Stupid Steel Question

jrollins

jrollins

Joined
Jul 9, 1999
Messages
259
It easy enough to find tables full of info on what's in a blade and lots of opinions all over the place, but this is a bit more specific. Which steels are more rust-resistant? Part of this came out of my shopping around for a good price on a Military(lowest I have found is around $100), and some places seem to have some older models around still. They say they have them with 440V and ATS-34 blades. Now, I'll probably just go with a new one, but after the rust issue with the AUS-8, I thought I'd ask.

So how do 440A/B/C, CPM440V, AUS-6/8, ATS-34, ATS-55 and G-2 compare in rust resistance? I REALLY hate rust. I have a few bicycles that pretty much vaporized due to rust
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John Rollins Jr KD7BCY
http://jrollins.tripod.com/
http://www.geocities.com/jrollins.geo/
 
All of them that you mentioned are fine. They all have at least 13% chrome, and that is about the demarcation line for a relatively rust free blade.

Stellite (one flavor is Talonite) is the most corrosion resistant blade material n common use, it's not a steel.

Of those you mentioned, if you really want corrosion resistance above all else (including edge holding), the 440 series has 17% +/- chrome.

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rdangerer@home.com
 
Try doing a search of the Spyderco Forum and the Spyderco Forum Archive using "q fog" as your key word.

David Rock

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AKTI Member # A000846
Stop when you get to bone.
 
Thank you David.

JRollins - IMO, there are many answers to your question. How important is rust resistance in your list of priorities? because their is always a trade off.

Imagine a triangle of: 1) Edge retention 2) Corrosion resistance 3) price.

Getting 2 out of the 3 is easy. Getting all three is very difficult.

If your hatred of rust is paramount over the other two, go with the non steel products. Talonite and Boye dendritic are excellent. Tested very high (in our tests) in both Corrosion resistance and edge retention. We haven't tested stellite yet, but I would guess good results. The trade off is cost and limited design choice (unless custom made).

If cost is a factor, next best goes to 440C. Properly heat treated (very important) 440C does very well in corrosion resistance.

The difference between stainless and non stainless is great in corrosion resistance. There are differences in corrosion resistance between stainless steels, though they get smaller.

sal
 
If yoy hate rust, stay away from bead-blasted and get only polished knives (or polish the yourself).
The steels you mentioned, I will try to put them in order from most rust-resistant to less.
Most: CPM 440V, AUS-6, 440A, 440B, 440C,AUS-8, G-2, ATS-55 and ATS-34.

But if you are that upset with a little bit of rust, go with talonite.
Personally, I think rust can be polished off, bad edgeholding or bad grainsize can't.
I prefer 52100, and in my personal opinion, I think Spyderco should use some carbonsteel too, it just is a lot tougher for hard-use knives. Just check it yourself, the grainsize off 52100 can't be beat. Ed caffery once said that the overall package of qualities is optimal in 52100. All the other steels circkel around it in Sal's triangle. But, he's right about his triangle, but I would make it a square and add tougness since you are moving into the fixed blade area. Your CPM440V is not known for it's toughness....it actually chips when tested. On the other hand, I would love to see a fixed blade out of ATS-55, which I think is a lot tougher then ATS-34, and the best steel off all the other steels you people use.

greetz, Bart.
 
Actually, CPM 440V tested worse in corrosion resistance than ATS-55 or ATS-34, according to this thread. That would place CPM 440V at the bottom of the list in rust resistant steels, rather than at the top. If that result comes as a real surprise to you, don't worry... it surprised me too!
 
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