random questions....

A

Angelus1781

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Feb 22, 2003
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I picked up a knife the other day with 440c....mostly cause I was bored, and don't really have anything in this steel. Just curious about its limits, weakness, and strength. Did a search but looking for a more detailed answer.

Cleaning folders: Best way to clean out lint, and junk? I'm assuming running them threw a dishwasher would be a bad idea.


Ever buy knives just to tinker with? Bored, can't find or afford things you want, just buy something random and tinker?
 
440C is a great steel. The C is for carbon which helps it take an retain a very good edge. But it's not a high-carbon steel, so it's highly rust-resistant. In fact, 440C is one of the recommended steels for marine environments. At sea, it requires only minor care. Ashore, it'll be rust-free.

440C can also be mirror-polished and has a great, light color to it.

It heat-treats very well scoring into the mid 50s easily. It's very tolerant of minor variations in heat-treatment so you're very likely to get a great blade if it's a 440C blade.

In short, it's not the next-phase, new-wave, dance-crazy steel, but it's still rock-and-roll if you ask me.
 
Cleaning folders: Best way to clean out lint, and junk? I'm assuming running them threw a dishwasher would be a bad idea.
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Actually, many folders can go through a dishwasher just fine. No, the heat won't detemper the blade. But, dishwasher detergents are often quite harsh and corrosive, often high in chlorine. That can actually wash away steel where it's thin and weak, i.e. right at the very edge, leaving your knife dull after its trip through the old Kitchenaide.

To get lint out, try compressed air. If you don't have shop air, then go to a photography supply store and buy canned air used to clean lenses. It typically comes in a can with one of those straws that can be used to direct the flow right into the joints.
 
High temperature will detemper a blade.

But, you have to raise the temperature above the final heat-treatment temperature. The lowest final temp in common use is about 350F. Your dishwasher does not get that hot.
 
I'm 100% with Gollnik on this.
A LOT of people around here seem to think it's subpar with newer steels, probably because of the 440 numbers.
It's not, it's right up there with ATS-34.
Many custom makers still use it, and if it's good enough for them, then it's good enough for me.
 
it's kinda funny... i remember not too long ago (well, not SUPER-long ago) reading about what a great steel 440c was, and even our beloved Benchmade jumped on: that was convincing enough for some.

along come a few newer steels and everybody's ready to rag on 440c and condemn it, even ridiculing some mid-range blades for using this steel when s30v (or whatever) became available.

i don't see anything wrong with it. my mini-grip in 440c holds an edge for a VERY long time, with little in the way of compromises.

but what do i know? i LOVE my aus-6 Endura.

abe m.
 
Gollnick said:
High temperature will detemper a blade.

But, you have to raise the temperature above the final heat-treatment temperature. The lowest final temp in common use is about 350F. Your dishwasher does not get that hot.
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The dishmachine at work goes up to 182, is that too high?
 
I have several Benchmades in 440C and they are my favorites,

But I also have a Boker in 440C that's harder to get sharp.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
The dishmachine at work goes up to 182, is that too high?
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No.

But you also have to think about the other materials on the knife. Carbon fiber, fiberglass, G10, etc. will easily withstand those temps. Fine woods, ivory, etc. would not. Use common sense.
 
To clean, stiff tooth brush and dish soap. Then 91% isopropanol alcohol for anything else like sticky tape (don't let plastic come in contact with alcohol for too long).

You can also blast it with WD40 to get gunk out, but then dish soap it again (WD40 is too thin/diluted to be an effective pivot lube).

Then rinse well and air dry or cool blow dry (or compressed air).
Once it's dry a little oil on the pivot and you're done.

I would keep them out of the dishwasher. Takes only 5 minutes to do the above, why would you wait for 30 minutes and endanger the edge, the steel or especially the handle material?

If you are worried about microbes, the rubbing alcohol will kill those just as well as the high heat from the dishwasher.
 
Gollnick said:
No.

But you also have to think about the other materials on the knife. Carbon fiber, fiberglass, G10, etc. will easily withstand those temps. Fine woods, ivory, etc. would not. Use common sense.
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It's more complicated than that.

Actually, G-10 and Carbon Fibre are reinforced in an Epoxy Matrix system. Before saying that these materials can withstand certain high temps, you need to look closely at what epoxy can really withstand before any sort of failure is noticed.

Generally regular epoxies (Bis A epoxies) can handle constant or repeated temperatures of about 160 -170 degrees F in dry conditions and about 140 - 160 degrees F in wet conditons.

They can even handle much higher temps on a non-regular basis. Exactly what that means is debatable.

182F is a bit high for my taste. OK, it's only for the duration of one wash cycle in the machine, but still, it's long enough for possible damage especially if the material(G-10 or carbon Fibre) was made with a particularly cheap epoxy or the curing stage was less than optimum. And also if the G-10 for example is used as a frame, as on the Strider folder SNG.(or whatever it's called) The epoxy could easily start to soften at 182F.

Can it work without damage? Yes. I'm sure many people do that all the time without any major noticable effects.

But I wouldn't risk that with an expensive knife though.
Epoxy is epoxy, not titanium afterall.

I'd feel safe with anything under 140F, but 182F is a bit on the edge.

Use common sense.
 
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