Super steals present and past

MikeC

MikeC

Joined
Sep 16, 2005
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I know the current "super steel is CPM S30V" but what was it before that, and before that and so on. Can someone put together a list of say the ten most recent "super steels" so we can see our progression. Also could someone write a brief definion next to each super steel present and past letting us know its strengths and weakness. Lets say chronological order starting with the oldest of the ten first and finishing with the current heavy weight champ CPM S30V.

Thanks
 
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STEEL. STEEL. STEEL.

IT IS SPELLED S-T-E-E-L. As in iron alloy. Not as in theft.

And, depending upon about what property you are talking, S30V is not the current "champ".
 
A "steal" is a great bargain, I'd think. But like steels, the blade is a matter of preference. And steels can vary in hardness, heat treat, etc., so there's no easy answer. Many people like knives that can be quickly and easily sharpened and give them a swack on their sharpeners every night. Others want to carry their knives for a long time without swacking.

Do a Google search on "knife steels" and that will be a good start.

I like S30V, VG-10, ATS-34/154CM and consider them all premium. But I like AUS8, 440C and yes, even 440A when it's done right. A lot of folks like Buck's 420HC. Some steels, like Cold Steel's San Mai III are strictly gimmicks, but are purty.
 
knarfeng said:
STEEL. STEEL. STEEL.

IT IS SPELLED S-T-E-E-L. As in iron alloy. Not as in theft.

And, depending upon about what property you are talking, S30V is not the current "champ".
Click to expand...

Ha. I was going to point that out. :rolleyes:

What would you recommend as the current super steel?

Me, depending on whether you're leaning towards foreign or domestic, prefer VG-10 or S30V for a combination of price, edge holding, and stainlessness. VG-10 is Japan (Seki) and S30V is American.
 
Current super steels in terms of buzzzzz on my list

ZDP189
CPM M4
CPM S110V
CPM S90V

Best performance on my tests shows Dozier D2 (but not any D2, only from Dozier), ZDP189, SR101 (52100 from Swamp Rat) and CPM M4.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
Well, when S30V is well heat treated, it is a pretty good general purpose steel.

Spyderco's ZDP is a similar steal at the moment. Good stuff, ZDP189. Then, too, Spyderco has offerred numerous steels at a steal of a price.

Benchmade has made a few M4 bladed knives and seems they may make it a regular option.

Kershaw offers a few steels that could be considered steals at the moment, S110V, MIM 440C, 3G, etc. A lot of experimentation going on there at the moment apparently.

Personally, I've come to dislike the phrase "super steel", as it usually means a new steel that may prove to be advantageous in the use of a blade steel. But, when it comes down to it, superior blades are usually due to a superior heat treat of a given steel (with appropriate design and for a given use). Its the old "a good heat treat can make an inexpensive steel into a great blade, while a bad heat treat of a potentially great steel can make trash" thing.
 
'Super steel' is a reasonably new and slightly overhyped concept emerging from recent advances in the field of metallurgy. I'm not sure you could name ten.
At the dawn of the last century, D2 and 1095 were close to the top of the list, and they still are today for a number of reasons.

A while after that (I forget most of the dates here), 440C came out, which for a time was the best stainless steel you could get. Then came a modified form of 440C called 154CM, which was considered a significant improvement. ATS-34 came out shortly afterwards; it is chemically the same steel as 154CM, but produced by a different manufacturer.

Then, about ten years ago, AUS-8 came out; it was a stainless steel inferior to 154CM but easier to manufacture and heat treat, so it was never really considered a super-steel.

VG-10 was an even more recent invention, and has been a huge success. It was followed shortly by S30V, which popularized the concept of powder-metallurgy steels.

There are a few others like ATS-55, S60V and S90V, M2, etc., that certainly offer high performance, but for whatever reason (usually price-related) these never became terribly popular.
Bear in mind that the average knife user (i.e. anyone who doesn't meticulously monitor the edge retention of a blade) is unlikely to notice a huge difference between many of these steels; even 154CM and VG10 will exhibit similar performance in some theatres.
Also, the name of the steel isn't everything; that just determines chemistry. For instance, if S30V has been poorly heat-treated, a good 440C blade will outperform it.
 
missin_hobo said:
'Super steel' is a reasonably new and slightly overhyped concept emerging from recent advances in the field of metallurgy. I'm not sure you could name ten.
At the dawn of the last century, D2 and 1095 were close to the top of the list, and they still are today for a number of reasons.

A while after that (I forget most of the dates here), 440C came out, which for a time was the best stainless steel you could get. Then came a modified form of 440C called 154CM, which was considered a significant improvement. ATS-34 came out shortly afterwards; it is chemically the same steel as 154CM, but produced by a different manufacturer.

Then, about ten years ago, AUS-8 came out; it was a stainless steel inferior to 154CM but easier to manufacture and heat treat, so it was never really considered a super-steel.

VG-10 was an even more recent invention, and has been a huge success. It was followed shortly by S30V, which popularized the concept of powder-metallurgy steels.

There are a few others like ATS-55, S60V and S90V, M2, etc., that certainly offer high performance, but for whatever reason (usually price-related) these never became terribly popular.
Bear in mind that the average knife user (i.e. anyone who doesn't meticulously monitor the edge retention of a blade) is unlikely to notice a huge difference between many of these steels; even 154CM and VG10 will exhibit similar performance in some theatres.
Also, the name of the steel isn't everything; that just determines chemistry. For instance, if S30V has been poorly heat-treated, a good 440C blade will outperform it.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your post. That reinforced what I knew and also taught me something I didn't. :thumbup:
 
Sorry for the mispelled steal, I have gone back and corrected it. Rookie mistake. Maybe what I should have said to more clear and concise was the popular steels that have been hyped over the years as the latest "super steels" that is why I used the quotes.

Popular steels in my opinion have been something like this

440C
ATS-34
154 CM
CPM S 30V

I know I'm leaving some out and my list might not be in chronological order of when the steels were popular in relation to time frame, that is why I posed this question. My apologies for the misspelled steel and not posing the question in a more clear and concise manner. I was just trying to get an awnser to my question.
 
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My favorite super steel is BG42 hardened to Rc62. Holds an edge forever but don't ever let it get butterknife dull as it takes diamonds to get it back to sharp! BG42 has never had the controversy surrounding some of the other supposed super steels.
 
Stainless steel did not exist until 1910 and was invented by 2 people at about the same time one in England and one in North America, Stelite was invented at almost the same time as stainless, again by two people one here and one in GB. Both wanted for making table wear that would not rust. The big name in tool steel before WWI was "Swedish" because of the remarkable clenliness of the Swedish ore. (very little sulpher, etc.) After WWI metalurgy came into it's own and you began to see the development of most of the tool steels we know today.
Not until Victorianox got a European steel maker to add enough carbon to stanless did kitchen and pocket knife owners begin to think stainless might be useful.

Stainless had such a bad name that when Buck began to use it they used 440A and told people that it WAS NOT stainless because they knew that it would not sell other wise and this was only in 1964-5 probably in your lifetime. Schrade, in this country began to us 440A and called it Raxor blade steel, because the razor blade makers had begun to successfully market stainless razor blades.

High Carbon Stainless Steels have continued to get better and better and will, in my opinion continue on.

Think about how long it took from the beginning of the Iron Age to the making of real steel and then to the beginning of real knowlede of steel and how to improve it. If you can find a metelergy text book for the early 1900s it will be so simple that a B grade 10th grader will be able to understand it. Try that with todays text book.
 
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