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Recommendation? Stainless for a Hunter

A

AlaskanHunter

Joined
Nov 23, 2013
Messages
306
I usually stick with Aldo's 1084 and JT's 15N20 for the vast majority of my knives, however a family member has asked me to make him a drop point hunter (hidden tang with a small guard) in stainless. He wants edge retention over ease of sharpening. I will not be heat treating it myself, but sending it out to a pro (probably @JTknives). He is a seiner/crabber out of Dutch Harbor, so exposure to saltwater is likely, but I'd rather not sacrifice blade performance for over the top corrosion resistance. He says it will not be used for popping joints (a brutal task on a moose) as he carries a separate blade for that job, so again I'm not looking for better than average toughness unless it can be had without compromising elsewhere.
I know that there are a lot of stainless steels out there, the majority of which I'm unfamiliar with, so I'm looking for recommendations. Anything in particular that I should stay away from?
@JTknives, are there any you're not set up for or are a particular nuisance to HT?
 
CM-154, ATS-34 or the Grand daddy, 440C all work excellently for a Drop Point Hunter.. Those are the Steels the Late, Bob Loveless used on his.. I have my SS blades of these Steels for Drop Point Hunter’s HT by PAUL Bos/ Buck Knives they do a Cryo treatment.?and an RC of 58-59 will work fine..I’m sure JT does a fine job but don’t know if he is set up for Cryo??
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
I’m sure JT does a fine job but don’t know if he is set up for Cryo??
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My only other attempt at stainless (a few kitchen knives in AEBL) were heat treated by JT. I’d have to double check the receipt to be certain, but I’m pretty sure he used cryo rather than dry ice treatment. I’m quite happy with his HT, and his level of customer service was nothing less than excellent.
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
CM-154, ATS-34 or the Grand daddy, 440C all work excellently for a Drop Point Hunter..
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Those are all older, well proven steels if I’m not mistaken. Is there anything to be gained with the newer exotic or “super steels”, or is much of it marketing hype and the performance “bean counters” getting excited over tiny improvements in steel technology?
No disrespect intended in questioning you, I’m just trying to wrap my mind around it all.
 
For edge toughness and overall strength in stainless I like both ELMAX and CPMS35VN. Both get wicked sharp and if it's a dedicated hunting knife for moose and bear they should work well.
Here is a comparison chart of some stainless currently being offered you should recognize most of them. I've tried all but M390 and I like Elmax performance best.
https://www.alphaknifesupply.com/zdata-bladesteelS-Elmax.htm
 
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XHP is my go-to goldilocks stainless. Awesome performance and reasonably easy to work with.

zUfrPPQ.jpg
 
I tend to use Elmax for wear resistance preference and AEB-L for the other side of the spectrum.
 
Adam Buttry said:
XHP is my go-to goldilocks stainless. Awesome performance and reasonably easy to work with.

zUfrPPQ.jpg
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Are you getting this steel straight from carpenter? I would really like to try it sometime. To the Op, s35vn, CTs-xhp, or Elmax would be my choices too. I had an s35vn knife, and I was able to skin and quarter an entire cow elk with it, without a touch up!
 
Alpha Knife Supply said:
Both Z-FiNit and Vanax have great/excellent edge holding and extreme corrosion resistance.

Chuck
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Chuck, how would you rate edge holding of VANAX as compared to M390? and at what hardness would you recommend running VANAX to maximize wear resistance?
 
navman said:
Chuck, how would you rate edge holding of VANAX as compared to M390? and at what hardness would you recommend running VANAX to maximize wear resistance?
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M390 has better edge holding.

I haven't tested the new version of Vanax. I like the old version at HRC 59, but the version is supposed to be tougher. We have a full size chef knife in work for testing.

Chuck
 
Does it have to be stainless? I have had a few knives in M4 and have never had rust problems. M4 is hard to beat.

I had a Elmax folder and it was probably the best stainless that I have used.
 
I would rate M390 as the best of the bunch for combined edge holding and wear resistance. Moose and elk usually have quite a bit of dirt and grit in their hide, which the 4% Vanadium will resist, thus holding an edge quite a while. I have not found M390 difficult to sharpen on my Edge-Pro, taking it to 600 grit and using a ceramic stick to take the wire edge off.
Tim
 
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