What is the strongest (most ductile/edge retenetive) steel?

J

JZknives

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Ok Im sure this question is asked everyday in some form but I need to know which steel would be the "top of the line" as far as ductility (ability to bend without cracking or shattering due to impact) and toughness (ability for the egde to remain stable and not roll over or chip even with heavy impact related use.)
 
5160 is crrrraaaazzzyyyy strong.
There's a video on YouTube testing a sword.
I think the company is Zombie Tools that does the destroying of the sword.
It handled a lot.
 
Edge stability and ductility don't go together.
 
Ok Im sure this question is asked everyday in some form but I need to know which steel would be the "top of the line" as far as ductility (ability to bend without cracking or shattering due to impact)

That is not ductility.

and toughness (ability for the egde to remain stable and not roll over or chip even with heavy impact related use.)

And that is not toughness.

Merry Christmas :D
 
Ductility is the ability to be deformed under tensile stress, and needless to say such a feature is fairly worthless in a knife blade. Gold is, I understand, extremely ductile. Malleability, which is a measure of deformation under compressive stress, is also an unwanted feature in a knife. Gold is quite malleable too.

Toughness is a measure of a material's ability to be deformed without fracturing. In knife steels that's usually conferred in the tempering process after hardening. I'm told that good old 1095 carbon steel with a good heat treatment is a very tough steel, while also keeping a good edge. It makes a good chopper.

Hardness is a measure of a material's resistance to permanent deformation under stress. If a metal is too hard it will chip when impacted, if not hard enough it will deform and in a knife lose its edge.

Knife makers generally have to balance hardness and toughness when making knives, in my opinion moreso with larger knives. If I understand the appeal of super-steels correctly, the alloys allow for greater hardness while still retaining toughness whereas lower grade alloys give you one or the other.

What steel provides the best balance of hardness and toughness? I don't know, and it's likely nobody does. The most you might be able to say is that a certain alloy is better than another for a particular application and even then two identical pieces of steel with different heat treatments will give different results.
 
If you're making a knife for rough use with edge holding you want high toughness at a high attainable hardness. Of course everything is a trade off, and when I say edge holding I'm not talking cutting abrasive materials / slicing. But then again chopping knives dull differently than slicing knives.

Anyway, as far as steels with high toughness that can reach high 50 RC or better you're looking at L6, 5160, S7, 1055, 1065, 1075, Calmax from what I understand. 4140 is very tough, but can't reach as high a hardness (I think mid 50s). Same with H13.

Stuff like 3V, 52100 are also nice choices if you want more abrasive wear resistance, but because of their carbide load will not have the same edge stability as the above steels. Whether that makes a difference for what you use a knife for is debatable.

INFI is a great steel, and basically the same thing (if the chemical analysis of INFI is correct) would be BU Viking/Chipper Steel, but it is not really available in the states in knife useable stock.
 
normally lower carbon content ,more tougher.

1050 1075 are tougher than 1095;

1055 1075 5160 S5 S7 4140 those are tough steel.

if you wanna chose tough steels , do not go stainless with high alloy ratio.

3V is a tough one , but not as tough as 5160 、 s5、S7 .
 
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Freman Bloodglaive said:
Ductility is the ability to be deformed under tensile stress, and needless to say such a feature is fairly worthless in a knife blade. Gold is, I understand, extremely ductile. Malleability, which is a measure of deformation under compressive stress, is also an unwanted feature in a knife. Gold is quite malleable too.
Click to expand...

I would like to state contrary :D
Ductility is extremely useful, AS LONG as hardness is high.
Ductile deformation or brittle breakage happens when you strain the blade beyond elastic deformation.
Look at ABS test blades, the
benta.jpg


Toughness is a measure of a material's ability to be deformed without fracturing. In knife steels that's usually conferred in the tempering process after hardening. I'm told that good old 1095 carbon steel with a good heat treatment is a very tough steel, while also keeping a good edge. It makes a good chopper.
Click to expand...
Toughness is an ability to absorb impact/kinematic energy.

Hardness is a measure of a material's resistance to permanent deformation under stress. If a metal is too hard it will chip when impacted, if not hard enough it will deform and in a knife lose its edge.

Knife makers generally have to balance hardness and toughness when making knives, in my opinion moreso with larger knives. If I understand the appeal of super-steels correctly, the alloys allow for greater hardness while still retaining toughness whereas lower grade alloys give you one or the other.
Click to expand...

Hardness and toughness are not an exclusive properties.

What steel provides the best balance of hardness and toughness? I don't know, and it's likely nobody does. The most you might be able to say is that a certain alloy is better than another for a particular application and even then two identical pieces of steel with different heat treatments will give different results.
Click to expand...

And about supersteels and high speed steels - in most cases they are not designed to work as handheld knives, but as an industrial, fixed cutting/grinding tools. The requirements are completely different.
 
There's no such thing as "the best steel"... All steels have benefits and weaknesses that make them unique.

My personal favorite steels would probably be good old fashioned S30v, and maybe Spydercos CPM steel and ZT's ELMAX.

Personally I like a strong steel but something soft enough that I can touch up quickly on a stone. A super hard steel that takes ages to sharp is kind of annoying for me personally... But a steel that is TOO soft is pretty lame too.

It's a balance. You gotta give and take when it comes to steel performance.
 
If for a camping knife I like 1075, 1050 easy to put a sharp edge on, I like VG10 but for me its harder to get a really sharp edge back on.

In all I see knifes like Women.
Never found one that I couldn't make use of in some way.:-)
 
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