Which steel to use?

Joined
Jun 5, 2010
Messages
1
Hello,

Just starting my first build so please go easy on me! I'm a hobby machinist and am finally getting around to my first knife project.

I have purchased a kit blade which is 440C stainless: pre-sharpened and hardened. I plan to incorporate a fold-out gut hook that I will fabricate and wonder what suggestions people have on the material for the hook?

I'm leaning towards 440C because I would like it to be rust-resistant, however I'm concerned as to how much this material will move when I temper it.

So, here are the questions:
Do I not worry about 440C moving that much? (Rough dimensions: 0.125 x ~0.75 x ~2.0)
Do I not worry about tempering a 440C gut hook...just use it in the annealed state?
Is there a better/different material to use that will hold the edge better in the annealed state and not rust?

Thanks for any input or advice,
Gaylan.
 
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