Why not much AUS 10?

res1cue

res1cue

Joined
Feb 2, 2010
Messages
2,138
Regardless of your views on it, most companies have budget lines of knives, made in China or Taiwan. They usually go with AUS8A or 8Cr13MoV (chinese equivalent). Some even use AUS 6 pretty extensively. They buy the steel from Aichi and ship it over to Taiwan, and have it assembled there. My question is, if they have business contracts and relations with Aichi already, why don't we see somebody upgrading to AUS10? At near 1% carbon, it should be a noticeable increase in performance. The first company that does this will have their budget line stand out more than others.

And most "undiscerning" customers will just look at it and say, "Well I don't want to buy ___, I'd rather have ____ because it is 2 AUS's better!":D
 
I have a Spyderco stainless Native in AUS-10; it's one of my favorite knives. Edge retention seems to be a step up in comparison to any of the other knives I have in AUS-8 (from other manufacturers).

In my honest opinion, it seems to hold it's own with Spyderco's VG-10 pretty well. I should note that I don't use my knives as hard as I used to.

~Chris
 
A few years ago, the current owner of the "Black Jack" TM had some made in AUS 10. I have a "Small" in that steel.

Sorta like 440C with slightly less corrosion resistance. So why not use the better-known 440C
 
Aus-10 was pretty popular early to mid 2000's , I have a few left in that steel by CRKT back when they made Ti framed folders here and there.

Aus-10 is a good , working man's steel with a blend of excellent corrosion resistance and good edge holding ,toughness. Think of it as Aus-8's big brother.

Tostig
 
Aus-6 = 440A, AUS-8 = 440B, AUS-10 = 440C (roughly of course), 440C is easier to get though, and more commonly recognized as a mid/upper level steel.
 
michaelm466 said:
Aus-6 = 440A, AUS-8 = 440B, AUS-10 = 440C (roughly of course), 440C is easier to get though, and more commonly recognized as a mid/upper level steel.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know, but it is an american steel, and like I said, like it or not, people are producing budget line knives overseas, so if they are going to produce knives overseas, with overseas steels, why not at least upgrade it a little bit?
 
...why not at least upgrade it a little bit?
Click to expand...

I wish I knew. I think even Cold Steel had a couple of knives in it. Maybe it's no more than hard to get because there's not much call for it. Maybe it's too much more expensive compared to other midlevel steels that manufacturers are used to. Remember how fast S30V spread, even among companies that turned out to have no idea how to heat treat it properly. Good salesmanship?
 
If the manufacturers are using a "fine blanking process" to produce the blades, I would have to wonder if Aus-10 may not be able to be used in that process.

Tom
 
T Schloz said:
If the manufacturers are using a "fine blanking process" to produce the blades, I would have to wonder if Aus-10 may not be able to be used in that process.

Tom
Click to expand...

"Fine blanking"? No way. Too much carbon.

I have a knife in AUS10. It holds an edge about as well as VG10 or 154CM.

Many top line Japanese makers have changed from AUS10 to VG10.
 
T Schloz said:
If the manufacturers are using a "fine blanking process" to produce the blades, I would have to wonder if Aus-10 may not be able to be used in that process.

Tom
Click to expand...
Very good point. IIRC, Buck stopped using 440C in the 119 because it could not be fine blanked. AUS-10 is not famous like S30V, so it lacks the same power to open wallets that S30V has demonstrated.
 
res1cue said:
And most "undiscerning" customers will just look at it and say, "Well I don't want to buy ___, I'd rather have ____ because it is 2 AUS's better!":D
Click to expand...

haha. reminds me. I have one of those "know it all" coworkers who generally talks out of his arse. He got some new folder at Cabela's with really cheap looking CF scales and couldn't stop bragging about it. I checked it out, said it's cool, gave it back being pretty sure it was some cheapo china/taiwan knife. I'm not one to rain on someone's parade. He keeps talking it up, how it's got some amazing steel that takes forever to dull, and how it was such a steal at $60 price point, and bragged about how it was made in either Austria or Australia, but he couldn't remember. I thought that was strange, I asked to see it again. Sure enough AUS 8 on the side of the blade. :yawn:

Also, one of his talking points was that it wasn't some cheapo china knife like my Spydercos..... :foot: I found that humorous as I had my Golden, Colorado CPM M4 Military in my pocket at the time :p oh well, ignorance is bliss, I guess.

edit: oh and I looked it up online, as there was no country of origin marked on the blade I could see. yeah, no name chinese/taiwan manufacturer depending on when it was made.
 
Junglee used to use it.
Cold steel used it in the folding tri fold thingy. They even made a few trailmaster bowies in it and sold them as collectors items for good money.
A.G.Russell has a .250 inch bowie made of it, as well as the small fixed blades already mentioned.
Spyderco used them in steel framed Natives only for a short time. The PE models are good collectors models as there were only maybe 300 made?

I like it as a steel. I find it a bit less corrosion resistant than 440C, but has a better grain and takes better edges. Maybe it's a bit tougher, but not much. I haven't tested any to destruction. I do like VG 10 better but that's subjective and only an opinion.
 
res1cue said:
Yeah I know, but it is an american steel, and like I said, like it or not, people are producing budget line knives overseas, so if they are going to produce knives overseas, with overseas steels, why not at least upgrade it a little bit?
Click to expand...

440C is made in Japan and other countries.
 
What Mastiff said.Cold Steel was'nt crazy about using it,because they said it was hard on their tooling.
 
GRIM 62 said:
What Mastiff said.Cold Steel was'nt crazy about using it,because they said it was hard on their tooling.
Click to expand...

What tooling? Cold Steel manufactures nothing but advertising. Did they own the tooling used by the companies that made the knives they selll?
 
What tooling? Cold Steel manufactures nothing but advertising. Did they own the tooling used by the companies that made the knives they selll?
Click to expand...

They did some of it at least. I recall when Camillus went under Cold steel was trying to get, or did have some property there they had to get before the sale. It was in an article someone posted here or elsewhere.
 
Thomas Linton said:
What tooling? Cold Steel manufactures nothing but advertising. Did they own the tooling used by the companies that made the knives they selll?
Click to expand...

The Mastiff said:
They did some of it at least. I recall when Camillus went under Cold steel was trying to get, or did have some property there they had to get before the sale. It was in an article someone posted here or elsewhere.
Click to expand...
.

Cold steel has never had a factory. They may have owned the tooling that Camillus used to make their knives. A customer sometimes buys the tooling used to make his product. It guaranties that it won't be used by a competitor.

It is also possible that Cold Steel did not own the tooling, but they may have been after it to make sure that it didn't fall into the hands of a competitor at the Camillus auction.
 
knarfeng said:
"Fine blanking"? No way. Too much carbon.
Click to expand...

Perhaps it depends on the press, and just how soft the steel is at the time of stamping?
Buck has been fine-blanking(stamping) blades since the late '60s(~1968).
They have fine-blanked steels with at least as much carbon as AUS-10; including 440C, 154 CM, ATS-34, BG-42, and Damascus.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top