I guess the reason that there are so many negatives against AUS8 is because AUS8 is widely available and quality of heat treats various from different makers. All knives in VG10 are made in Japan AFAIK, this gives the consistency in quality of heat treating and to protect the reputation of that steel at the same time.
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Which is better AUS-8-A vs 420 HC steel
- Thread starter ohenkowski
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I guess the reason that there are so many negatives against AUS8 is because AUS8 is widely available and quality of heat treats various from different makers. All knives in VG10 are made in Japan AFAIK, this gives the consistency in quality of heat treating and to protect the reputation of that steel at the same time.
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What you fail to take into account is that blade geometry is far more important than alloy when it comes to cutting performance and edge retention.
A Seki-made knife with inferior geometry will not out perform a 420HC blade with excellent geometry.
Buck proved this during their development of their improved "edge 2000" blade. A blade with their traditional blade shape made of BG42 had inferior edge retention compared to one with their new blade shape made of 420HC. BG42 will far outperform AUS8 if all other things are equal.
This is why it is so hard to compare alloys. There are so many different factors that go into blade performance. Folks attach much importance to alloy selection, because it is a factor that is easy to identify. Identifying the other factors in blade performance is much harder. But in actuality, alloy selection is one of the factors of lesser importance in blade performance.
One need only look at the different experiences of the posters in this thread to see this illustrated.
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Not to hijack the post (I think it is a reasonably related question), but I have an old blade (a gryphon knife) with AUS-8A steel from seki, and I have always wondered if it is a little better than your typical AUS-8A. It was listed as hrc 59, and the knife is made very well, with a good design. For those of you who have knowledge on AUS-8A, any opinions?
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That's one of the many reasons I get a kick out of some of these super steel threads. Many of the blades with "super steels" from these manufactures do not perform nearly as well as Buck's 420 HC. Sometimes you just have to set back and smile.
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Interesting point. Obviously, edge geometry plays a huge role in cutting efficiency, but I would not have thought that it impacted edge retention (other than indirectly, in that a thicker edge angle or blade may be a less efficient cutter requiring more effort or passes (e.g. more wear) to make the same single cut by a more efficiency blade).
Are you aware of a link or more information on Buck's comparison of the two knives?
Ankerson
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That's one of the many reasons I get a kick out of some of these super steel threads. Many of the blades with "super steels" from these manufactures do not perform nearly as well as Buck's 420 HC. Sometimes you just have to set back and smile.
Depends on what you are comparing usually, steels, knives etc.
Edge holding?
Slicing ability?
Toughness?
Comparing just the Steels alone between different knives with close edge geometry well no 420 HC won't perform as well as most of the better Super steels.
420 HC isn't a bad steel, but it's not really outstanding either, it is good enough for a general use knife.
S30V isn't a Super Steel IMO, never was.
I agree about S30V not being a super steel. I would rather have Bucks 420HC or Kershaws Aus 8, over S30v any day. Both steels are easier to get sharp. I cant get S30V sharp enough no matter how hard I try. Its more my fault though because Im no expert in sharpening.
I've found AUS-8A to be far superior to 420HC. The "HC" or "High Carbon" in 420HC is a mis nomer. Any knife steel such as 420HC with less than .5% carbon is not high carbon.
I've had Buck, Gerber, and Microtechs in 420HC and none held an edge for long.
I've had Cold Steel, Spyderco, Blade-Tech, Outdoor Edge, Benchmade, SOG and Timberline in AUS-8A. All have held an edge well.
I catagorize steels by edge retention on 3 levels, low, medium and high. I consider 420HC as low and AUS-8A as medium.
I have found 420HC, due to the ease of sharpening, to be an excellent steel for teaching someone how to make the blade sharp enough to shave hair.
I've had Buck, Gerber, and Microtechs in 420HC and none held an edge for long.
I've had Cold Steel, Spyderco, Blade-Tech, Outdoor Edge, Benchmade, SOG and Timberline in AUS-8A. All have held an edge well.
I catagorize steels by edge retention on 3 levels, low, medium and high. I consider 420HC as low and AUS-8A as medium.
I have found 420HC, due to the ease of sharpening, to be an excellent steel for teaching someone how to make the blade sharp enough to shave hair.