What kind of steel do you prefer for "hard use knives" or beaters

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Waldamir

Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
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Ive been thinking about hard and soft steels and I was weighting the advantages and disadvantages of both for hard use

Hard steels advantages (ex: CPMS30V)
-Holds edge longer
-usually tougher

Disadvantages
-Once dull it is harder to bring back to "razor" sharp
-More prone to chipping

Soft steel advantages (ex: 8CR13MOV)
-Easier to bring back to original sharpness
-Being softer it will often roll before it chips

Disadvantages
-Dulls quicker

I was wondering what you guy thought. Which do you prefer, hard or soft? Any input is welcomed and appreciated :)
 
There's a difference for me between "hard use" and "beater" knives. For hard use, I've really come to like D2 in the past couple of days. For beaters, I like soft like 8Cr because it's really fun for me to sharpen it up every time.
 
I think a lot of it depends on how good you are at sharpening and whether you enjoy doing it. I'm not a fan of 8CR13MOV or VG-10 and while S30V isn't perfect, it's a better compromise for me. With some steels, you can strop them quickly and save time. Under hard use, I haven't found that to be the case with the two metals I mentioned not being a fan of, but with S30V it's a possibility most times.
 
Personally, I'm into harder steels for hard users- stuff like higher carbon steels over 1055, for example- and I like a nice mix for a beater. I don't mind sharpening VG-10, for example, and it keeps an edge long enough to get through boxcutting or whatever I'm doing to it.
 
I like 154cm. It's easy to sharpen it up to razor, but soft enough that it doesn't chip and can be stropped on cardboard real quick in a pinch
 
Waldamir said:
Ive always seen hard use and beaters kinda in the same boat. Whats the difference?
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This is just my personal opinion, but to me a beater is something that I don't feel bad truly abusing and experimenting with. Hard use is only for hard cutting tasks or long term cutting without resharpening.
 
My Cold Steel Voyager in AUS-8, is IMO sporting a decent blade steel for harder usage. I think AUS-8 is perfectly fine for a folder that's going to be abused. Buck's 420HC is good too.
 
cpm 3v for hard use
my go to steel is s35vn though
and my favorite is m390

depends what you want to use your knife for really
 
I like CPM154 or plain 154CM for knives that may see a few knocks on concrete or steel. Also ELMAX. And M4. And 3V. And M2. And CTS 204P. And uh, too many too list.
 
I've come to like Emerson's 154CM even though the HRC isn't run quite as hard as what I see Benchmade etc running their's at. However, I think this is a plus when it comes time to resharpen. On a related note, I started off being a Spyderco fan and tried a few Benchmades etc as well, but there's just something about the way an Emerson feels in my hand that I love.
 
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Not sure it makes all that much difference. 1095 (Mora), 1075, 1080, 5160, 52100, Carbon V (a.k.a. 50100-B and 0170-6), 420HC (Buck), various premium/super steels (ATS34/154CM/CPM154/S30V/S35Vn etc.) available today are all great. Geometry and heat treat are just as important as the chemistry.
 
D2, s30v for hard use. Aus8 for a beater. 154cm for a hard use knife that receives the occasional beating
 
O1 steel works great for me in wood carving, wood shaving, wood processing etc... 1095 has always been a good go to steel for chopping, hacking + clearing brush, and screwing around out in the bush. Both are easy to touch up IMO.
 
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I will be the elephant in the room and say that S30V is terrible for hard use. Having reprofiled a few blades of it and grinded out chips, I can't see how this s*** still gets used at all. When I am using a belt sander and a low grit belt, it should NEVER take more than a few minutes to regrind an edge, unless it was in terrible shape. When there is one or two tiny chips, and it takes an hour, something is wrong.

So yeah, screw that steel. I love me some good ol' 154cm or D2 for anything below 4", above go with something like 1095 or L6. When I am using it, I don't mind it ending up with a dull edge if it means resharpening will only take a few minutes.
 
Waldamir said:
Ive been thinking about hard and soft steels and I was weighting the advantages and disadvantages of both for hard use

Hard steels advantages (ex: CPMS30V)
-Holds edge longer
-usually tougher

Disadvantages
-Once dull it is harder to bring back to "razor" sharp
-More prone to chipping

Soft steel advantages (ex: 8CR13MOV)
-Easier to bring back to original sharpness
-Being softer it will often roll before it chips

Disadvantages
-Dulls quicker

I was wondering what you guy thought. Which do you prefer, hard or soft? Any input is welcomed and appreciated :)
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I just want to clarify. What do you mean by HARD steel?

Are you talking about hardness?

In that case take this into consideration:

AEB-L or 13C26 are steels for razor blades. It is not aggressively promoted or stated to be a "super steel". It can be hardened to HRC of 62 (even steels such as 12C27 or 14C28N), has a fine carbide structure for toughness, can be easily sharpened and has good corrosion properties, it is also cheaper then modern "super steels". It is IMO one of the only steels similar to 52100 but stain resistant. The only disadvantage is that it not as wear resistant (confused with edge retention IMO) as 154CM, CPM-S30V, CPM-S90V, M390 etc at a similar hardness. At this hardness it will also roll before chipping if heat treated correctly.

You might find this interesting:

Sandvik knife steel knowledge

and this video:

[video=youtube;6B4QH7DJvVE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6B4QH7DJvVE[/video]
 
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52100, 1084, CPM 3v, Elmax, H13.
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Jay, I've only seen one H13 blade in my life and it was a garage built knife made in the 50's or 60's. I like it for knife use in that one knife. Kind of like M2 in a way. How is it for you, and was it an oldish saw or tooling piece of steel re purposed?

I like 3V, Cruwear, Z wear, as well as steels like O-1, W2, etc. The YSS steels are all good with Super Blue being a favorite. It's not tough, but it takes excellent edges and has surprisingly good wear resistance.

Stainless steels:

CPM 154
S30V/S35V
S90V
S110V
M390/20CV/CTS 204p
BG42/CTS 75P

12C, 13C, 14C, VG10, VG1, and a few others are good basic working steels that are good at what they are good at. :)
 
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