"Super Steels" for Knife Blades?

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tatfiend

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A recent thread I read had a poster mention "super steels" for knife blades without mentioning any specifically. Any consensus on what current blade "super steels' would be"?
 
That term incites a lot of discussion on knife boards. Personally, I believe that as technology advances, then every new generation of steel creates some cutlery alloys that perform better for some tasks than the previous generation. These we tend to call "super steels". Kind of arbitrary, but it is what it is. You might want to hunt down the steel testing thread by Jim Ankerson on this forum - it gives you some good information about the relative performance of these alloys.

OK - for my $0.02, my favorite super steels are: CTS-20CP and CPM-S90V - although I have a real fondness for M4 as well.

TedP
 
There's a ton. There might be some argument to what level of steel is the starting Super Steel. I tend to look at S30V that way, but steels have come so far that some people no longer consider S30V to be a super steel.

There are very uncommon ones you can find in custom knives, but I'll list a few of the more common or popular ones in production knives, starting from the "top"

s110v - Not common yet, but starting to be seen in production knives (strider and spyderco) VERY high wear resistance stainless
s90v - Still not super common, but have been available in certain production knives and mid techs for several years (spyderco among others) VERY high wear resistance, but a step down from the previous.
m390 - starting to be seen in a lot of knives, high wear resistance, good strength (spyderco, survive!, benchmade, etc...)
M4 - High wear resistance coupled with good strength. Popularized because of cutting competitions. NOT stainless tool steel (Spyderco, benchmade, bark river, etc..)
s30v - been around for years, the quintessential starting super steel IMO. good wear resistance. Can be found in most good knife companies. from kershaw to Chris Reeve

There are a ton more. Most seem to rate between m390 and s30v for wear resistance, and have certain other features. Then there are different versions of the same steel composition wise made by different makers (crucible, carpenter, etc...) For instance I can't keep track of all the CTS steels yet.

EDIT: there is a knife steel app out there for smart phones. I've never used it, but a lot of people talk it up on here. Could be good to check out.
 
I guess when I think of a "super steel" I think of a knife steel that is known for a specific characteristic.

So I guess steels like: 15V, 10V, K390, K294, S110V, S90V, S7, 3V, ect.

Advancements are constantly being made in the steel world. So alot of times "super steel" is also used to reference what is fresh to the market. M390 seems to be the one with a lot of hubub lately. I really do like it too.
 
umm sniper I don't think S30V is a super steel. A premium steel? Yes, along with CPM154, 154CM, S35VN, etc.
 
I love me some CPM steels. CPM-D2 and CPM-154 are two of my favorites. Don't know how "super" they are but they take an INSANE edge and keep it a long time. My two main folders are one of each, and they will split a hair without a lot of trouble
 
TotalDbag said:
umm sniper I don't think S30V is a super steel. A premium steel? Yes, along with CPM154, 154CM, S35VN, etc.
Click to expand...

You just proved my point :p I don't necessarily think it's wrong or right to name it one way or the other. Ten years ago people would probably have taken offense to you not calling it a super steel, just because there are a lot of steels which leave it in the dirt now is it no longer a super steel? It's up to you to decide.

IMO It's still a high alloy powder steel, which leaves steels like 154cm in the dust with its edge retention, so it fits the bill of a super steel in my book.

Just because the Silver Surfer could vaporize Spiderman in a millisecond, is Spiderman no longer a super hero?
 
I tend to think of any cpm metal, or powdered metal a "super steel" but I know that's not entirely true... at all.
 
In order to be called "SUPER" steel, in my opinion, it must have some extremely redeeming characteristic............

For instance -- Extreme hardness --- ZDP-189 ( 64-67 HRC ) .........and coming soon Micromelt Maxamet ( in the ZT 0888 68-72 HRC )

Some others with a variety of excellent characteristics include --- CPM-M4, Elmax, M390, CPM-s110V, CPM-3V, Vanax 75

..............I even consider INFI and Boye Cobalt "super" in their own right
 
It doesn't mean a whole lot, really... but I suppose the best way to define the term currently would be "modern/3rd generation powder/particle steels with moderate-to-very-high alloy content".

I'm partial to Elmax and CPM-3V myself. Very clean, very fine-grained, very high toughness and good-to-great edge-retention depending on final hardness.

On the other hand, I have friends and clients who sincerely consider O1, 1084 and 1095 to be "super steels", because they fit their needs and preferences quite well. :)
 
James, I have an ELMAX blade you made for me not too long ago that has gotten a lot of use. It has certainly been super in every regard, noticeably better than the ELMAX I have in my productions which was already quite good. Must be the heat treat?
 
CPM 10v was developed 30+ years ago and its still a near front runner. It just comes down to who wants to grind on it.
 
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