Your Experiences with 440C and 8Cr13Mov?

A

a Trexler Ranger

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Hello people of BladeForums

I had a question about 440C vs 8Cr13Mov. Which do you prefer? Why? How is sharpening? I know they are stainless but how quickly will they rust?

Thanks guys
 
The 440C is pretty rust resistant. If done right, it will take a high hardness and it is much better than the 8crmovabcdefg.
 
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a Trexler Ranger said:
Hello people of BladeForums

I had a question about 440C vs 8Cr13Mov. Which do you prefer? Why? How is sharpening? I know they are stainless but how quickly will they rust?

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

I don't prefer either one. They have both performed well for me. Both are easy to sharpen.
I've never had an issue with rust on either one, but I take pretty good care of my knives. I think that is a question of your environment, and, as BladeScout pointed out, how well you take care of them.
 
Awesome. I personally don't have any 440C knives so that's why I asked. I have 8Cr13Mov, S30V, 420HC, Aus-8, and whatever steel is on SAKs

Sent from my LGL21G using Tapatalk
 
I had a Kershaw select fire which I believe are made with 8cr13 and because of its bead blasted finish it didn't take long before it was covered in tiny rust specs.
I have a field and stream folder which is stamped 440c and it's bead blasted blade only has 1 rust spec after having it for about 5yrs now.
I have not used the knife though as its just too fat and chunky for edc and it's sheath is gone.
Now in my experience 8cr13 and it's equivalents are easy to sharpen.
 
Maybe this will answer some of your questions. Back in the day (25 years ago) if you had a knife made from 440C you had a premium steel knife. Today it is just middle of the road steel compared to the "Super Steels" but still is a good performer for all around use. I think of the two steels you are wondering about 440C is better.


420 series contain several types with various carbon content between .15% and .40% this steel grade is widely used to make high end razor blades, surgical scalpels etc. It obtains about 57 HRC after suitable heat treatment. 420HC ( 420C ) is a higher carbon content 420 stainless. The HC stands for "high carbon" and it can be brought to a higher hardness than 420 and should not be mistaken for it. Buck Knives and Gerber Knives use 420HC extensively.[8] 420A ( 420J1 ) and 420B ( 420J2 ) are economical, highly corrosion resistant stainless steel grades. Knife manufacturers use this material in budget knives, also in diving knives due to its high resistance to corrosion.[8]

440 series has three types, 440A, 440B and 440C. 440A is a relatively a low cost, highly corrosion resistant stainless steel. In China, Ahonest ChangJiang Stainless steel developed 440A modified 7Cr17MoV, by adding more element vanadium.[31] 440B is almost identical to 440A, but has a higher carbon content range compared to 440A[31] 440C is considered a high-end stainless steel. It is very resistant to corrosion and is one of the most common stainless alloys used for knife making.[31] The once ubiquitous American Buck Model 110 Folding Hunter was made of 440C before 1981. 440C has highest carbon content in 440 group.[31] Böhler n695 is equivalent to 440C.

AUS-8 (8A) is comparable to 440B with a carbon content close to 0.75%.[8] AUS-8 is often used instead of 440C.[8] SOG knives uses AUS-8 extensively.

8CR13MoV & 8CR14MoV, actually these grades do not have very big difference. They are similar to AICHI AUS-8, an excellent value priced steel for its performance.
 
I would avoid both. if I only had the choice of one or the other I'd take none.

440c is the better of the two as long as its actually 440c which in China may be labelled 440c but not actually 440c. also needs to be heat treated correctly. because of a lot of animosity about all that and the cost of knives in these steels are normally low, I prefer to avoid them like the plague. I prefer powdered steel but good old 440c variant steels are also not to bad, again as long as there's no animosity.

with steel like m390 I don't ever have to sharpen often. just strop, and that's why I like it alot.
 
Provided both steels come from good quality clean batches of steel 8C will be a bit tougher, have a bit higher edge stability and is somewhat easier to sharpen than 440C. Likewise 440C will be somewhat more wear resistant, and more corrosion resistant though it is known for having less edge stability and less toughness ( at typical higher knife type hardness of 59 rc or higher) than most other stainless steels due to it's 18% chrome giving less than ideal grain structure. Both can make good knives when done properly by knife makers who know the strengths and weaknesses of their steels. 440C has some alternates that supposedly help with the poor grain structure/lower edge stability such as Aus 10. Even better ( no experience with it so I'm speculating at this point) would be CTS 40CP which is Carpenters powder steel version of this steel which should give higher toughness and better edge stability. 154cm and CPM 154/ ATS 34 and RWL 34 were developed from 440C and give both better wear resistance and better toughness than 440C.
 
Mo2 said:
I would avoid both. if I only had the choice of one or the other I'd take none.

440c is the better of the two as long as its actually 440c which in China may be labelled 440c but not actually 440c. also needs to be heat treated correctly. because of a lot of animosity about all that and the cost of knives in these steels are normally low, I prefer to avoid them like the plague. I prefer powdered steel but good old 440c variant steels are also not to bad, again as long as there's no animosity.

with steel like m390 I don't ever have to sharpen often. just strop, and that's why I like it alot.
Click to expand...


Very good point about the origin of the steel and the heat treat. Many knives that are imported may be marked one thing and actually be another.
 
In my knives, I like both. I'd say 8Cr13Mov is easier to sharpen to a fine edge, holds it not so good. I see it as a good budget steel (in the same league as 420HC, for ex.). 440C is in another league : it's way harder to sharpen (reprofiling is almost as tiring as D2) but once you're there you get a nice long lasting edge. Honing is a breeze. I have many knives in 440C, they perform great in many applications. So there's that. The problem is we have so many high end steels available nowadays that 440C sits a bit on the far end of the bench. It doesn't detract at all from its high qualities.
 
I like both just fine. If I had to pick one, I'd probably take 440C, but that's just a gut call from use and not based on any metallurgical analysis.
 
May be 440C are supposed to resist rust, but my Boker Plus XS rusted right after raining, so I don't prefer either one.
 
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I dont carry either of those steel anymore really but one thing that impressed me (well two) is how ridiculously easy it is to get a razor sharp edge on 8cr13 and its corrosion resistance. Did not notice i dropped an 8cr13 blade in snow mixed up with calcium. Found it 2 days later with no rust on it whatsoever
 
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