Question about steels

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rc3mil

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Morning all. I have a question. 1095 is tough, easy to sharpen, holds an edge well and gets pretty dam sharp. (at least the RC blades i have do).

Are there any stainless steels that would compare to that? A stainless steel that has all the good qualities of 1095 but doesn't rust?

S30V?
VG10?

Just curious.
 
I know Mike Stewart likes 12C27 for it's strength and durability. He's made a number of Bark River models out of that alloy.
 
I have very good experiences with 440C and 154CM. More limited experience with the Chinese stainless steels, but so far, so good.
 
I cracked the edge of a vg10 blade cutting a bungee cord that had a little glue on it....

1095 is tough compared to stainless but not compared to 5160, 3V, any S series, A8...

Short answer is no, I wouldn't put my S30V, 12C27, 440c, 1.4153, ATS34, against 1095 in toughness, but all will hold an edge better at hardnesses I use
 
rc3mil said:
Morning all. I have a question. 1095 is tough, easy to sharpen, holds an edge well and gets pretty dam sharp. (at least the RC blades i have do).

Are there any stainless steels that would compare to that? A stainless steel that has all the good qualities of 1095 but doesn't rust?

S30V?
VG10?

Just curious.
Click to expand...

I'd just stick with 1095, if rust is the only reason you're looking elsewhere. A coated 1095 blade will fight rust, as well as oil and proper care.

I've got a few carbon steel users, and what tiny amount of rust gets on is easily removed.
 
If you compare toughness: No, there is no other in stainless.

Edgeholding: Many others.

I have edc ´ed carbon blades over the last years and have had no problem with rust. I don´t mean, that rust is not only no problem for me, i mean, there was none.

I live in central europe.
 
I've had more problems in stainless steal coatings (bead blast) rusting on my knives rather than carbon steels. 1095 is good steel. With good coating it fights off rust really well like said earlier and not coated blades only need protective layer of oil.

1095 maybe old but its still one of the finest blade steels ever made when treated properly. Like native proverb says roughly translated:"old trick is better than bag full of new" (I know it loses something in translation)
 
my experience mirrors thejamppa. actually 1095 can be tweaked to outperform many of the alphabet alloys. my vg10 & zdp189 may hold an edge a little longer but those steels do'nt get any sharper.
 
The reason that carbon steels are still used all around the industry is that they combine toughness and edge retention in a combination stainless steels can't match. If you choose a stainless at around the same hardness level of a typical 1095 it wil be as tough but will fall down in edge retention because it doesn't have as much resistance to abrasion as the carbon steel. If you harden it up to match the carbon steel in edge retention, it will be more brittle and less tough.

I think VG-10 and S30V are about as close as you'll get to the magic compromise with stainless. Also some of the tool steels will get close if you can give up some of the corrosion resistance. I like D2, for example, with kitchen knives. They have enough corrosion resistance for the kitchen, actually, if you keep them dry.
 
H1 is rustproof but edge holding in PE blades is lower than my 1095 rat (Serrated H1 has better edge holding), however it's very tough, possibly tougher than 1095

VG10 is similar with more edge holding and less toughness

CPMD2 even more edge holding and better toughness than VG10, not quite as corrosion resistant but still very good

Generally the "super steels" like S90V, ZDP189, S30V etc will be more abrasion resistant (Better edge holding, takes longer to sharpen) but not as tough
 
My problem with 1095 is the constant corrosion of the microedge. Every time you cut, the oil is removed from the microedge. Blade coatings don't cover the microedge. Carrying an oily rag around is a pain in the butt. Powdered stainless steels have decent toughness because of their fine grain structure. The powder process lets you raise the Vanadium content above 2%. Vanadium carbides impart great wear resistance to steel. They Rockwell at 82 C.
 
rc3mil said:
Morning all. I have a question. 1095 is tough, easy to sharpen, holds an edge well and gets pretty dam sharp. (at least the RC blades i have do).

Are there any stainless steels that would compare to that? A stainless steel that has all the good qualities of 1095 but doesn't rust?

S30V?
VG10?

Just curious.
Click to expand...

Short answer: no.

Longer answer:
-To get a stainless that is as tough as 1095 you have to give on the edge retention.
-To get a stainless that has the edge retention of 1095 you have to give on the toughness.

S30V and VG10 hold an edge better than 1095 because they have carbides that give them better abrasion resistance. They are much harder to sharpen to the fine edge that 1095 will take. They are not as tough. I'm told that if you use the proper geometry you can use them in a chopping blade, but inherently in themselves they are not as tough.
 
The stainless steel that is closest to the properties of 1095 would be AEB-L/13C26. It is easy to sharpen and very tough, there's no impact test data but toughness should be comparable to 1095. H-1 is another example, and likely tougher than 1095. These steels have very fine carbides and a low volume of carbides, just like 1095.

Stainlessness itself does not decrease toughness, that only happens when the stainless steel also has a lot of carbon, forming chromium carbides. Some of the chromium carbides migrate to the grain boundaries where cracks can propagate. This is what makes stainless steels more brittle. It's not an issue for the lower-carbon stainless steels.
 
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winbag338 said:
Fallkniven makes one of the toughest knives in vg-10 that ive seen.
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They have a good heat treat for VG-10 but my WM1 routinely chipped while cutting drywall. No discredit to Fallkniven, VG-10 is just not as tough as 1095, but I've used stainless steels that are.
 
This is why 1095 is my favorite steel. It has a unique blend of characteristics that have yet to be replicated by any steel I've tried. That doesn't mean that a comparable steel doesn't exist, but I'll stick with my tried and true 1095...it works for my applications, and that's what counts. :thumbup:
 
cotdt said:
They have a good heat treat for VG-10 but my WM1 routinely chipped while cutting drywall. No discredit to Fallkniven, VG-10 is just not as tough as 1095, but I've used stainless steels that are.
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Have you seen the abuse the a-1 has been put through by the mighty NOSS? Can you tell me how much more of a difference in toughness 1095 has over vg-10 that would be noticeable in a knife?
 
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