.

Great for use as a fishing knife, if you drop it in the water, not only does it float, you will easily be able to find it--just look for a ball of steam and fire.

Also, Zombie thread.
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Your forum name fits this post so well. Haha!
 
Works well in small blades and large. Holds an edge well enough for a pen knife. Is tough enough for a chopper. Is available from numerous makers who have been heat treating it for along time. Is affordable enough to replace if lost or stolen (or if you just to keep spares in BOBs). You can't get a folder in INFI. You wouldn't use S30V in a large chopper. And 3V isn't readily available in production pieces of all sizes. Some of the newer steels may trump 1095 in performance but at a considerable cost and at diminished availability. If I had to pick just one it would be 1095.

Frank
 
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S90V. It's no cake to sharpen, but I think this is about as wear resistant as you can get without making it frustrating as hell to sharpen. Corrosion resistance seems more than adequate for my uses. Plus it holds an edge throughout the day and then some.


I also have high hopes for the newer generation PM steels with a high vanadium content, especially Bohler's Vanax75 nitrogen steel. Though I'm also interested in seeing how Carpenter's CTS-20CP performs.

Okay, so it's not a steel for everything(like chopping), but considering that most "hard use" tasks could probably be better accomplished with an axe, machete, or even a small hatchet, these are the steels for a knife, not a sharpened prybar:rolleyes:.
 
I'll add to the Spyderco version of CPMD2. I've never chipped it, it's easy to sharpen, holds an edge for a long time & doesn't rust overnight contrary to some beliefs.
 
154CM, VG10, 12c27, S30V, D2, 440b, 440c, n690, n690co, 8cr14mov, 9cr13comov, AUS-8a, AUS-10a.
 
I don't hate 8Cr13MoV.

The steel works fine for what I intend to use the knife for, and it's cheap enough that I don't feel guilty about trying new techniques like sharpening, polishing etc.
 
Yes, but I am a little curious about what the toughness is like compared to M4. Though for my own personal uses, anything tougher than ZDP-189 is tough enough for me, as nothing else has ever chipped on me(except the 154CM on my Emersons).
 
knifenut1013 said:
+1 on that, but the steel I like the most is S90V it has the edge retention I have hoped for ever sence I started collecting, and its easy to sharpen(for me).
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CPM-S90V is at the top of the heap IMO. :thumbup:
 
S90V still leading 3 year's later!

Still like S90V but if I had to pick again I might go with SR-101.
 
O1 really has a sweetness that beats all the others. Works well at varied hardness, maybe a bit tougher than A2, D2 and Stainless Stuff. An very keen edge with small carbides that cuts forever and 20 degree inclusive edge works for kitchen knives. Rainbows often suddenly appear and birds sing when using a knife made from O1 steel.

I do love O1 but really like almost all of them. Some are super tough, some stay shiny, some don't get dull (or sharp), some are great for cardboard, some are great for carving wood, some are great slicing up food, some are great for fisherman or others for hunting - and these are not typically the same. Oh, and some are great for chopping. All the great steels mentioned are a compromise.

I refuse to mention heat treatment. Why no Elmax mention or more Japanese Steels? Anyway, I love O1 but am kidding about it being the best.

Wow, the incredible abrasive wear steels get so much love in these threads.

David
 
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