What difference in blank of D2, 1095 or 440C

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bigoledude

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Jul 22, 2009
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I have several "stainless" skinning knives. When I bought them, none of these knives mentioned in the description, of a particular steel such 440C, D2, 1095 or whatever. I automatically assumed the blade is not the best steels because if the blades were made of a top-quality steel, they would surely boast of that fact.

We kill a good many wild hogs, some deer and ducks and, supply our large family with a very inexpensive supply of meat.

I always start off with my knives as sharp as I can get them on my 3-stone Lansky diamond set. However, while skinning I must run my blades through my little crossed ceramic sticks doohickey much too often.

I want to buy some knife blanks for me, my grandsons and my sons that will maintain a sharp edge longer. NothCoast knives has some "Sharpfinger" style designs in 440C that we like, for a very reasonable price. These knives won't be used to baton live oaks into toothpicks or for any heavy bushcraft duties. We have knives, machetes and axes for the heavy work.

Personally, I'd like to find a blank of nice steel in the "Canadian Belt Knife" design. Anyone know of a source? I know, I used to think they were butt-ugly also. But, in my old age, and after reading the history of the design, my opinion has changed. I have the one Cold Steel makes and really like the way it handles. The steel is just a tiny step up from my other cheap skinners.

Will 440C be a big step up from the "Old Timer" and "Schrade" sharpfingers made with plain-ole no-name stainless?

Is D2 far superior to 440C in edge-holding ability?
 
Much depends on heat treat. Both 440C and D2 would work very well on hogs and you'd notice a big step up. Many of the kit knives are Not heat treated. You can maximize your edge in skinning tough hide by sharpening more coarse. Like around the 250-300 grit level. Using diamond, stop at the coarse and see. DM
 
David Martin said:
Much depends on heat treat. Both 440C and D2 would work very well on hogs and you'd notice a big step up. Many of the kit knives are Not heat treated. You can maximize your edge in skinning tough hide by sharpening more coarse. Like around the 250-300 grit level. Using diamond, stop at the coarse and see. DM
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Thanks for the reply DM.

The reason I mentioned NorthCoast was because his blanks are already treated. I'd like to try and build my own knife but don't have the capability/confidence to properly heat-treat a knife

Never thought of sharpening "course". I lost some nice knives in hurricane Katrina that I can't afford to replace. And, when I was much younger, I cut meat for a living.

So, even though I can't pretend to know what y'all know about blades/steel/knives, I do appreciate a good SHARP knife! Leaving a "toothed" edge on my skinning knives seems almost sacrilegious to me! But, I can certainly see the potential benefit of a "toothed" edge on cheap knives like mine.

Any idea where I might find a treated "Canadian Belt Knife" blank?
 
You might try searching out some fallkniven blanks in models H1,or S1. They are stainless and excellent quality. VG10 is an excellent quality steel that holds.an edge well and sharpens up relatively easy. Good luck
 
Grohman knives are the original canadian belt knife makers. They offer knife kits to make your own and IIRC they used to offer just blanks.
 
D2 will hold an edge FAR longer than 440C in almost any application.
440C is about the bottom of the modern stainless steel stack these days, but will still make a decent blade that is a definite step up from no-name 'stainless'. The formula is relatively ancient. For your application, I'd start with 154CM (higher wear resistant evolution of 440C) on the stainless ladder and go up from there.

One thing I noticed with high-wear tool steel (A2) while butchering is that the edge needed to be *cleaned* waaaaay before it needed to be sharpened. A kitchen steel would have done a credible job of scraping the deer gunk off the edge so it could keep cutting.
 
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