Question about steel used in Spyderco blades

F

Forrest

Joined
Oct 17, 2000
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With all the different blade materials floating around out there, making an informed purchase decision is a bit confusing to the average knife consumer. Does anyone have a chart or a brief explaination of the qualities/attributes of the different grades of steel used in the Spyderco line? I would love to know the funtional differences between G2, Gin-1, ATS-55, ATS-34, AUS-8, VG-10 etc.

Thanks in advance for the assistance.
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Forrest:
With all the different blade materials floating around out there, making an informed purchase decision is a bit confusing to the average knife consumer. Does anyone have a chart or a brief explaination of the qualities/attributes of the different grades of steel used in the Spyderco line? I would love to know the funtional differences between G2, Gin-1, ATS-55, ATS-34, AUS-8, VG-10 etc.

Thanks in advance for the assistance.</font>
Click to expand...

As heat-treated by Spyderco, here are my impressions, bearing in mind that I have played with all steels Spyderco uses, but have not tested all head-to-head, and have to rely on reports from other people (or Spyderco itself) on some characteristics of some steels.

Note also G-2 and Gin-1 are the same thing. Note also that other manufacturers heat treat differently, so you may get different results.

In order of increasing hardness (and increasing strength):

8A Gin-1 ATS-55/ATS-34 VG-10

In order of increasing toughness at typical final hardness Spyderco uses:

ATS-55/ATS-34 Gin-1 VG-10 8A

In order of increasing wear resistance:

8A Gin-1 ATS-55 ATS-34 VG-10

In order of increasing stain resistance:

ATS-55/ATS-34 VG-10 Gin-1 8A


For 440V, Spyderco's heat treat seems to be unique, and I can only speculate based on others' results:

In strength, it is the weakest.
In toughness, at the 55-56 RC Spyderco leaves it at, it will be about as tough as their ~60 Rc ATS-34.
In stain resistance, I dunno.
In wear resistance, I've heard varying results. Many people claim that even with Spyderco's soft 440V heat treat, 440V is the best for wear resistance. Other people claim it can't even keep up with Spyderco's ATS-34.

Spyderco tests their steels thoroughly. It will be interesting to hear how Spyderco's in-house results match up.

Joe



[This message has been edited by Joe Talmadge (edited 06-21-2001).]
 
Danelle thanks for the links, very interesting reading!

Joe, thanks for the imput, very interesting as ever!

------------------
Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
At the risk of getting the "steel snobs" all riled up I feel that I need to comment on my practical experiences with my Spydercos in some of the various blade steels:

Chinook, Starmate: Big $$$ knives. The 440V never seems to feel really sharp to me, and just today I noticed a little chip on my Chinook's edge. Funny, since I really don't recall cutting anything harder than a chunk of chocolate with it. I do love these knives, and will probably even be getting a second Chinook, but I can't help but wonder if 440V is over-hyped...

Endura, Matriarch, Civilian: This ATS-55 stuff is pretty mediocre IMO. I can see it on lower end knives, but the Civilian ain't cheap. Sure, the Endura is easy to get nice and sharp, but it and my Matriarch are showing discolored (stained by thumb sweat I guess) patches around the hole from being opened. The Civvie lives in her pouch, and is therefore unmolested by my grubby paws. Contrast this with my older (GIN-1?) Endura, which spends most of its time wet or covered with food and barely stains at all. I've been eyeing the Lum Tanto, but I don't think that I need another knife in ATS-55, esp. at that price point.

Calypso Jr. Micarta: Good ol' AUS-8. Every day carry, sharpest of the bunch, doesn't stain at all, and rarely needs more than a touch-up on the white ceramic Sharpmaker sticks. I dented the edge near the tip prying the annoying "childproof" metal band off of a Bic lighter and two minutes on the Sharpmaker fixed it right up. I'd like to see the Endura and Delica in this steel personally. Hell, I would be fully content with the Chinook and Starmate if they were AUS-8 too!

For what it's worth,
Paul.

[This message has been edited by mr44 (edited 06-22-2001).]
 
Paul, your observations on stain resistance of these steels is right on the money for me. My old G2 Endura is my "pool" knife, and with the exception of a few (too few!) applications of Break Free over the years, the easily visible blade metal is still nice, although there is some visible rust and/or discoloration when you look into the slot at the internals.

Also, my CS Gunsite II is AUS 8 and seems to have done quite well with a few pool dunkings, while my pink Delica ATS-55 showed immediate rust spotting within a day of "going swimming." My blue Delica ATS-55 had to go swimming one day and I rinsed it off in tap water afterwards. That seemed to prevent anything bad.

As for edge retention, I haven't begun sharpening yet, so I can't comment (bad Karl--BAD KARL!!).

Bad Karl

P.S. If my VCR wasn't broken, I'd be watching the 204 video right now!
smile.gif
 
I have found that ATS-55, as far as taking/holding a good edge, and resharpening up easily, is an excellent steel. I do agree that it picks up rust spots fairly easily, though. However, I find whatever minor rust that does form is very easy to just wipe off...if it's minor enough I've at times just wiped it off with friction from my shirt...other times I've used 0000-steel wool with mineral oil, and again, it's easily gotten rid of.

I actually like Gin-1 and AUS-8, although IMO (at least AUS-8) doesn't quite hold the edge as well as ATS-55. What I think would be an excellent compromise steel would be ATS-55 performance combined with the rust resistance of a Gin-1 or AUS-type of steel.
Jim

[This message has been edited by James Y (edited 06-22-2001).]
 
I have noticed that CPM 440V is a difficult steel to sharpen, but it cuts like nothing else and keeps on going when others are dull as spoons. It also is highly rust resistant for me.

ATS-55 takes and holds a very good edge, but it rusts very quickly for me.

8a is a steel that dulls far too quickly for me. I consider it the minimum steel for a daily carry, and its not one I am very happy with.

------------------
Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
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