Steel Home Runs

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sodak

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Mar 26, 2004
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After posting on another thread with regards to choosing between 2 steels for a given knife, I thought I'd try to list steels from manufacturers that have performed brilliantly and consistently - no lemons or bad heat treats ever, at least in my experience. Sample size must be greater than 1. ;)

Which steels from which manufacturers have you *always* had good luck with? I'll go first:

VG10 - from both Spyderco and Fallkniven. Great steel, incredibly consistent performance.

ZDP 189 - from Spyderco. Performs great WRT edge holding, but I prefer to thin it out first.

D2 - Dozier and Queen. Dozier is the King, but the Queen (pun intended) has never let me down either. Queens generally come somewhat dull from the factory (at least mine were), but I thin them down on my EP, stones, or belt sander, and they exhibit remarkable performance, especially for the money.

52100 (SR 101) - Swamp Rat Knives, extremely consistent performance, sharpens easily, holds a good edge in wood working, and is very easy to sharpen. One of my favorites. In all of the "If you only had one knife" scenarios, this might very well determine which knife I chose due to the excellent properties of this steel.

I'll stop there. What are your good experiences?
 
Well, I don't have that many knives to be able to say *always*, but I like anything from Fallkniven, Spyderco, Bark River, and Buck.
 
Victorinox/Wenger's stainless. I know how it works and what to expect. Never lets me down.

8Cr13MoV. Byrds or Sanrenmu, the stuff just works
 
I've had M4 a little while now in my Gayle Bradley.
It has been cutting great. Did a touch up on the white sharpmaker stones when I got it and it really got extremely sharp fast and easy. About ten swipes and it is the sharpest knife I've had.
Went through some cardboard that normally would kill an edge that keen, and it stayed that sharp.
No staining or rusting either so far.
 
52100. Beautiful edges, surprising strong. A classic! RC 60-62

Vascowear~ S3V ( the first being the older brother, and IMO, the one with slightly better wear resistance, but lower shock . I want to try a powder version) ( could be "the one" if I believed in that. Better wear resistance than D2, Better shock resistance Both at around RC 61

Aogami & Super Blue: clean, well balanced, fine yet strong edges, good wear resistance for a steel in it's class. Another steel I could live with as" the one". Another atom slicer.

CPM M4 from 58-59 to RC 64. It does everything I like in a steel, and it does it well.

M2, even when run too low at RC 58-59. from RC 62 to 65 this and CPM M4 could do the majority of my jobs

S90V: good at everything folder wise. Not as strong as some, but for my uses in folders it's plenty tough. Only downgrade is the atom slicing edges that cut the very fabric of space and time don't come naturally to this steel due to large quantities of " evil, Devil worshipping" vanadium carbides. I have taken to sealing mine in locked boxes surrounded by Pentagrams to keep them from getting out and running amok, corrupting other steels in the process.

VG10, Super Gold powder steels. Takefu makes good steels!

BG42 For years it was my favorite stainless, bar none. It's still top 5 RC 60-62 is my preference.

honorable mention: O-1, A2, W-1, W-2, 1084, S125V, S110V, 10V ( last 3 needing more experience), 5160, S30V, 13C, 14C, CPM 154

Little experience, but looks good in my seki customs: OU31, R2 ( pitting troubles), SRS 15 ( still want and am looking for the 9.5 inch bowie made of this by G.Saki, now discontinued. Would make worthwhile trade like CPM D2 millie or similar to nail one down as it's getting to be a unicorn to me )


There are more. I like them all especially when they go north of RC 61
 
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1095--gec
d2--dozier, queen, & b.m.
s30-=-crusader forge & b.m.
duratech20v--sog
carbon 5--cold
440a--camillus
zdp--spydie
3v--ferhman & bark river.
 
1095--gec
d2--dozier, queen, & b.m.
s30-=-crusader forge & b.m.
duratech20v--sog
carbon 5--cold
440a--camillus
zdp--spydie
3v--ferhman & bark river.
m4--spydie
vg10--sog, & spydie
 
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Sodak, I'm with you on the VG-10 from Spyderco. It's always been the same consistent steel down through the years, model to model.
Just great stuff:)
 
AUS8- :eek: yep that right, very strong, easy to sharpen, very clean and sharp edges possible, better edge retention than most give credit for, also very tough, personally I would take it over VG-10.


S90V- now this is my grail of stainless steels when it come to edge retention and anyone else that has used it knows why I would say that. It does not hold a "sharp" edge for long but never really looses it ability to cut.

52100 (SR-101)- Not much more I can add, its simply a great steel. If all knives were 52100 and M4 I would be perfectly fine with that.
 
knifenut1013 said:
AUS8- :eek: yep that right, very strong, easy to sharpen, very clean and sharp edges possible, better edge retention than most give credit for, also very tough, personally I would take it over VG-10.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:

Honestly, ANY cutlery-grade steel with a good HT is good with me. Just look at what Kershaw was able to do with 440A!:eek:
 
For a combination of sharpenability (both ease and how sharp it gets) and edge holding, I don't think you can beat FFD2 with it's half micron grain structure. CPM-10V and S90v are also up there with FFD2, but are tougher to sharpen.

All that said, I never felt cheated all those years I carried a Schrade muskrat or 1954 SAK in the front pocket, and a sharpfinger on the hip. I could still happily rely on them as EDCs.
 
I’ve really liked CMP-M4. I don’t mind working to get an edge as sharp as I want it but with cmp-m4 it seems all I need is 3 minutes and some leather and the edge is again splitting atoms.
 
Boker- slip joints in both 1095 & 1075
Himalayan Imports- 5160
Victorinox- whatever inox is

These are the steels I have the most experience with and most of what I still have and use. I've dabbled in super steels but keep coming back to the basics.

Frank
 
When it comes to production models over the past 20 (longer in the case of Victorinox) or so years:

Victorinox's stainless
Spyderco's AUS 8 & VG-10 (heck, come to think of it, I never had any real complaints about their G-2/GIN-1 either...;))
Case's CV
CRK's ATS-34 & BG-42 (even though I currently own a Sebenza in S30V, I just don't have anywhere near the experience using/sharpening it that I have with the other two)

I've had various/multiple models utilizing all of these and none of them has ever let me down.:thumbup:
 
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I really haven't had all that many problems with any cutlery steel. Some hold an edge better, some are easier to sharpen, some are stain resistant, and some have a combination of all these properties. My personal favorite is S30V done up by Spyderco, Bladetech, or custom makers like Siegle, Ingram, May, etc., who probably have their heat treat done by Paul Bos. Some people bad mouth Reeve's S30V, but I have had no problems with my small Sebenza so far. My favorite go to knife is a one off by Robert Dark in S30V. Just works for me. I like CPM 3V, but haven't found a knife I really like in that steel yet (yes, I have owned several Fehrmans, but the handle designs just don't work for my hands). 52100 is a good steel. It gets sharp and barring corrosion stays that way. I haven't used M2 or M4 enough to comment. Falkniven's VG10 has worked well for me, and I really like the F1. Dozier's D2 is legendary for good reason. In the end a knife's ergonomics and blade geometry mean more to me that any particular steel.

Oh, and INFI. I have damaged the edges on more Busse knives than any other, but then I use my Busse knives harder than any other. I do things with them I wouldn't think of doing with my other knives. When you are the front man on the fire hose you better be wearing a good fire resistant suit, and even then don't be surprised if you singe your cuffs a bit.
 
Sample size of more than 1 and worked great:

1) M2 HTed by Phil Wilson.
2) CPM 110V - From Phil Wilson, custom fixed blade and rehardened Kershaw folder. Insanely wear resistant, very god edge holding.
3) Aogami Blue I, Over a dozen blades from Watanabe, Aritsugu, takes very keen edge and holds it very well. So far used only in the kithcen.
4) Aogami Super - From 2 makers, Takeda and Moritaka. Also, very fine edge and very good edge holding. So far used only in the kithcen.
4) ZDP-189, I have it from Sanetsu, William Henry and Kershaw. All very good.
 
sodak said:
Which steels from which manufacturers have you *always* had good luck with?
Click to expand...

13C26 from Kershaw
SG-2 from KAI Shun and Kershaw
VG-10 from Spyderco
AEB-L from Aoki Hamono and Larrin Thomas
Aogami Super from Takeda Hamono and Moritaka Hamono
Aogami #2 from Moritaka Hamono (it's called #2 'cause it's the s$$t!)
52100/SR101 from Swamp Rat.
S7 from Ranger Knives
ZDP-189 from Spyderco
12C27M from Mora of Sweden
5160-ish from Himalayan Imports
 
I'm digging the 154CM in my ZT 0200 and 0500.

I also like the S30V in my Sebbie - I find it to be the right mix and not too soft like others have reported.

I also like the M4 in my Gayle Bradley - man that blade holds on to an edge!
 
Thom, I notice a trend. You seem to prefer staying away from those steels that are possessed by the evil, "devil worshiping" vanadium carbides.

I can get along with them and do like the S110V, S125V, 10V, etc, but they have a role. We're not going to be using 12 degree inclusive shashimi knives with these steels.

I do get along with the Tungsten containing steels a little bit better, with some vanadium included ( but watched over and heavily supervised of course!). Example, CPM M4. I've found it to be a great steel if you don't need something over specialized.

Yablanowitz, on the other hand, gets along with the vanadium steels doing jobs like cutting drywall, old , dirty carpets, etc. According to him nothing gets through the day like the vanadium steels.

My uses are more moderate. You, on the other hand I would guess to be a chef, who also likes to have the odd chopper around. Almost a role model darksider!

Regards, Joe/Raleigh
 
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