Why would you use a knife made of 440 SS?

Which grade of 440? 440C is really pretty good steel, 440V is very good steel (as long as you have diamond hones to sharpen it) and 440XH is supposed to be like stainless D2 (I've never tried that one). Some of the other 440 series steels aren't so wonderful, but the average knife buyer/user isn't going to use a knife hard enough and long enough to tell the difference.
 
440C is a big step up from 440A. :) But you're right, the heat treat is important, and so is blade geometry.

When a knife is marked 440, it generally means 440A, since if it were "better", they would say so. But 440A, done properly, will be fairly tough and corrosion resistent. You give up some edge quality, but in a camp or survival knife, that might not be a big deal.
 
The least regarded variety of 440, specifically 440A, makes a perfectly decent knife. Good enough for general purpose use, reasonably tough for stainless. Not exotic enough for steel snobs.
 
Why I would use 440C?...short answer-because it was good enough for my dad & his dad.;)
 
shecky said:
Good enough for general purpose use ...
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That's true. Although I look for 12C27, the French laguiole is often found in 440A and at a lower Rockwell than the American market likes, but that's a real working knife.
 
I will be honest, while looking at some knives, I noticed the Colt Mk4 (fixed blade). I fell in love with the look of the knife but have to say, I never purchased a Colt knife. I could be wrong, but I did not think that they were all that great.

It did say 440 SS with a cryo edge. However, I do not know much about treats nor do I know what a cryo edge is. The price is in the $60.00 range and is not that bad. However, I do not want to waste (if it is a waste) the money when I could put it towards a better knife.
 
Frankly, I am generally more concerned with the company than the steel. Kershaw was doing the Leek in 440A and I would trust that. But I have little experience with Colt. I have to think Colt simply contracts out each model, so consistency is questionable -- one good Colt does not guarantee another.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
That's true. Although I look for 12C27, the French laguiole is often found in 440A and at a lower Rockwell than the American market likes, but that's a real working knife.
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Funny, 12C27 seems to me exotic by US standards, but it's pretty much the 440A of Scandinavia. Cheap and common. I really like the stuff in Eka and Mora knives. I wish Kershaw would use it on their lower end knives.
 
I've never had what I would call poor performance from 440A, or C. AFAIK, I've not used a 440B knife yet. I find they work quite well with a highly polished edge, such as off a leather belt on a small belt sander, or after the fine or ultrafine (which I dont have) Spyderco stones and a little stropping. I had a Kershaw Vapor II in 440A, and with a highly polished edge, it cut a boat load of cardboard and would still shave with some effort. This is compared to 440V, which cut about 50% more and would still shave. The 440V had a slightly less polished edge, off the Sharpmaker medium stones.
 
440V is not really in the same series as 440A, 440B, and 440C. It is now known as S60V to eliminate this confusion. In the same way, 420V is now known as S90V.
 
I have a lot of knives in 440C. I've found that 440C with a deep cryogenic treatment right after heat treatment will perform admirably right beside some of my Emerson 154CM and other various ATS34 knives that never got a cryo treat so to me there is nothing at all wrong with the steel. Overall for the maker there are a lot of benefits to using it. One, its not a problematic steel. Two, anyone that was used to the old carbon blades can sharpen the 440C and get an edge they are happy with that works for them. Three its got a high corrosion resistance, four it takes a great finish and I could go on.

When I did testing on some knives for a company and was given D2 and S30V blades I had more complaints from the 'john q public' typical end line user non knife nuts than I ever saw coming. Some hated it. One gave it back to me and told me he found one at Wal Mart that he could get sharp that he liked much better. Folks are not going to complain about having to touch up the edge often if they are able to get results. They'll certainly complain big when they can't get any noticed results to improve the edge though. Anyway, thats my take on the issue. By the way, I like 440A just fine from companies I trust. My Kershaw BlackOut was a great knife when I still had it.

STR
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Frankly, I am generally more concerned with the company than the steel. Kershaw was doing the Leek in 440A and I would trust that. But I have little experience with Colt. I have to think Colt simply contracts out each model, so consistency is questionable -- one good Colt does not guarantee another.
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I'm pretty sure most of Colt's knives were made by United Cutlery---sometimes they didn't even bother to change the design!

To answer the original question, 440C is a darned good steel if it's done right. I have a USA made Gerber in 440C from the late 70's that is a fine performer to this day. And the 440V blade on my original Kershaw Random Task holds an edge forever!
 
charlesbjr said:
However, I do not know much about treats nor do I know what a cryo edge is.
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Then if you have no knowledge why would you ask your initial question?

"440 stainless steel? If so, what would you use it for?"

Er, a cheap, fair quality knife blade perhaps?
 
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