Steel Comparison

[ASBOB]

I;m looking at a Bear and Son knife. The ad claims the blade is "High Carbon Stainless", but I contacted them for specifics. They said it was "440A with extra carbon".

How close would this be to 1095? How might they compare in terms of ease of sharpening, edge retention, and staining?

 

[richw]

i think 1095 has like 0 chromium, so i would think it 440a with extra carbon would have a lot more stain resistance.

 

[goodeyesniper]

I would put money on 1095 being far superior for sharpening and holding an edge. Most of the companies that put out any of the 440 steels they seem to be pretty inferior. A few do it right, though, so I could definitely be wrong.

1095 is an extremely capable high carbon steel, its weak point is stain resistance, but that's never been an issue for me.

 

[knarfeng]

I;m looking at a Bear and Son knife. The ad claims the blade is "High Carbon Stainless", but I contacted them for specifics. They said it was "440A with extra carbon".

How close would this be to 1095? How might they compare in terms of -ease of sharpening,
-edge retention, and
-staining?

As they say, a lot depends on the heat treat.
And the exact properties of the stainless are going to change depending on how much more carbon is in there. Best I can do is compare 1095 to 440A.

- I find 1095 and 440A to sharpen with about the same effort on a ceramic stone.
- At equal hardness, 1095 holds an edge better than 440A.
- 440A is quite stain resistant. 1095 is carbon steel and stains quite easily.