The BEST knife steel

Since I generally don't use my knives very hard, I figure ZDP-189 heat treated to HRC 66-67 would do great for me.

If I had to cut tougher things, I might go for a Dozier heat treated D2:thumbup:.
 
Folder: CTS-XHP
Fixed: 52100

Not sure why I'm posting; this has to be one of the most irrelevant threads ever. :p
 
Phil Brown said:
Folder: CTS-XHP
Fixed: 52100

Not sure why I'm posting; this has to be one of the most irrelevant threads ever. :p
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I forgot about 52100... I have a Greco in 52100, had never heard of it before seeing it on his site. It has performed very well (edge retention wise) and I really like his coating, whatever it is.
 
There are so many excellent steels available.

I wonder how some of the posters form their opinions? Have the posters tested the steels they’ve listed? Are their opinions based on the opinions of other people. Ron specifically wrote:
The BEST: not conjecture, or what you heard from someone else...what YOU know and believe in YOUR HEART to be the BEST knife steel.
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I get to test lots of different steels. I love my job! Lately I’ve been working with Bohler Uddeholm (BU) steels. The steels are not new. They have been around for years but not available in sheet in North America.

The powdered BU steels are very interesting. The chemical composition looks good, but the steels perform better than they should. BU is on their third generation of powder metallurgy. The granule size is very small, like flour. The result is increased toughness. The BU metallurgist explained this to me but I was skeptical. Testing is proving her to be correct. One knifemaker is testing Elmax and M390 in the low HRC 60’s and he cannot get them to chip. Edge holding is very good.

A highly overlooked stainless steel is AEB-L. It has been around for decades and was used for razor blades. The composition is not impressive until you learn Uddeholm specifically designed the composition for a purpose. They put enough carbon in the steel to get hard, but not enough carbon to make chromium carbides. As a result AEB-L has grain like a carbon steel and enough chromium to make it stainless. It has good edge holding and is easy to sharpen.

We bought a Razel from Jon Graham at Blade. The blade steel is CPM S35VN. This is an excellent steel. The edge holding is excellent and it is easier to resharpen than S30V. We have not experienced any chipping. I think Crucible has made another winner.

CPM 3V is my favorite steel. It is very tough so the edge can be ground thin. I like thin edges. A knife is made to cut and thin edges cut better. The problem with many steels is toughness. ZDP189 is an example of a good steel with low toughness. We’ve had problems with ZDP189 chipping. CPM 3V has good corrosion resistance. I’ve had a 3V camp knife for several years. Total maintainance has been wiping it on my pant leg when I finished using it. It does not show any rust spots or pitting. This is impressive considering we live in the Great NorthWet.

Fixed: CPM-M4 (why else would competition cutters use it so much?
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Maybe it is the best steel available to them? We just received two pieces of Vanadis 4 Extra. I sent a piece to Shawn Knowles to make a camp knife and the other piece to MS Michael Rader to make a composition knife. If I get another piece it will go to Devin Thomas. Devin has forged Vanadis 4 Extra. He said it has 90% of the edge holding of CPM M4 and is way tougher. I like CPM M4 and I want to compare it to Vanadis 4 Extra.

The latest steel I’m testing is Uddeholm Vanex 35. It is a high nitrogen low carbon powder metallurgy stainless steel. In CATRA testing the edge holding was below S30V. In real world testing the edge holding is great. It cuts cardboard better than any steel I’ve ever tested. It is very easy to resharpen. The downside is it will not be available until the end of 2010 and it will be expensive. I don’t know how tough it is. Uddeholm did not use their latest powder metallurgy process to make the granules on the preproduction pieces we received. I’m looking forward to testing the production steel.

We are living in the Golden Age of Steel.
 
These are what I consider to be the BEST steels for my purposes:

Folders: VG-10
Fixed blades: INFI
 
Isn't "best" sort of a personal preference issue? I feel even if someone chips in on what their "best" steel is, it's useless without a reference as to what precisely they're cutting with their knife most of the time.

You also need to know what knife in particular it is so people have an idea of the heat treat of the knife.
 
Noctis3880 said:
Isn't "best" sort of a personal preference issue? I feel even if someone chips in on what their "best" steel is, it's useless without a reference as to what precisely they're cutting with their knife most of the time.

You also need to know what knife in particular it is so people have an idea of the heat treat of the knife.
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false. titanium is wonderful at everything
 
If I could only pick one, for any knife use, it would have to be 1095. It has been successfully used for decades for machetes and large knives, and by using a different heat treatment, it makes very good knives with a very hard edge. These are capable of holding edges as low as 5 degrees per side, or having more conventional angles of 10-20 per side with excellent edge retention. It generally won't beat the super steels, but it doesn't cost nearly as much either, and at the extremely thin edges mentioned above, can outperform the super steels.
 
me2 said:
If I could only pick one, for any knife use, it would have to be 1095. It has been successfully used for decades for machetes and large knives, and by using a different heat treatment, it makes very good knives with a very hard edge. These are capable of holding edges as low as 5 degrees per side, or having more conventional angles of 10-20 per side with excellent edge retention. It generally won't beat the super steels, but it doesn't cost nearly as much either, and at the extremely thin edges mentioned above, can outperform the super steels.
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Not if said super steels also have the same extremely thin edges. But then again, I think only ZDP-189 can effectively be used at such thin angles.
 
Thats my point. A lot of the super steels just won't hold together at those angles. I don't know of anyone whose tried ZDP at that level, but it may be the one to do it. CPM M4 would as well.
 
Honestly, when you get into knives from decent makers, almost all of the steel on the market right now is pretty darned good, especially in fixed blades. Hype aside, I'd have a hard time putting my finger on the "best performing steel" in my collection. I've had to do more repair work on Infi blades than on any other type of steel, but that's probably because I have been known to intentionally abuse a Busse or two. For me, design is more important than steel choice. I like A2, 1095, Infi, and SR101 just fine.

For folding knives, I like S30V, 154CM, VG10 and ATS34. I like H1 too. There's plenty of good stuff out there. Even 420HC and 440C can be great steels if the heat treat and design are right. The only steel I turn my long blue nose up at is the AUS series. That stuff is awful.
 
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