Why would you use a knife made of 440 SS?

JTR357 said:
Why I would use 440C?...short answer-because it was good enough for my dad & his dad.;)
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+1


The older steels wont explode is you use them, just because there are newer ones. You're right, that is a great explanation!
 
charlesbjr said:
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.
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So the source of your question is the steel used in the "Colt MK4". I was unable to find a knife so named. Did you mean the "Colt M-4K"?The reference I found said that this was a knife with a 4 3/4" blade. Not a chopper, but maybe general use.

As several have said, if it is marked as "440 stainless" odds are it is 440A or a Chinese steel with similar properties. I note that this does appear to be a United Cutlery blade and many of their blades are manufactured in China.

Whether this is an optimal steel for you depends on how you want to use the knife. Expectations for the performance of the steel are:
- Good corrosion resistance.
- Should be fairly easy to sharpen
- Edge retention will be less than that of AUS8, but not terrible, depending on the heat treat. Unfortunately I was unable to find any info as to what hardness the blade is tempered.

For what activities do you plan to use the knife?

If you plan to do a lot of skinning, you might want a steel providing better edge retention. If you just want a general use blade and were willing to sharpen more frequently, this might be just fine.
 
Back in the 70's 440c was considered a very good steel. True stainless, tough not brittle, easy to resharpen. That's my memory, at least. Good for hunting knives. Heat treat of course is crucial. Sure we have these amazing wonder steels now, but from say, 2 million bc to 1974, you'd be really happy to have a 440c knife. And even now, it will do for you pretty much all you need. It's just a lot more cool to drive a porsche than a vw, so to speak.

And just to say it again, 440v is a totally different animal. It has like 8 times the wear resistance of 440v. Here's a really good fact sheet showing both steels and a few others for comparison. CPM440v is now known as S60V.\\http://www.crucibleservice.com/datash/dsS60v4b.pdf
 
DRider said:
Back in the 70's 440c was considered a very good steel. True stainless, tough not brittle, easy to resharpen. That's my memory, at least. Good for hunting knives. Heat treat of course is crucial. Sure we have these amazing wonder steels now, but from say, 2 million bc to 1974, you'd be really happy to have a 440c knife. And even now, it will do for you pretty much all you need. It's just a lot more cool to drive a porsche than a vw, so to speak.

And just to say it again, 440v is a totally different animal. It has like 8 times the wear resistance of 440C. Here's a really good fact sheet showing both steels and a few others for comparison. CPM440v is now known as S60V.\\http://www.crucibleservice.com/datash/dsS60v4b.pdf
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fixed that for ya:)
 
I use knives with 440A because the ones I have are ground really thin (Kershaw Leek, Kershaw Blackout, Schrade UH lockback). Grudgingly, I'll use S30V, too (it's what my Dad uses).
 
Yes, I know that S60V/440V is not in the same league with the rest of the 440 series. Neither is 440XH. I was merely using them as examples to show that "440" actually tells us very little. "440" can range from excellent to utter crap depending on specific alloy and heat-treatment.;)
 
my edc for the last 6 years has been a Kershaw Boa, 440V steel. I've never attempted to use the knife as a hammer, pry bar, screw driver, or other-wise abused it. I think I'll get at least another six years of use from the knife if I don't expect it to do more than it was designed to do: cut stuff. I use my stones on lesser steels on other knives, but frankly it takes too much of my precious time to properly hone 440V...luckily, I can get it sharpened locally on a belt sander at a very reasonable price...and interesting sometimes shooting the breeze with the guys at the knife shop
 
It's been said before, but this thread could use a lot more definition of what 440 SS we're talking about.

440A, 440B, and 440C are very different steels. And 440V is a very, very different steel.

It's too bad some of the lower end companies mislead consumers by calling everything and anything "440 Series Stainless Steel"
 
I have an Entrek Badger that's an incredible knife. It is 440c and its a good edge holder and very tough. I would use it as an EDC if it came with a better sheath.
 
I have a Benchmade 160 made of 440C and it takes and holds a great edge, I have not had any problems with it. My wife has a Kershaw Blackout in 440A, and it actually holds an edge for quite a long time, too.
 
This thread just boggles the mind. Clarity, what clarity? We don't need no stinkin' clarity!

Specificity? Nah! Get outta here!
 
i've got some knives made of 440 that are wonderful, i also have some knives made of same material that suck. It really depends on how the knife is made.
 
Most of my knives by Barry Dawson are 440. His heat treatment is really, really good. And those knives are also really, really good. IIRC, he likes 440 stainles, though I don't know if he favors a specific type.

I have also picked up several of the cheap Smith & Wesson knives in 440 from China over the past year or so, and I have been quite happy with how easy they are to sharpen, and how well they hold an edge. They are not the newest wondersteel, but I don't really care. They hold up, and if they get dull, it usually only takes a few passes on an Arkansas stone to get them back to "shaving the hairs off your arm" sharp. And they don't get rusty or tarnished nearly as fast as some of my older pocket knives did.

-Mb
 
There are times when the design of a knife is so dead-on that I will use it no matter what it is made out of. I have about a dozen different paring knives made out of a variety of steels. For most tasks I select between them by shape rather than material.
 
shecky said:
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.
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I agree totally+...I have plenty of knives with 440A blades that are perfectly suitable for any task...they just need to be sharpened a little more often than the more exotic steel blades, but take a fine edge and hold it long enough to satisfy me. Additionally, many of my sharper knives right out-of-box were/are 440A...

Ray :)
 
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