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

VorpelSword said:
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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I have an idea, make a retro Model T but electric. much like in the knife world when reviving the classic patterns but in some modern materials. Everyone says electric is the way to go, and they are getting farther on a charge, but what happens if they are in the mountains or hilly terrain, will that drain the power faster since more power is needed? Someone mentioned maybe they can put some generators on the back wheels that while moving could generate power and recharge the batteries or store until needed? Isn’t that similar to what hybrids do now but with friction to keep the batteries charged?

I remember when ATS 34 was the steel to have and everyone was making knives with it, now it seems to be the fancier steels, but I am sure ATS 34 and others will make a good knife for everyday people’s needs while maintaining a decent edge with better stain resistance. CM 154 then came along as a US version and then CPM 154 was the big thing too just a few years ago, and now is holding its own against some of the more modern steel recipes.

Recently I had a forum member here run a knife I got in 5160 through its paces, maybe in mid 50s RC from the maker, it will be a good user to do the job, not a real edge holder for a long time, but still adequate. So to me steels are good as long it meets the needs of the user.
 
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Hashishiin said:
So, it is a distinct thing, then. I was wondering about this too, as I have only used carbon Solingen steel from a Mercator, and was wondering what exactly that was. It seems a soft enough steel, though, I wonder why the article says you may need specialized sharpening equipment.
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No, it's not. Bullcrap... Solingen is a cutlery town, the cutlers there (like in Thiers (France) or Maniago (Italy)) use all kinds of steel.
 
herisson said:
No, it's not. Bullcrap... Solingen is a cutlery town, the cutlers there (like in Thiers (France) or Maniago (Italy)) use all kinds of steel.
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Hey, hey, tone it down, friend. was not trying to make an assertion, as you can see by the start of my sentence. "So it IS a distinct thing then". I was trying to learn about it. Maybe they shouldn't class it as "Solingen Steel" if it's so varied. Thiers, Solingen... I love 'em, but it feels like the same carbon, ha. And I am talking about Carbon. Their stainless, on the Mercator, is not labeled Solingen.

I'm the biggest free advertiser of Douk-Douk, Mercator, and Higonokami on this forum, mane, I love those little ancient designs. I am pimping those out constantly. However, it's not easy for a younger, new person like me to find info about these knives made halfway around the world designed between 1869-1929 in little "cutlery towns" like Thiers and Solingen. I haven't made the pilgrimage.

I notice any mention of "Solingen Steel" in this thread is coupled with you getting mad. Why don't you help someone trying to learn instead of coming at me with an attitude? You won't have a good time that way. I don't even know what your point is, are you trying to say the steel is good, that it is bad, what? So, make a point or stop being crotchety to folks. Lol.
 
Solingen is a marketing ploy not a specific material. Never was. It also means were a knife was made. I believe your Mercator was made in Solingen, Germany, out of C75 or 1.4034 steel if it's recent production. The term Solingen has been on many knives not even made in Germany as a marketing trick. It is a bullcrap term when applied to steel.
 
brownshoe said:
Solingen is a marketing ploy not a specific material. Never was. It also means were a knife was made. I believe your Mercator was made in Solingen, Germany, out of C75 or 1.4034 steel if it's recent production. The term Solingen has been on many knives not even made in Germany as a marketing trick. It is a bullcrap term when applied to steel.
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Yes, I was checking out another knife by Otter-Messer and they did specify C75 (BHQ). So, I'd wager that's what is on my Mercator. Would love to know Douk-Douk steel, and the stainless in the stainless Mercator. I like it, though. Seen the stamp on many inferior knives, since leaving this comment.

Oh, and in the spirit of the thread, ATS-55 and 440V, the earlier iteration of S30V? Anyone remember those? Just got my first ATS-55 knife this week, it's dang near as old as me!
 
Hashishiin said:
Oh, and in the spirit of the thread, ATS-55 and 440V, the earlier iteration of S30V? Anyone remember those? Just got my first ATS-55 knife this week, it's dang near as old as me!
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ATS-55, this one still NIB
zYMRmoG.jpg

and I carried this one nearly every day in the field at work for more than 15 years and it never failed to cut what needed to be cut...
wmGWPe2.jpg


CPM 440V, carried it for about 4 years before getting the 2 blade Dyad. No complaints here either...
MPY9lZG.jpg
 
seems to me knife usin' folks
complain about crappy steel
whenever edge rentention becomes an issue.
granted its a pain to have to
see to sharpening and such,
but i figure there are
numerous dissatisfied knife users who are unable to
put an edge on a dull knife
because they haven't achieved
the skill to sharpen correctly,
and in their frustration, eventually blame it on inferior steel instead...
and what about snapped blades
and the bewildering expectations of carring out near abusive knife task ?
there is no bad steel, just zero
or a poor understanding
of what's required
to maintain things
in proper working order.
some steels need more time and care whilst some never seem to
amaze.
things are built with a technical specification as to
what it can achieve
and thus users ought to learn about these matters
and know exactly what to pick
for the required performance.
we all make mistakes,
misculculated or have
misjudge...and that's just it.
eventually, users have the choice either to learn and live with imperfections or toss out what
doesn't work for them.
the grandmaster will never fault the brush.
 
AntDog said:
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.
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In the "high alloy stainless" genre of steel Powder Metallurgy completely obsoleted the processes used to produce BG-42.
Producing more BG-42 today would be like Toyota producing more carburetor based car engines.
 
Arathol said:
ATS-55, this one still NIB
zYMRmoG.jpg

and I carried this one nearly every day in the field at work for more than 15 years and it never failed to cut what needed to be cut...
wmGWPe2.jpg


CPM 440V, carried it for about 4 years before getting the 2 blade Dyad. No complaints here either...
MPY9lZG.jpg
Click to expand...
Very nice! I love those two-blade clipits. That is the exact style of Millie I was looking at.
The ATS-55 is weird like ZDP in its "stainless non-stainlessness" but the era of that steel bore many great creations! Oh, and nice on the GIN-1! I was looking at a beautiful, double-serrated mother-of-pearl Civilian in the steel, though I do not think the back serrations are sharpened (imagine carrying it if it were!) and it is pure art.
 
brancron said:
Take a look at this: https://forum.spyderco.com/viewtopic.php?t=3110
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Hmmmm, that link says ATS-55 was prone to corrosion.....thats a laugh. I bought the ATS-55 C-44 Dyad brand new (two actually, both the knives shown were purchased at the same time) when it first was offered sometime around 1999-2000. I carried it every day at work in a high salt environment working with snow and ice removal equipment at DOT maintenance facilities, used the knife frequently to cut hoses full of liquid chlorides, cut open bags of sand/salt mix etc....there was always some sort of salt around and on the knife. It was out in the wet all the time, rain, snow, whatever the weather. I kept it washed off, and never in the 16 years I carried it on the job did it have any sort of corrosion issues. The blades stayed sharp too, never had a problem with that. One of the best, most useful designs Spyderco has made....
 
440C probably, depending how many years of span you areh talking about.

VG-10 might be too, if we're solely talking about folders. In the kitchen knife world, However, many Japanese knives are still made of it.
 
6 pages, yet no one mentioned Sheffield's Silver steel?

Yes, similar to this to that, but no one really use its exact specification anymore. It was once the best blade steel of the industrial era in Europe.

Gin-1 seems like 440B equivalent. I wonder what made it popular in the 1st place.
 
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