Whats the "real deal" on INFI steel?

G

Gerrad620

Joined
Jul 28, 2006
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I was just curious about the properties of this "INFI" steel that Busse knives uses. It says it fared better than ATS-34 and D2....but I've never heard of any other knife company out there using it. If anybody knows any objective info on it, it be most appreaciated Is it all its cracked up to be, or is it just more propaganda?:confused:
 
I think the big deal is just that it's tough and stainless, which you don't see. Seems to me it's just using nitrogen in the mix and probably a bainite structure since the heat treat takes 80 hours or something. I had a street scrapper 4, and it had a massively thick edge for a 4" blade, so it really shouldn't be surprising that the things don't fail too often, especially the 5/16" ones.

The ATS34 and D2 performance comparison was in corrosion resistance, IIRC.
 
There must be some threads on test comparisons with other blades or test in a shop etc..that were done by other than the company or its supporters
 
It's not stainless. It's claimed that even though it isn't stainless it has very high corrosion resistance. It's very tough.
 
Cool cool. Thanks guys. I just had some people tell me today that all fized blades others than Busse knives were obsolete compaied to Busse. Seemed kinda far fetched to me considering the last time I had someone tell me something like that it was about those "Dark opps knives" with their "CTV2" steel. So t say the least I was a little sceptical. This looks to be better than that. But I dare say it makes my spyderco, SOG, KABAR, and TOPPS knives far from "obsolete" Haha. Still, my intrest is peeked though.
 
Infi, in my experience, has been a very good steel for larger knives, but is certainly not magic. Everything has it's limitations, and there are other large blades that perform well also, IMO. NOTHING makes all other blades obsolete. If that were really true, there would only be one steel that everyone used.
 
sodak said:
Infi, in my experience, has been a very good steel for larger knives, but is certainly not magic. Everything has it's limitations, and there are other large blades that perform well also, IMO. NOTHING makes all other blades obsolete. If that were really true, there would only be one steel that everyone used.
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:rolleyes: Haha. Yeah, I know. I'm not saying its bad or good, but I had to really hold it in from laughing when they said "everything else was obsolete". It quite funny when people get so devoted to a brand they won't even hear anything else.
 
havent used it but nitrogen seems to enhance corrosion resistance in steel. i firmly believe there is always some steel tougher some steel harder and some steel more stainless, just a matter of time before someone invents it/discovers it imho.

most steels with 5%+ Cr seems to be quite stainless for normal use. but not 0-1%, i´ll have to try it out myself.
 
As a user of INFI for about ten years now, IMHO It is the best steel by a huge margin for use in large chopping knives. I have used many large customs and some have had better handles than Busse knives, More comfortable etc. But the steel is simply unbreakable under even extreme abuse. I have tried to break several of them to no avail. I was prying apart a tree bending the knife with all my might. It flexed at least 20%. I could of course put it in a Wilton and snap it, but I bet it would take a cheater pipe. At least for me.;) Anyway they have a reputation for a reason, and they are the only knives I take into the woods knowing I will come out with it in one piece. To each his own though, what ever works for you is fine with me:thumbup:
 
It's not just propaganda. It's a very good knife steel for hard use/emergency wilderness survival/military applications.

It is extremely tough, resistant to chipping and fracturing, while hardened to a fairly high hardness. It is also extremely strong, resistant to bending when pried laterally. It is very flexible, capable of bending a lot without snapping, and capable of bending a fair amount and returning to true instead of taking a set. It can take a very sharp edge. It holds an edge for a long time, and is fairly easy to bring back to high sharpness. It is not stainless, but it has corrosion resistance on par with some stainless steels.

The reason you don't see any other knife companies using it is because it is proprietary. Jerry Busse researched and designed the steel himself, and has it specially made in batches for just his knife company.

Does it make all other knives by other manufacturers obsolete? Of course not. Do Ferraris make all other automobiles obsolete, because they're very high performance? Not if you need a mini van to take the whole family on a camping trip.

Some knives are made as pure cutters for soft materials, with a much higher hardness and more acute geometry. Some knives are made of ceramics, or titanium, or various exotic materials, for such purposes as total corrosion resistance for diving, or so as not to be magnetic, for certain types of specialized work. And so on. There are all kinds of specific uses that would be best served with a knife made out of something other than INFI. Also, knives aren't available in INFI to cover all market segments. Spyderco makes great folders, and folders are not (yet) available in INFI. KABAR sells good value knives at an inexpensive price point; INFI knives tend to be sold at a more premium price point. And so on.

There's plenty of room for other knives in the world. INFI is a superb steel for its intended scope of applications, nonetheless.
 
Evolute said:
It is also extremely strong, resistant to bending when pried laterally. It is very flexible, capable of bending a lot without snapping, and capable of bending a fair amount and returning to true instead of taking a set.
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How can it be resistant to bending and very flexible, capable of bending at the same time?
 
My only problem with infi and busse in general is that you don't see it on knives where i think it would benefit more like small fixed blades and FOLDERS.:p

Sure there are the game wardens but some of those babies are as thick as the choppers from what I have seen.
 
geneepi said:
How can it be resistant to bending and very flexible, capable of bending at the same time?
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I think what he meant to say was it can flex a lot without taking a set, and can bend much more without breaking. It also is malleable and not brittle, he may have been trying to convey that also, it tends to bend or roll the edge instead of chipping or breaking. His post is right on and very well stated IMO otherwise. -Jeff
 
How can it be resistant to bending and very flexible, capable of bending at the same time?
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The two properties are different, and not in contradiction. INFI is resistant to bending, as in "it takes an abnormally large amount of force to make it bend". INFI is flexible, as in "When that abnormally large amount of force is applied to make it bend, it can bend far without breaking".
 
I think Jerry's designs lend themselves towards "hard use". A thicker piece of metal is going to be more resistant to bending, and more steel behind the edge is going to make it more resistant to chipping out. So you can go chop things and dig holes and generally be more abusive than with other knives. A good heat treat that maximizes the properties of the steel is only going to help. The trade off is that my Busses don't slice as well as other things, especially in larger material where the blade binds. Performance is adequate.

I haven't beaten my INFI blades enough to see how big the performance jump is from, say A2 or Swamp Rat's SR101. Maybe I'll get out a cheater bar one day and see if I can turn my Natural Outlaw into a "U". Judging by the number of mint-or near-mint blades that show up in the Exchange, not all of the hard-use knives are used very hard either. But Jerry is a talented guy, the knives are well designed, and I'm confident they'll do what he says they will do - chop, pry, eat cinderblocks, etc. Stay tuned for a review, when I get a chance to get out in the woods.
 
From my experience, INFI performs best in larger blades. I believe the thicker cross section accounts for it's edge holding.

There's a reason why the cement block cutting was done with the SR blades and not INFI. INFI deforms readily under hard contacts. I don't cut cement blocks with knives, so it doesn't matter.

It's a good steel, with a neat history. It out performs many knives in some respects. I have seen where a thick INFI would deform readily when cutting something hard, and an 0-1 blade with a thinner edge was hardly damaged doing the same thing. The bottom line is there are many good steels on the market. Pick one or as many as you can afford! :D
 
The last three posts were right on. LFree what were you doing when you damaged the INFI and not the O-1? Thanks, Jeff
 
Chopping stainless wire. A Mole Jack and an differentially tempered 0-1 blade. With a similar level of force, the INFI deformed a lot more than the 0-1 (I only made one stroke with the MJ because I didn't want to have to fix bunchs of deformations). It didn't chip mind you, which is consistent with how it is supposed to perform. The 0-1 was dulled and lightly deformed, but wasn't difficult to touch up.

The 'test' was fairly subjectively. People get fairly worked up over the best steel for knives. I am undedided currently if there is a best steel or company. One of the most impressive things about INFI is the amazing edge holding (2,700 pieces of rope) combined with it's toughness. It says a lot that no one has reattempted the public cutting test. Personally I'd like to see how S30V, D2, 0-1, 52100 blades of a similar edge geometry stack up against the INFI blade that was used (not for any other reason than it genuinely interests me).

I've got to wonder if it is a bainitic steel like 'hardheart' mentioned. Some times steel discussions literally become a matter of splitting hairs (pun intended), but as far as the over all picture, other things are more important to me. Edge geometry, ease of sharpening (which INFI is extremely easy to sharpen to a very hair popping edge), knife design, sheath design, user comfort, etc. come to mind.

The cult side of some collectors is a bit silly, but I can't fault them. Hobbies and gadgets are what make men tick. And what a great hobby it is!:D
 
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