What stainless steel do you prefer..

[Thomas Carey]

What stainless steel do you prefer for small bladed neck knife and why that steel? On the flip side does it really matter which one you go with for a knife like that?

 

[Hickory n steel]

I don't go stainless, because I just prefer carbon.

This is what I always wear.

 

[Bill1170]

The answer depends on what you intend to use it for. Many good alloys exist.

 

[Thomas Carey]

The answer depends on what you intend to use it for. Many good alloys exist.

Could be used on cardboard, zip ties, paper, and not sure what else.

 

[Bill1170]

I use M390 in my work folder (remodeling) and find it to be a good all around performer. Edge retention, abrasion resistance, ability to be sharpened to a fine edge, stain resistance. Never a rusty spot in 3 years of daily use.

 

[Sonnydaze]

If you carry it for last-ditch defense, just about any steel will work just fine.

 

[ichor]

If you carry it for last-ditch defense, just about any steel will work just fine.

Precisely! How well it takes/holds an edge, is pretty irrevelant if you only use it once. LOL

 

[bdmicarta]

These days I expect 154CM or S30V from any stainless steel knife that I intend to carry and use a reasonable amount, but I prefer steels from M390 through S110V.

 

[Wowbagger]

What stainless steel do you prefer..

The one that tarnishes.
For MOST people I don't understand the obsession with stainless steel.

It just turns out pretty much EVERYTHING has stainless. Why ? Because the public seems to demand it. No one knows why.

OK I feel better now. Thanks for listening.

As far as the several SS I have I would say CTS-XHP because it sharpens nice (gets rid of the bur pretty fast). Plenty hard enough if you get it from a reputable company ; one is Cold Steel.

Doesn't chip. Looks GREAT bead blasted. Take an up close look at the Cold Steel Ti Lite for one example.

Pretty much anything is good as long as you avoid the budget knifes.

 

[ATJ999]

I bought one on the forum made of CPM 10V, love it! Stainless steel, there are so many great stainless steels to choose from! With a good HT, S30v, s90v, XHP, AEB L, M390, zdp 189, stainless damascus, any nitrogen steel would be awesome. Like an H1 neck knife maybe, haven't tried that steel, but the corrosion resistance would interest me.
On the other hand maybe 3v, add some toughness so you can use the handle for stuff. I like my 10v though, holds an edge, easy to sharpen, and is tough, not corrosion resistant though.
There are some non-steel metals that would work good too.

 

[DeadboxHero]

M390/CTS 204p/cpm20cv would be perfect!

 

[Horsewright]

AEB-L pushed to 62-63 RC.

 

[DeadboxHero]

AEB-L pushed to 62-63 RC.

Is that possible?

 

[jpm2]

Is that possible?

AEB-L chopper @ 64+HRC. ?

 

[DeadboxHero]

AEB-L chopper @ 64+HRC. ?

That's rad

thanks for sharing

that would definitely be an awesome performer.

 

[joeldworkin307]

ATS-34 for stainless, 1095 for everyday, CPM-3V for the middle ground.

 

[ThePeacent]

Neck knife? After owning +20 of them, now I look for:

- Soft, tough steel (use it as a prybar and scraper often)

- Stainless, as much as possible (sweat, especially in summer, and water in outdoor activities)

- Easy to sharpen (like on a rock, or rudimentary ways, because it is an emergency/backup blade)

- Not expensive (I've lost and broken more than one neck knife)

Which steels fit the bill nicely?

8Cr13MoV, good mix of ease of sharpening, rust resistance and flexibility/toughness

14C28N or Krupp 4116, great stain resistance, gets scary sharp real quick, can be bent quite a bit

H1, totally rust proof and can be sharpened by almost any mean you can think of, is very "springy" too

 

[Horsewright]

Deadbox, yes sir. I make a lot of knives out of AEB-L and all pushed to that hardness. I make two different specialized leatherworking knives, a skivver and a roundknife. Both of these are at 63RC. This is the skivver used for feathering and bevelling leather down for certain applications. This skivver knife was designed by Paul Long, Sheathmaker here on BF and used daily in his shop, (his personal one doesn't have a bolster, this is skivver 2.0 after we modified the design a little):

Even at this hardness it has great flexability which is necessary in its use:

This is one of my own personal roundknives. Its job is to cut leather day in and day out. AEB-L's ability to take an edge and to hold it at this hardness is crazy. Yet it remains very easy to resharpen. I strop my roundknives often but seldom have to resharpen them. I need them to cut through the leather in one pass.

This is one of my Stainless Gordos which fits this post about neckers. These knives are done at 62 RC and are 5.25 inches overall, buffalo bone handle on this one.

All heat treating done by Peters.

 

[Bmurray]

CPM s35vn

 

[Frotier76]

I'm going to say ATS-34 or BG-42 because they are industrial grade steels.I always felt the knife industry was nailing the ideal of premium blade steel accurately with these two stainless steels.I'm going to get a little stingy here and say D2.I really like carbon steel a lot and enjoyed it on my Rob Simonich/REKAT Mini Pikuni Neck Knife.