What was considered great knife steel years ago that is now considered cheap or not good?

D2 gets a bad name from all the Chinese companies pumping out sub-par knives. It has sort of become the joke of the knife community. I wouldn’t doubt that if it were made by Spyderco, Buck or ZT it would be close in edge retention with steels like Elmax or S35VN. In fact Larrins testing shows it can. D2 could very well be the 55 Chevy of the steel world. Sure there’s better available nowadays but honestly it would probably work well 99% of the time for 99% of the population.
 
ATS-34 and RWL nowadays only seem to be used by a handful of custom knife makers.
I do have RWL on a few of my custom knives and I still like it a lot.

Perhaps it also matters what age you are to what steels you (still) like these days.
I grew up with 440C being the best there was, and I still do like it and use it.
I'm not a steel nerd, I don't need nor want the latest or newest, I just don't care enough.
S30/35Vn is my favorite since I'm used to them, I can't imagine that changing anytime soon.
I have M390 on one of my custom folders and that's high tech enough for me.

Cutting the average daily stuff doesn't require any new super steel, never did anyway.
Just my 2 cents.
 
When I got into knives which was back in 2007 , 154CM was the main steel used in knives that I was looking at. Then in 2009 , I got my first dealer exclusive in S30V and once I learned how to sharpen it , it was awesome. I still love S30V. Actually , I still like 154CM , it just requires sharpening more often.
 
I think the original question isn't well crafted unless you're talking about things from a century or more ago.
As incremental improvements are made, naturally the others slide back.
Over time that trend continues but it's not often that anything that's been done for a long time goes from great to crap overnight.
 
Fashionable steels are mainly the fancy alloy tool steels and stainless steels. You don't see much fashion change in carbon steel, I think.

When I first started getting into knives, 154CM or VG-10 was more or less the standard for decent production knives, with S30V being the next step up. I stopped being super into knives for a few years, and I came back and Elmax was having a brief moment in the sun as the top-end folder stainless, and it's more or less been supplanted now by M390 and its analogues as the new high-end, but MagnaCut has really been a sea change with a lot of buzz indicating we're going to start seeing that in a lot of knives.

It is also interesting that powder metallurgy has given a new life to 154CM in powder form as CPM154 with a lot of carbide size and distribution refining. CPM154 has snuck in as a popular choice with custom makers for stainless. I think it polishes up nicely and is a good balance steel for performance and price, and the ease of polishing makes it popular for mirror finishes, especially seemingly on Loveless tribute knives for some reason.

Also interesting is the resurgence of AEB-L and its analogues and derivatives (i.e. Sandvick 12C27 and Nitro-V). AEB-L of course is a very old stainless, but we're in a new world where it is suddenly a top choice especially for custom stainless fixed blades where its high toughness and stain resistance makes it popular for people who wanted some stain resistance but didn't want to compromise as much on toughness as one is forced to with most of the high-alloy stainless.

Certainly an exciting time to be collecting!
 
Yeah, we lived in Greece for three years and had a car. Finally taught my wife to drive a standard, clutch-and-stick car there. Wish I'd put up the money to ship my Chevy pick-up over. My Greek neighbor and I could have made a fortune just hauling stuff around on my time off.

So there are other high alloy steels suitable for knife making. We have established that a pretty good knife can be made from a wide variety of steels in this thread. My shop made spring steel skinners will take a keen edge and do the job, but will rust while you look at 'em. If I were field dressing game every day as part of a guide operation, I'd probably use something else made from something else.

Most street worthy cars can drive 1/4 mile. Some are faster than others. Any car capable of driving from say, Houston to El Paso on Interstate 10 can probably do a few laps at Le Mans, but . . . .I don't think any F-1 car could do the Texas trip without a lot of support. This is not good or bad. Car or knife; they are what they are. A Tesla-3 is like riding inside an iPhone and is the direction the auto industry is moving. But will folks be rebuilding them as classic old cars in 2050 or 2070? In 2050 there will still be a model-T or two running but no one will be building new ones.

The same thing goes for cameras and firearms. . . .and other areas of endeavor.

It is interesting to note that talking over the merits of different knife steels in this thread is a little like talking about the merits of different motor oils at Matt's transmission shop.
 
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CWL said:
Surgical stainless steel!
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Ah yes, those wonderful infomercials on Surgical Steel (420j2) from back in the day...

Dura Shears:

Ginsu Knives:

A lot of the products in 1095 that transitioned to Japan's 420j2 in the 1970's wasn't only for the rust resistance. It was about a durable steel that didn't chip or wear down it's edge to a 'U' shape. I could just envision what the serration damage would look like if Ginsu/Quikut knives were made from S30V or VG-10.
 
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Frotier76 said:
Dura Shears
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I actually used a pair of the same shears, made in Germany, from 1997 till 2007 in my work for the local hospital.
‘Now they are in my truck and still seeing use. Those are unbelievably durable and strong shears, I have no idea what kind of steel they are using for it…

dsHBTd.jpg


Here is a short video 0f what they are capable of.
 
I agree with the sentiment that 154CM and VG-10 have gone from sought after steel to a consolation prize for a lot of people. I still buy knives made from both steels and I've noticed some companies bringing back 154CM (Kizer Sheepdog line and Leatherman Skeletool). Now I'm seeing S30VN and D2 steel treated the same way. It's a bit strange to see people getting bored with yet another S35VN steel blade and titanium frame folder, but it happens.
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
I actually used a pair of the same shears, made in Germany, from 1997 till 2007 in my work for the local hospital.
‘Now they are in my truck and still seeing use. Those are unbelievably durable and strong shears, I have no idea what kind of steel they are using for it…



Here is a short video 0f what they are capable of.
Click to expand...

I actually have a pair of these bandage scissors in my tool bag. As POCEH noted, they are very durable. My stongest scissors that I have for cutting really tough things. I found them somewhere on line years ago and got several pairs. Cheap. Great all purpose cutters.
 
AntDog said:
Has BG-42 been mentioned yet? It was all over the place as the new hotness years ago and now I hardly ever see it used anymore.
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BG-42 doesn't qualify because it actually was that good, the highest quality non-powdered steel that will ever exist.
 
Joshua J. said:
BG-42 doesn't qualify because it actually was that good, the highest quality non-powdered steel that will ever exist.
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Where is it now? You’d think that if it was the highest quality non-powdered steel that will ever exist you’d be seeing it on a few knives.
 
D2 steel used to be considered an upgrade to 154 cm/ ats 34, which was the premium commonly used stainless steel used in folders at the time. I actually paid a premium to get a Griptilian in D2.
 
Knife_Nazi said:
What was considered great knife steel years ago that is now considered cheap or not good?
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I remember my old man and his friends all carried Buck knives…loved em but they DID NOT like sharpening them with the stones they had available (late 70s).
With more advanced kits becoming available, a bit of advice and some practice, average Joes can sharpen exotic alloys.

I apologize if I got a bit off track, I guess the point I was attempting to make is that no matter how advanced blade steels become, they’re going to be worthless if normal folks can’t buy the gear to keep them sharp. I like diamonds and ceramics, my old stones have become display pieces. 😂
 
440C. Buck came out with it a a high HRC and everyone complained that it was too hard to sharpen on the old Norton India, Crystolon etc. Kinda put a damper on more exotic, harder steels for a while.

ATS34 and 154-CM replaced 440C for a lot of custom makers and high end production wanting stainless.

Seki knifemakers started using AUS8 instead of 440C.

Randall and other makers popularized the first high speed steels using O1. Then Dozier started using D2 and brought more interest in the other tool steels like A2, M4 etc.

More exotic steels seemed to find there way into knives after that. I think when ceramic, synthetic and diamond abrasives became more affordable and available it spurred it on since makers and end users could work with them at the higher hardness.
 
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