What kind of steel do they use on the blade of multitools?

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sharpmaker

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What kind of steel do they use on the blade of multitools?

Which multitool units are considerd top of the line, comprehensive and solid?

There is an extra pocket in my (survival bage) that would make a great home for one of them.
 
The new Leatherman Charge Ti models use 154-CM for the knife blades. Other than that most of them use some unknown steel for everything, most likely a 420 or 440 series steel.

Leatherman and Gerber make some very nice quality tools that can stand use. I think it depends a lot on what kind of tools you actually want included.
 
I go back and forth between my SOG Powerlock(I think that's the model) which has good pliers (and some subpar tools like the crap scissors) and my leatherman wave which is a little lighter and all the tools are good. I've got a couple more different multis but those are the two I use. (Well, sometimes I use the full size Leatherman too.) A lot of people seem to like the Swiss Army ones too. I have a pair but like I said, I use the other two instead. YMMV.

Not sure on any of the steel used.

oily
 
It's almost all 420 (and variations thereof) and some implements may be 440, but don't bet on anything better than 440A. (Except in the case of the LM Charge blade).

Heat treat is also different and sometimes it is different for the implement, i.e. the knife blade (for edge retention) is usually made harder than the screwdrivers (you would rather have a driver bend/flex instead of snapping off while you have pressure on it). Vic does a nice job heat treating their SAK blades and they are thin and flat ground, so even though they are a 420 variant, they perform quite well.

Multitools need to be rust-resistant as much as possible, so the steels used tend to be on the softer side (compared to what we usually see in our high-end blades). Most people don't maintain them from rust and they tend to get used for prying, so a softer steel is a better fit for a multi. Of course these steels are cheaper too, which is a good thing... Imagine how expensive a tool made with all implements out of S30V would be?
 
klattman said:
Of course these steels are cheaper too, which is a good thing... Imagine how expensive a tool made with all implements out of S30V would be?
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I don't really see any reason for making the entire tool out of a cutlery steel. The only advantage a cutlery steel has is the hardenability, good for a knife blade, but bad for a screwdriver. I am sure that even the best quality screwdrivers made don't use a steel that would be considered in making a quality knife. As you already mentioned it is better for those kind of tools to bend rather than break, so a softer steel is actually better.
 
ErikD said:
I don't really see any reason for making the entire tool out of a cutlery steel. The only advantage a cutlery steel has is the hardenability, good for a knife blade, but bad for a screwdriver. I am sure that even the best quality screwdrivers made don't use a steel that would be considered in making a quality knife. As you already mentioned it is better for those kind of tools to bend rather than break, so a softer steel is actually better.
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Yep, an interesting fact is that the Charge and the Swiss Spirit PLUS (and some others) have a different approach to the screwdriver problem.

They come with "bits" for screwdrivers that either fit into the tool (charge) or the supplied ratchet (Spirit Plus). These bits are a much darker tool steel (most likely non-stainless), similar to the (harder) bits you would use in a standard ratchet set or drill/driver set. Generally these are hollow ground and _can_ develop light rust. Of course, if one rusts, they are easily replaced, and since they are ground better, are much better choices for drivers.

These bits are short and will not allow you to pry easily with them, to which on-board flathead drivers (which are usually longer) are better suited.
 
ErikD said:
I don't really see any reason for making the entire tool out of a cutlery steel. The only advantage a cutlery steel has is the hardenability, good for a knife blade, but bad for a screwdriver. I am sure that even the best quality screwdrivers made don't use a steel that would be considered in making a quality knife. As you already mentioned it is better for those kind of tools to bend rather than break, so a softer steel is actually better.
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You woulde think, however Peter Atwood makes his popular prybaby keychain tool out of S30V, no cutting edge it is a keychain prybar with bottle opener. I asked why S30V not aus6, 420 etc, he said s30v is much tougher. I dont see how S30v is tougher then any of these cheaper staineless, better edge holding yes but toughness no. For prybar, screw driver, bottel opener especially I don't see how this is possible but go figure.
Martin
 
martin j said:
he said s30v is much tougher. I dont see how S30v is tougher then any of these cheaper staineless, better edge holding yes but toughness no. For prybar, screw driver, bottel opener especially I don't see how this is possible but go figure.
Martin
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Any steel can be made (heat treated to) any hardness (within reason). In _general_ the harder you heat treat a particular steel, the better it's edge holding and the softer you heat treat it, the tougher it is. S30V can be made much harder (better edge holding), but have the same toughness as a less-expensive steel. Or to put it another way, S30V is tougher at the same hardness level.

This means you can make a prybaby harder with S30V than you can with 420 at the same toughness. Or you can make it tougher at the same hardness - or somewhere in between.

Making a multi-tool out of such an expensive steel is a problem; the extra hardness or toughness you might get is probably not worth the price increase. On a knife blade this performance is noticeable because of the edge... on a screwdriver it probably wouldn't be obvious...
 
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