What is important to you about steel selection?

I currently switch between a VG-10 Delica, an M390 Dividend, and an 8cr13MoV Atmos. I've owned and used a number of knives and based on my experience the order of importance goes:

1. Price / Value
2. Mechanical soundness (if it's a folder)
3. Heat treatment
4. Grind
5. Fit and finish
6. Steel Composition

One time I had a knife in S30V that was obviously burnt on the grinder at the factory, it was dark gold colored down the whole edge. It was handily outperformed by 420HC or 8Cr13MoV, and in addition it had strange lockup issues. It should have never left the factory in such obviously poor condition. I learned real fast that a premium steel is not enough to polish a turd.
 
I am a user of knives, searching for the best one for me. At work I use my knife a lot. The steel makes a big difference to me along with blade geometry.

The steel was not such a big thing until I purchased a Wicked Edge. It was sharpening and using the blades doing the same type of work, that I came to love and abhor blade steels.

I have yet to try all of the big steels out there, but I refuse to buy anything S30v.
 
Depends on the purpose / use "POU" of the knife .

On a big, long wood chopping knife/ machete , toughness is a prime need . Carbon steel for economy .

At the beach , in and out of salt all day ...H1 .
 
The question of perceived value strongly comes into play with folders. If the basic knife is done in D2, how much more would you be willing to spend for M390 or something considered even higher end?
 
In a professional capacity ie 'hard use knives' 'working under pressure to beat the clock' important are design, steel, corrosion resist, price, grip. in saying this i just keep with the same knife for my job (tuna fisho- fibrox Vic. stiff 12cm blade). I've lost quite a few over the years, they hold a good edge, yet sharpen easily. I have no problem touching up a knife when neccesary while working and have always been told not to be lazy in this regard.

other than this i collect some folders, they are of decent quality and upwards. even with these blade steel always matters to me, as i do use all and have used heavy to hard use.
 
I seldom need a knife outside of the kitchen and my wife is there to remind me of that fact every time I buy another one (of anything really). Sooo, I limit myself to the best stee in the neatest design I can afford.

The last two were M390 and 20CV. I don’t see a reason to buy “lesser” steels. No needs, just wants. It’s fun for some strange reason.
 
To be honest, I'm over the newest and best steel wars. I'm actually really happy with VG10. I of course will buy higher end steels, but if given a chance to pick my steel on every knife I bought, I'd opt for VG10.

Stays sharp, easy to keep that way.
 
M390 has a soft spot in my heart. Generally if I can sharpen it with relative ease I don't mind it.
 
I wish I had a Dozier back when I was squirrel hunting all the time. D2 or 3v...whatever, the BM I was using couldn't get through one hunt before dulling real bad.

No tree squirrels around these parts so my fancy steels aren't all that necessary. But I only have a couple of knives so I figure they should be good quality.
 
Btw, I think the BM was 440C. Good knife but those squirrels are tough little critters!
 
22-rimfire said:
The question of perceived value strongly comes into play with folders. If the basic knife is done in D2, how much more would you be willing to spend for M390 or something considered even higher end?
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D2 not high end?
 
not2sharp said:
No matter how good the steel, all blades need to be periodically sharpened and the premium steels often make the process just that much harder.
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Nope. Especially my M4 blades. "Regular" steel goes a few days or a week at the difficult cutting I use the super steel for. The M4 goes weeks; I have gone four plus weeks and the edge still would shave arm hair (it started out polished and hair whittling) the edge deterioration was glacial. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Then to bring it / them back to whittling again . . .
. . . I didn't have to kill a three legged chicken . . .
I didn't have to chant all night and face a certain direction while standing on one leg.
. . . hell . . . I don't even have to busssout my diamond stones.
As often as not I just take my Spyderco Ultra Fine Ceramic Triangle Rod and take some light passes on it hand held.
Why once, after all that use and the UF Rod the edge was literally tree topping.
just that much harder
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nope . . . doesn't hardly get easier than that.
Lets talk about some of the tasks that have thought you appreciate the better steels.
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Just that. The tasks that taxes the edges I use are trimming hard abrasive rubber and pierce cutting very tough rubber coated cloth which has more than one ply and tends to always be dusty and dirty.

The M4 even makes S110V look silly for these applications. I have three S110V knives and three M4 blades and I don't even consider using the S110V for this actual work because the M4 is so much superior at keeping a sharper edge.

And if I weren't using the M4 for those tasks just the way the steel feels when I cut with it and the ease of sharpening . . . bur ? . . . tenacious bur ? . . . what's that ?
 
D2 or better for me at this point. Past that I don't notice much of a difference. When it comes to knife tasks/abuse I'm not exactly pushing the envelope, more like opening it.
 
I have found many of the steels people are snobby toward have an issue of often not being done right making them seem worse than they really are and not showing what they are truly capable of.
 
Sharpness, sharpness, sharpness! Many of the "miracle" alloys are not only hard they have relatively coarse carbides. I grew up on simple carbon steels that could all easily be sharpened to a true razor sharp edge and also responded extremely well to stropping. For years I considered all stainless steels and many tool steels like M2 or D2 as defective. My original sharpening method was to reprofile all edges to low angles that approached straight razors. I quickly learned that low hardness and/or low carbon steel edges would roll over at these low angles. I settled for 1084 or 1095 carbon as basically good steels. It wasn't until transitioning to diamond hones and finally compromising to a few strokes of more obtuse honing angle for final edge completion that I started to master those large carbides. I finally added 50,000 to 100,000 grit diamond paste for light finish stropping when some of the super alloys started to approach my sharpness standards. Some of the lesser stainless alloys like AUS-8, AUS-10 or VG10 start to look cutlery grade to me. I have a fondness for BG42. D2 is for special use where extreme wear resistance is critical. I would rather pack 5 really sharp knives then make due with an ultra-long-lasting second grade blade. (Of course I own and experiment with sharpening probably 3 dozen alloys.
 
Knife ergonomics and heat treatment are more important to me than having the newest steel.

I am just beginning to test the waters of carbon steel so most of my stuff is stainless. Sandvik 14C28n is a favorite budget steel.
I also own 154cm, S30v, D2, AUS6 and the lowly 440a.

Nothing really fancy.
 
Alberta Ed said:
I enjoy trying out new steels and knife designs, but could live perfectly well with Buck's 420HC or 12C27, or just about any high carbon steel.
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Yeah, I'll roll with Ed on this one.

While I appreciate "the better steels" for what they are, I really can't fully appreciate their aspects in my daily usage.

If I were back working on the docks like in my younger days, I might think completely different, but not today.

I like VG-10, 1095, AUS-8 and the like just fine. I think affordability and ease of maintenance are "super" characteristics.
 
I love tool steels... CPM-M4 leads the pack for me. I want that edge to do its thing for a LONG time. Sharp for a long time is the game I play.
 
not2sharp said:
What is important to you about steel selection?
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That the steel be appropriate for the function the knife was designed to perform.

To paraphrase Will Rogers, "I never met a steel I didn't like."
They're all good for something, but none of them is best at everything. And I would further argue that no one steel is best at any one function. It's up to the designer to pair an appropriate blade steel with his design. I appreciate that part of the design process and as long as the designer has done that part of the job, and the manufacturing team has done a decent job of heat treating that alloy, I'm happy.
 
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