Why change your favorite steel of production so often?

[zargana]

Two-three years ago almost all of the foremost prestigious manufacturers were raving about ATS-34 steel, and were using it on their premium designs. Now, suddenly everydody seems to discover more favorible formulas over it and almost abandoned it.
I personally wonder what was so special about ATS-34, as i have to re-sarpen it nearly every week for instance.
Is it the availability factor, or costant discoveries of new varieties, or what?

 

[Roadrunner]

I think that the move away from ATS-34 is mostly due to the availability of newer materials, such as S30V. Really I don't think the change has been as big as it seems, because there are still plenty of manufacturers and custom makers using ATS-34 and 154CM. The newer steels just get more press time and attention because they're, well, new. ATS-34 is now an old standby, so it's no longer a selling point to the 'new and improved' market.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Nasil siniz, zargana -- welcome to Bladeforums!

I agree with Roadrunner. The new steels get a lot of press because they are a talking point, even though the difference in performance is relatively minor. The knife industry currently is going through a kind of Golden Age, where a really competitive manufacturer can make a lot of money by keeping the customer's attention. New designs and new materials will do this better than lower prices, because making more money is the whole idea of it.

What knife or knives are you using in ATS-34, and what kind of use do you put them through? I would think it's a pretty good steel, in fact it can be hard to resharpen if it gets seriously dull. Of course, the heat treat can have more to do with performance than the actual steel, and so can the blade geometry. You may have too fine an edge for the work you do.

Anyway, you might find some interesting information in our BladeForums.com Knife FAQs. If you look up at the very top line of each Bladeforums page, you will see TUTORIALS / FAQ's. There's a lot of good background material there.

 

[Danbo]

Ya gotta go with what the market demands. People are always wanting the latest, greatest blade steels, and I admit to being guilty myself.

 

[Don Luis]

I still like good old 440C, but am happy with my new Delica in VG10, technology moves very fast these days, and competition is fierce, so it´s natural for companies to keep moving to the newest thing, in steel, handle material, design, etc.

I enjoy the new, but don´t shun the old.

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Originally posted by zargana
Two-three years ago almost all of the foremost prestigious manufacturers were raving about ATS-34 steel, and were using it on their premium designs. Now, suddenly everydody seems to discover more favorible formulas over it and almost abandoned it.
I personally wonder what was so special about ATS-34, as i have to re-sarpen it nearly every week for instance.
Is it the availability factor, or costant discoveries of new varieties, or what?

You can sit still, or follow, or lead. The leaders in this industry are always searching for better ways to do things -- better handle materials, better locks, better blade materials, etc. And I think it's great that they continue to drive the state-of-the-art forward. We're even starting to get steels now that were purpose-designed for cutlery, instead of steels that were designed for something else (e.g., ball bearings, saw blades) that some enterprising knifemaker discovered works well knives.

Of course, availability of better materials isn't the only factor driving this. It's part marketing and differentiation on the part of the makers. It's part whether materials are available in a form useable for knifemakers, and in high-enough quality and quantity, and in a geographic location that makes it cost-effective.

Joe