which steel is the toughest you ever use ?

So in summary: SR-77 will bend farthest without breaking, (toughest) SR101 is hardest to get to bend in the 1st place, but will take a set or break before SR-77 will, (strongest) and INFI is is almost as hard as SR101 to get to bend, but when it does, can bend almost as much as SR-77. (Best overall.)
 
First of all 1095 is far from being toughest. There are many steels out there that are much tougher. Generally stainless steels are excluded as well for toughness. Laminates can be tough but that is not one single steel.

So for toughness, the steel options are forged custom 1084, 1060, W2m A2, 52100, A8, S5, S7, SR77, SR101, INFI, CPM3V and 5160.

Of these overall toughness would have to go to S5, S7 and SR77. SR77 is a derivative of S7 which is a steel used in jackhammer bits. Edge holding is not so good, but toughness is supreme.

After the S series, I would say that INFI, CPM3V, 52100, A8, A2 and SR101 are right behind.

1084, 1060's, W2's when forged by a good custom knife maker can be supremely tough.

Edge holding wise, INFI, A8, A2 and 52100 are the best.

Corrosion resistance INFI is best, with A8 being right there.

but after all of this, if you have improper heat treat it is all meaningless. You can have a great steel like INFI, A8, 3V, but if the HT was done wrong or ruined, the steel is meaningless.

Hence the reason why the steels used by the Busse companies is so good. The HT is second to none. Other companies have excellent HT's as well and it shows in their steels.
 
resinguy said:
How do you determine toughness? I what way are some steels not up to your desired standard?
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uh, that is sooooo complicated ,man.
i think satisfy is a word of subjective , i am a big blade fan , and do some forge in person , from my observation some stainless steel can not meet my need of making long and thin swords .:D:D:D
 
dingy said:
uh, that is sooooo complicated ,man.
i think satisfy is a word of subjective , i am a big blade fan , and do some forge in person , from my observation some stainless steel can not meet my need of making long and thin swords .:D:D:D
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I believe Dingy is not referring to just SR101, SR77, and INFI but steels in general. I believe he is simply saying that 440C at Hc60 would be a crappy choice for a large blade.
 
The only tough stainless steel knives are the Falknivens laminated VG10 blades. The lamination process makes them tough. The only other tough near Stainless blades were the Swamp Rat D2 steel blades which were tough, but D2 is 1% from being called stainless.
 
iamtoast said:
I believe Dingy is not referring to just SR101, SR77, and INFI but steels in general. I believe he is simply saying that 440C at Hc60 would be a crappy choice for a large blade.
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right , man , i am not referrring to sr101 , sr77 , infi , 3v , m4, 1074.
i can not get it , i just use some "T"series steel :D
 
Anyone ever compare CPM-M4 to the busse clan steels? INFI, SR77, SR101?
 
Cobalt said:
Corrosion resistance INFI is best, with A8 being right there.
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Are you sure about that? Did you mean out of the steels you mentioned?

INFI isn't a stainless steel, thats why I'm reluctant to strip the blade, or go diving with it in the ocean.
 
It seems to be very corrosion resistant from my experience. Last night I had a fire in the snow, I shoved my stripped ASH-1 back in it's kydex covered in snow and forgot about it until this morning. I pulled it out and the blade was wet still, no rust however. I wouldn't go diving with it, but we're not talking about spydercos H1 steel here.
 
230grains said:
It seems to be very corrosion resistant from my experience. Last night I had a fire in the snow, I shoved my stripped ASH-1 back in it's kydex covered in snow and forgot about it until this morning. I pulled it out and the blade was wet still, no rust however. I wouldn't go diving with it, but we're not talking about spydercos H1 steel here.
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No doubt about that, to be honest I'm amazed at how INFI can handle moisture. It is undoubtedly a great steel, there is no questions about that. (and BTW thanks for answering the question I've been meaning to ask regarding the striped INFI) Still, I do dive in salt water, and INFI isn't a tool for that particular task. But a knife is a tool and you need a right tool for the right job. And INFI can perform much more jobs then a lot of other steels out there, just not all of the jobs.
 
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