What steel holds the best edge?

O

Otis249

Joined
Dec 11, 2007
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Ok the more I research the more confused I get. In your opinion what steel (commonly avaliable in a folding knife) holds the best edge for general cutting chores?
 
Stainless I would go with s30v, cm154, vg10 with any good heat treatment would be great at edge holding

d2 or a2 are mine choice for none stainless steel
 
holds the edge the longest? takes the sharpest edge? is the easiest to keep sharp?

not a simple question.

s30v, ats34, 154cm, and d2 are all good steels that will take a very fine edge given proper heat treatment.
 
The mid grade stainless like VG 10 and 440C and even Aus8 seem to take the sharpest edges. The new super stainless's and some high end tool steel like CPM M4 hold an amazing edge nowadays although I feel that is not as important as it has been made out.
 
Otis249 said:
What steel holds the best edge?
Ok the more I research the more confused I get. In your opinion what steel (commonly avaliable in a folding knife) holds the best edge for general cutting chores?
Click to expand...

Howdy and welcome to Bladeforums!
I think you asked two different questions, one in the title and one in the post.

The reason you are confused is that you are looking for a single answer. There is no single answer to this question.

Champ for ultimate edge holding among commonly available steels may arguably be ZDP-189, but that may not be the best for "general cutting chores". For my "general cutting chores", I need a combination of edge retension, toughness, and corrosion resistance. YMMV (Ease of sharpening is not a issue to me, it may be to you. )

There is no one best steel. Every steel is a combination of properties. Additionally, the heat treat is as important as the steel. So two makers can get different results out of the same steel.

For me, "general cutting chores" means cardboard, heavy plastic, trimming the occasional bush in the garden. This requires more than just slicing ability as many of these chores lead to consideral lateral force being applied to the blade. This leads to the combination of properties I mentioned above.

The commonly available folder steels that I find good for "general cutting chores" are
440A
420HC
AUS8
440C
AUS10
VG10
ATS-34 / 154CM

These are listed in vaguely increasing order of personal satisfaction with their performance, but I have knives in all of these steels that perform general cutting chores well for me. All of these assume a good heat treat. With 440A and 420HC it is especially important that you are aware of the maker's reputation, because there are so many blades that are poorly heat treated in these steels, so the steels get a bad rep when it should be the maker that is blamed.
 
I would add S30V, D2, A2, 1095, and 12C27 to Knarfeng's list and call it good. Unless you have knives in them all and test them extensively, side-by-side, you won;t ever know the difference (probably).

Respectfully, I say: I don;t know where you are in terms of knife owning, but if you're looking for a knife, find one you like that's the best quality you can afford, and don;t worry too much about the steel.
 
A good rule of thumb that I have learned by experience. Holds an edge well, hard to sharpen. Easy to sharpen, doesn't hold an edge very well.


That said I like edge holding, and don't mind hard to sharpen. My steel preferences are D-2, and S30V. I haven't used ZDP 189 yet, but it has a great reputation.

Ben
 
heat treat has a lot to do with how a knife steel performs, and that changes based on the company. Pick a knife with a design you like from a good company, with a decent steel (pretty much anything from the list above), and you should be OK.
 
I've used and sharpened AUS6, AUS8, 440C, 154CM, ATS34, 5160, A2, INFI and D2. Of these D2 keeps a sharper edge longer in my experience.
 
ZDP 189 , and S90V for common stainless steels. They are about equal. There are many carbon and non stainless alloys that I haven't tried but of the ones I've tried I'll say Vascowear, OU 31, M2, Super Blue, 3V, W1&2, etc.

There are a lot of steels I haven't tried yet too. Of the commonly available stainless steels once you get up past Aus8 or better you have pretty good steel. Wether 154cm is better than VG10 ( It's not :cool:) isn't that big of a deal. The top tier of stainless steels are all pretty good so get the knife you like. To me , it's
154cm/ATS34
VG10
S30V
BG42
20CV
SG 1&2 ( aka spgs)
ZDP 189
S90V ( more wear resistance than zdp, but less edge stability with ZDP's ability to reach higher RC's without getting brittle)
S125V aka unobtanium. Never tried it. It's the only one so far I don't have of all these most common steels. Joe
 
Otis249 said:
In your opinion what steel (commonly avaliable in a folding knife) holds the best edge for general cutting chores?
Click to expand...

Here's how i see the thing:

Tougher the stuff to cut (like wood), stronger the steel has to be like zdp189.
Stronger the stuff (like the impurities embedded in cardboard), tougher the steel like carbon steels.
Abrasive the stuff (like carpet), wear resistant the steel like s30v.
Oxidizing the stuff (like food) or the environment (sea water), stain resistant the steel like H1.

As you see it's impossible to define the best steel for edge holding in the case of "general cutting chores" as far as those tasks can be very different and need very different steels. It's all about compromise or deliberated choice. When you have to cut cardboard or a carpet it's generally at home or at your job where you can choose the proper tool, if you hike in the woods or live at the sea side it's something else. Ease of sharpening is an other criterion for the choice even if, with the proper stone and a bit of practice, there is no "impossible to sharpen steel". Hope it helps but you will have, anyway, to experiment and find your way.

dantzk.
 
If you want a very high sharpness for a long time, the simpler steels like 1095, 12C27, O1, and some others at very high hardness, Rockwell C 61 and over, will be the best choices. I'll group M2 and M4 high speed steels in this group, even though they are far from simple. These steels will take a shaving edge and hold it, mostly due to the high hardness, for a while. Steels like D2, S30V, ATS-34, 154 CM and the like will hold a working edge for a very long time, but will loose the hair popping shaving ability sooner. The earlier group of steels benefit from lower edge angles than the latter, sometimes as little as 5 or 6 degrees per side, depending upon use. The latter group benefits from a coarse edge finish, such as off a course stone, and relatively high edge angles, roughly 20 degrees per side, some at 15 or slightly lower. It really depends on the environment and your definition of "general cutting." I've occasionally had to cut metal at work, and none of these steels do that well.
 
What about the Super Gold Powder Steel Fallkniven use on their U2, TK series etc.
 
For me, it is Carbon steel or Case Chrome Vanadium.

Understand I do not own a locking knife, or any of the hi-tech steels.

I grew up and apprenticed in a industry where hand tools were used and had to be sharp, and stay sharp. New "steels" would come down the pike and these never took an edge or kept one as the old proven steels (tool, 01, carbon, CV...) did.
It was not conducive to "slip" and make a mistake with a tool that was not sharp, lost its edge, or chipped out.

I understand they have indoor plumbing now...*grin*
 
What about the Super Gold Powder Steel Fallkniven use on their U2, TK series etc.
Click to expand...

SG1 & 2 are premium powder steels from the Japenese company Takefu http://www.e-tokko.com/eng_original_list.htm . Which one, SG1, or SG2 is something you have to ask Falkniven.

SG2 is used by Kershaw in a Blur version, and a new JYD 2, Ti framelock sprint run and is a very, very nice knife. Mine came extra sharp. Tim, the designer and moderator posted the makeup of SG2 in a thread in that sub forum. It's worth a read so I won't just copy the numbers here. Read the thread about the SG2 if you're interested. Falkniven has the numbers posted on their website so you might try there to. They don't say wether it's SG1 or 2. Good luck, Joe
 
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