Steel Quality / 440 SS

[Credit Guy]

Can someone tell me if 440 SS is good steel for a bowie knife and why ?

What kind of steel do you consider to be good or bad for bowie knifes ?


Thanks for educating a newbie

 

[Tommi]

All 440 series steels are stainless (as far as I know). There are many variations of which 440A, 440B and 440C are most common (and every manufacturer has slightly different recipe within limits for e.g. 440C)

Generally 440C is considered best for knives when edgeholding is primary concern.

But for a bowie? If heat treatment is good 440C will not be too brittle. Many custom makers use 440C for big bowies with very good results. Less carbon means often more toughness which is good for a knife that will be used mainly as a chopper. 440B (seldom used) could be good compromise between edgeholding and toughness if one wants SS bladed bowie. e.g. Randall uses forged 440B for big bowies - (but I think that the reason behind using 440B instead of 440C is another: forging SS is very much harder than forging plain carbon steel and forging 440C would be too extreme in quantities that Randall makes SS Bowies)

If knife is marked 440 it is most propably 440A as if it would be of higher quality manufacturer woud mark it so. But 440A is still light years ahead 420J2 steel aka age hardened cheese. Buck and some others use 425 and 420HC for bowies which are better than 420 but do have less carbon than 440A.

I myself wouldn't buy a SS bowie. I'd choose carbonsteel bladed knife as those steels are better (IMO) for choppers. I also like to play with my knives and occasional oiling is part of my hobby.

 

[Manji]

440c is definitely not the best steel when edgeholding is concerned, ats-34, s30v, s90v etc is much better, for a bowie if a lot of impact is going to be involved in it's use 440c is a great steel but a lot of the new super steels are incredibly tough and boast good edgeholding

 

[rev_jch]

I made three large bowies in 440c earlier this year with very good results. Heat treat does have play a big role in this and where you get the steel from. I prefer 440c myself as personally I feel its well suited to this purpose.

 

[ragnoor]

440-C is still the most widely used high carbon SS used in the cutlery business. As a maker, I still prefer it over ATS-34, AUS-6 and 8. From kitchen knives to big honking bowies, it is still a great steel. When properly ground and HTed, it will perform great and at less cost. Whats in having a knife, that is so hard, that the average user cannot keep it sharp. There is no such thing, as a knife, that never needs to be sharpened.
Ken (wwjd)