Rust resistant steel thats easy to sharpen

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MAkives

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May 5, 2015
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Hey guys im the near future i plan on buying a custom knife i already know what i want except the steel. I know i want it to be easy to sharpen and rust resistant so steels like vg10 are out of the way and i dont want the edge to be super hard im looking for a durable knife not a knife that can hold its edge forever
 
Z-Finit is your best bet. Resis rust much better than 440C while sharpen easy like carbon steel.

AEB-L is very good too.
 
There are many great steels out there today. Not sure how much rust resistance and toughness you need. That is where you need to start. Minimum toughness like xXXX, minimum corrosion resistance like yyyyyy?

The 440 series of steels have always offered a good amount of toughness and corrosion resistance when the Rc is kept low and they are super easy to sharpen. People ignore these steels because they have been around forever and the cheap chinese industry knife making claims to use 440 something or other. But good quality 440A,B, or C steel makes for good custom knives. Randall knives have been using 440A/B for their fixed blades for years for those that prefer stainless.
 
What's the toughness like on H1 though? OP wants something "extremely durable", which H1 might not be. I would honestly go for Elmax at 60 hrc for toughness and stain resistance. Not too hard to sharpen either in my experience. Or try n690co. Great all around steel and very rust resistant, again not too hard to sharpen.
 
What is the edge retention of H1 comparable to? With little to no Carbon it can't be very good. But for a knife used in the sea it would certainly be rust proof(or close enough) I guess.
 
Cobalt said:
What is the edge retention of H1 comparable to? With little to no Carbon it can't be very good. But for a knife used in the sea it would certainly be rust proof(or close enough) I guess.
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Edge retention is around 420 steel.

H1 is pretty much rust-proof.
 
Not sure OP wants COMPLETELY rust proof, especially not if it sacrifices toughness and edge retention, which H1 does. Although, again, I can't really speak to the toughness of H1 so maybe it's just edge retention that's being sacrificed.
 
Fish Boy said:
Edge retention is around 420 steel.

H1 is pretty much rust-proof.
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Funny, one of my worst knives ever was my Buck 110 with 420 steel. I could not get that thing sharp ever. It was terrible. But my Buck nighthawk in 420HC was a pretty decent knife and held an edge very comparable to my 440A blade at an Rc of 54 ish. So if it is like 420HC I would say that it would be acceptable
 
I want something like 440c tough i know ease of sharpening depends largely on heat treat but toughness can be determined easier
 
how about 154cm thats always been a easy to sharpen steel and its pretty good for corrosion resistance.
 
Cobalt is right about H1 not being that wear resistant. It is a work hardening steel so the grinding process ups the hardness to the point the serrated versions measure in the middle 60's rc and have fairly good wear from that. Plain edge not so much though and regular sharpening doesn't work harden the steel from my experience. It is pretty tough though.More so than the 440 series of steel.

The biggest thing is that there aren't any custom makers that use H1 that I know about. It's still fairly rare and made by just a couple factories in Japan who use it for knives imported by Spyderco, and used to be Benchmade though I believe they stopped.

If you want mostly corrosion resistant and fairly tough steels then 440A ( not 440C), Aus 6, 12C27 and a few other steels can provide that.

Throw in the need for abrasive wear resistance and the list changes substantially. Like most things the steels used are balances of the 3 main attributes. You select from the steels the same way you do knife and lock designs. It's what you need the knife to do, the price range you want to spend and the availability of the steel you choose in a platform that satisfies your other needs.

it's a series of compromises.

joe
 
In case it wasn't clear enough...

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serrated, of course.

You'll be amazed, I guarantee!
 
I remember when ATS34 was THE steel. I've seen no reason since to move on from it.
 
leghog said:
I remember when ATS34 was THE steel. I've seen no reason since to move on from it.
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I hear that. I like the stuff just fine too.

I don't know what maker you are looking to work with, but maybe find out what they like to use.

ATS-34, CPM 154, 440C... any of those would be great, and probably very affordable.
 
MAkives said:
I want something like 440c tough i know ease of sharpening depends largely on heat treat but toughness can be determined easier
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Call me crazy...but how about 440C? Not too long ago it was THE hottest, sexiest "super steel."
 
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