What Is the Best Use for 440c?

Looks like a good knife is coming along. A popular design for a kitchen knife is called a Gyuto, you will need 3/32 x 2 x 16 about and you will enjoy the clearance over a cutting board - I just mention this since you are almost ready for your next knife. Good luck.
 
REDSQUID... don't be fooled. assuming you have actual "quality 440c" it will take a very good polish indeed. that's one of the reasons so many art knife makers use it, it's ability to take an excellent mirror finish. As for overall use, IMHO 440c is a very versatile steel... i actually found this website and became a member looking to improve on 440c for my combat/utility knives, and a lot of people took a lot of time to come up with something "better" all round than good ole 440c. it's tough (doesn't chip much, like a lot of "super" steels") very rust resistant, which is a good qulity to have if you're looking for stainless, and it holds a pretty fine edge if it's done right. i've used it for well over 15 years and i am still a huge fan.
 
David Metzger said:
Looks like a good knife is coming along. A popular design for a kitchen knife is called a Gyuto, you will need 3/32 x 2 x 16 about and you will enjoy the clearance over a cutting board - I just mention this since you are almost ready for your next knife. Good luck.
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Ha ha ha. I don't think I am ready to do something that size. If you can, more power to ya.

For my next project I plan to make some minimalist necker/backpackers, in 154CM.
 
440 C will take an excellent polish, and it makes an excellent knife.
 
Bill, I hate to quibble... but while the good clean 440C of yesteryear will indeed take an excellent polish, the stock I've seen lately simply won't. It resembles a dirtier, uglier version of D2. It seems to depend on the mill that made it. I'm not the only one who's noticed this, by far.

440C, especially what's being passed off as 440C these days, is old news. There are several other, cleaner alloys available today that build on the basic chemistry of 440C and make it better, with slight but important changes in alloying, and expensive but clearly superior manufacturing techniques. (CPM-154 and ElMax spring immediately to mind, and I wouldn't trade one pound of either for four pounds of the "440C" on the market today.)
 
This little 4 inch Boker is 440c.I've had it for about 10 years now and it's easy to get screaming sharp and holds a decent edge.It's been a good all around steel for me as a user.
 
I haven't used any 440C in many years. Perhaps the new stuff is worse.
 
I'm lucky enough to be one of the worlds slowest hobby knifemakers, which means i still have access to the 440c i bought 12 years ago. lol... I still have a soft spot for 440c and to date, i have never had a bad experience with it.
 
As a user, I found 440c to be soft, as in it wouldn't hold an edge long though is really easy to resharpen or over sharpen O_o (this was in the 80s). I found it was used in many cheap knives and have since avoided it in buying knives, just because :P

Early 90s I found Benchmade and ATS34 and the world of "super steels" and since then have been buying knives in any steel that I can find, just to see if I can tell the difference and to have a collection that spans most steels.

However, SO far I really like A2 for its edge holding and ease of sharpening. (Not saying A2 is a super steel.) Most of the high carbon steels seem to be what I prefer now days.

I believe most steels do the trick. What are we really after here? A steel the works in real world applications or steels that we can brag about being THE BEST academically? At a point we are talking about a better steel that nobody can really notice.. Sure after 1000 cuts steel A might still be a hair sharper, WOW! :D who cares :)
 
440 C was not used in cheap knives. Because it SAYS 440 C does not make it so. Real 440 C is too expensive to be used in cheap knives, and requires a heat treat that is not compatible with "cheap." Most cheap knives use 420 or a lesser grade of stainless-regardless of how it may be marked. Not many "Bubbas" who bought a $10 knife are going to have the metal analyzed, so "440C" made in the USA (China) becomes known as a junk steel. It's really a shame!
 
Bill DeShivs said:
It's really a shame!
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That's true. I will say that even the less-than-perfect 440C I described earlier does take and keep a nice thin keen edge (I had it HT'ed and cryoed to 58-59Rc by Peters'). I don't find it at all difficult to sharpen. It's just not very good-looking.
sloth357 said:
I believe most steels do the trick. What are we really after here? A steel the works in real world applications or steels that we can brag about being THE BEST academically?
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Why not both? ;)
 
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