Steels you never (or never again) intend to buy. And why?

I just won't get the real cheap stuff like 8cr. Frankly, I'm not fan of m390 and its analogs: rarely heat treated right and no matter the hardness its always chippy for me. Give me s90 and xhp for stainless.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
I am not ruling out that I just got a bad one...or maybe I'm snobbier than I thought, but I dinged the edge just opening up a bit of shrink wrap on a backage of beer bottles. The edge barely grazed the edge if a cap and pushed in a small flat.

This is after I free hand sharpened it and stropped it to a good convex edge.

For the price I don't mind trying another. I like that it is a cheap, stainless beater.
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Something to consider for opinions in this thread is the effect of bad factory edges. It isn't just the geometry. The steel along the edge can heat up at the grinder. It can be enough to mess with the heat treatment. We often see this in the increased edge retention of our own edges. Something to come out of cut testing is seeing how the numbers increase with multiple fresh edges. How deep the effect of a bad factory edge runs will vary, as will how much steel you'll have to remove before you are getting a true representation of a particular steel with a particular heat treatment.
 
I strongly dislike VG10, it shouldn't be a bad steel, but my experience is with sharpening many, many shun knives over many years and I just don't like how they hold the edge. Too chippy.
 
Chronovore said:
Something to consider for opinions in this thread is the effect of bad factory edges. It isn't just the geometry. The steel along the edge can heat up at the grinder. It can be enough to mess with the heat treatment. We often see this in the increased edge retention of our own edges. Something to come out of cut testing is seeing how the numbers increase with multiple fresh edges. How deep the effect of a bad factory edge runs will vary, as will how much steel you'll have to remove before you are getting a true representation of a particular steel with a particular heat treatment.
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I agree. That's why I check the steel hardness as close to the edge as I can. And I stopped using my Work Sharp belt grinder and bought a Wicked Edge 130.
To stay on topic: I buy what I want and can afford. I prefer super steels but might buy grandpa's steel if I like the looks of the knife.
 
1075. I actually like 1095 but with how cheap you can get 1095 now I don't see a reason for 1075 anymore.

Beyond that? I tried, carried, and did fine with 8Cr back in the day when that was a good value to get on a 30-40$ beater. Now, likely wont get anything now that you can get D2, 9cr, 14c28n, and other great steels for the same cost.
 
D2 rusts too easily in the rainy season, even indoors with AC and a dehumidifier running. I'm hoping that D2 will be OK with Froglube, but there are so many other interesting steels available, I'm just not interested in D2 anymore. I generally prefer stainless.

154CM is not really bad, but it's not particularly good at anything. I have sworn off it because I have too many Benchmades in 154CM. My Benchmades in S30V are way better, especially for edge retention.

But I do tend to use knives with D2 or 154CM in situations where there is a risk of losing or damaging the knife, especially the AFO II, because I won't be real upset if something bad happens to the knife.

I have been very happy with various knives with low-end steel for particular purposes.
 
Only thing I can think of is Cold Steel O1. I like O1 in general, and I even bought a very nice custom from Dan Wowak in O1. That knife performs great.

But I’ve had bad experiences with Cold Steel’s O1. I had a Recon Scout in O1 a long while ago (maybe 6 years ago?) that was extremely chippy. I don’t just mean the edge got microchipping (which it did) I mean massive chunks would chip out from the blade, maybe a centimeter or so in diameter. Very large. And that all happened while using it for light chopping on some green wood, which a knife like that should handle without issue. For contrast, I’ve done much harder work with other brand’s O1 and have never had an issue.

That Recon Scout left a bad taste in my mouth regarding Cold Steel in general, and especially regarding their O1. I’m sure it was just a lemon, but I was still disappointed in them. I bought that knife in person, in their Ventura CA headquarters, and I paid like $250 or something like that. I expected to get a good hard-use knife, but instead got one that probably had a faulty HT.
 
MolokaiRider said:
That was my first thoughts as well. I (so far) have had good results with a couple of Voyagers.

Saying that... I need more time with the knife.
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I have to report the same. My Voyager in AUS 10 had been solid. Edge retention is adequate, not great, but certainly not bad.
 
Yeah,cart before the horse, but whatever I feel enjoying and being comfortable to sharpen on my Arkansas stones, so, carbon 1095 or less is good. Everything else - I do not like so much without questioning the greatness, practicality, worthiness, and the admiration they deserve.
 
I don't have any "no fly list steels". If used in a knife properly designed (correct profile, edge geometry and heat treat) for the intended use, there is a use for pretty much any cutlery steel. Whether or not I happen to need a tool designed for that usage is a different question.

If the steel used in a knife is poorly heat treated, or the steel properties don't match the intended use, that's not the fault of the alloy and the failure should not be attributed to it. Go beat on the production house or the knife designer for those issues.

M390 has fantastic edge retention properties, but I wouldn't buy a chopper made out of Bohler M390. Not an appropriate usage.
 
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