Your favorite steel for each purpose

atavist

atavist

Joined
Nov 29, 2012
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As a bladesmith/knifemaker I am always looking at the market and what people want and what may be worth adding to my repetoir.... not looking for the latest fad but recently posting in the batoning thread made me think to ask this question for my own market research....

What knife steel and heat treat do you prefer for each purpose (lets please not get into geometries and all the other complexities that muddy the waters and try to keep it general)

Carbon steel/low alloy:
Batoning - many will do with the right HT but for me none beat L6 bainite or 5160 martempered to a 56RC
Medium duty (bushcraft or other application where edge retention and toughness need to be more balanced) - For my part I like L6 bainite/martensite mixed at around 58RC or a differentially heat treated with a 58RC edge and 40ish spine.
light duty (edc or skinner where edge retention is more important than toughness) - I always go back and forth between O1 and 1095 though 1084 at a 60+RC does well too...

Stainless.... OK... this is why I'm really here.... moving into cryogenics I am opening the door to stainless and high alloy steels...
so to my mind having yet done a lot of destructive testing are:
Batoning - D2 is the only high alloy I am associated with that I am 100% confident can take it.... I look forward to input here.
medium duty - think I'm going to have to stick with D2... would love some suggestions here on actual stainless steels that can take some light batoning but still have good edge retention.
light duty - most of my experience to date is with 440C and 154CM... but am aware there are many MANY options in the CPM world in particular that are options here....
 
8Cr13MoV, 7Cr17 for general purpose use.

3Cr13 for lighter general purpose use and abusing.
 
Etna said:
8Cr13MoV, 7Cr17 for general purpose use.

3Cr13 for lighter general purpose use and abusing.
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I'm not particularly familier with any of those steels... will go look them up now.... Thanks for the offerings.
 
To be perfectly honest I don't have the collection or the experience to really get into specifics too much, but I'll throw my two cents out there for what it's worth. I tend to think of myself as an average user; more knowledgeable than most people on the street but at the end of the day 90% of my cutting tasks are done with a SAK.

For knives that I'm going to be using in the outdoors (yard work, hiking, camping) I generally prefer simple carbon steels, with 1095 being my favorite. It's easy for a novice like me to sharpen, it's tough enough that I don't have to worry about breaking it, it gets wickedly sharp, and it's available from a wide variety of companies at decent prices. I have no doubt that 3V and 52100 and INFI will outperform it but for most people those steels are an unnecessary luxury. Heat treating simple carbon steels would probably be a lot easier as well. 52100 has a very good reputation and would probably attract folks more into the higher end steels.

As far as stainless steel I tend to save that for my pocket knives. 154CM is my personal favorite, for similar reasons as 1095. Easy to sharpen and repair, gets shaving sharp, nice and stainless, and not overly expensive. VG-10 and S30V are similar but I haven't used them enough to develop much of an opinion. N680 has rolled quite badly in my experience, 8Cr13MoV rusted when I left it in my drawer, and AUS-8 seems to dull more quickly than the other steels listed so they wouldn't be my first choice. I would not buy something in 440C, with the possible exception of Buck products. There's just too many other options out there.

Take that for what you will. I am a bit of a steel nerd and factor it into my purchases, but I try to also be somewhat realistic and not be too much of a snob.
 
Kitchen/work knives- Carbon, preferably blue or white carbon
Wood or camp knife- infi
Pocket knife- anything with a hardness over 60, not really picky
 
Heavy duty fixed blade CPM-3V at 58 or so Hrc
Medium duty fixed blade still CPM-3V but at 61 or so Hrc
EDC folder, let's change it up and go with CPM-M4 at 64 Hrc

I have two fixed blades in S35VN that have cheerfully shrugged off batoning and hold a great edge, so that would be my suggestion for stainless.
 
Carbon- said:
To be perfectly honest I don't have the collection or the experience to really get into specifics too much, but I'll throw my two cents out there for what it's worth. I tend to think of myself as an average user; more knowledgeable than most people on the street but at the end of the day 90% of my cutting tasks are done with a SAK.

For knives that I'm going to be using in the outdoors (yard work, hiking, camping) I generally prefer simple carbon steels, with 1095 being my favorite. It's easy for a novice like me to sharpen, it's tough enough that I don't have to worry about breaking it, it gets wickedly sharp, and it's available from a wide variety of companies at decent prices. I have no doubt that 3V and 52100 and INFI will outperform it but for most people those steels are an unnecessary luxury. Heat treating simple carbon steels would probably be a lot easier as well. 52100 has a very good reputation and would probably attract folks more into the higher end steels.

As far as stainless steel I tend to save that for my pocket knives. 154CM is my personal favorite, for similar reasons as 1095. Easy to sharpen and repair, gets shaving sharp, nice and stainless, and not overly expensive. VG-10 and S30V are similar but I haven't used them enough to develop much of an opinion. N680 has rolled quite badly in my experience, 8Cr13MoV rusted when I left it in my drawer, and AUS-8 seems to dull more quickly than the other steels listed so they wouldn't be my first choice. I would not buy something in 440C, with the possible exception of Buck products. There's just too many other options out there.

Take that for what you will. I am a bit of a steel nerd and factor it into my purchases, but I try to also be somewhat realistic and not be too much of a snob.
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Great feedback Carbon... I appreciate the time and thought... I've been toying with the idea of getting into 52100 for a while but aside from select makers like Ed Fowler it seems to me to often be used as a tag line and not taken to it's full potential... to date I've found that to be a deterrent as I considered it a sort of fad but maybe that's a reason to start seriously looking at it and put in the effort join the ranks of true quality 52100 makers.
 
HwangJino said:
Kitchen/work knives- Carbon, preferably blue or white carbon
Wood or camp knife- infi
Pocket knife- anything with a hardness over 60, not really picky
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can you define blue or white carbon?? you say blue I think Hitachi Blue?
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Heavy duty fixed blade CPM-3V at 58 or so Hrc
Medium duty fixed blade still CPM-3V but at 61 or so Hrc
EDC folder, let's change it up and go with CPM-M4 at 64 Hrc

I have two fixed blades in S35VN that have cheerfully shrugged off batoning and hold a great edge, so that would be my suggestion for stainless.
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hi again Insipid Monkey.... I mean moniker :P.... sorry think i made that mistake a while ago and never apologized...

Great offerings... 3V has been one on my mind for a while... as has M4....
unfortuantely Aldo doesn't carry 3V which as my sole supplier has made me look more at 80CrV... (just haven't needed to place a new order in a while with my current steel inventory)... would love to get my hands on some M4 to see how it stacks up against D2 and O1 in edge retention and destructive testing... .... ... lets be honest in the end they all rock... we just do it because we love it :)
 
atavist said:
Great feedback Carbon... I appreciate the time and thought... I've been toying with the idea of getting into 52100 for a while but aside from select makers like Ed Fowler it seems to me to often be used as a tag line and not taken to it's full potential... to date I've found that to be a deterrent as I considered it a sort of fad but maybe that's a reason to start seriously looking at it and put in the effort join the ranks of true quality 52100 makers.
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You might want to seriously look into 52100 then, which is technically a ball bearing steel. It's in the same class as 5160 which you've already said you like, much like 1095 and 1084 are related. From all the reading I've done online, when properly heat treated, 52100 is among the best cutlery steels on the market. The famous Busse SR-101 is just 52100 with a proprietary heat treatment, and you can read an ongoing discussion about how it stacks up to 3V and INFI. Supposed to be extremely tough and takes a fine edge, although it is very susceptible to corrosion as it falls under the carbon steel category. Hope that helps.
 
Carbon- said:
You might want to seriously look into 52100 then, which is technically a ball bearing steel. It's in the same class as 5160 which you've already said you like, much like 1095 and 1084 are related. From all the reading I've done online, when properly heat treated, 52100 is among the best cutlery steels on the market. The famous Busse SR-101 is just 52100 with a proprietary heat treatment, and you can read an ongoing discussion about how it stacks up to 3V and INFI. Supposed to be extremely tough and takes a fine edge, although it is very susceptible to corrosion as it falls under the carbon steel category. Hope that helps.
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A good friend of mine and Master Bladesmith (who I will not name ) has confided in me that he has done extensive destructive testing on Fowlers 52100 knives.... he himself is a ABS master and judged and won many competitions but admits that Fowlers 52100 is the toughest and best edge holding steel he has ever touched bar none.... .... says a lot for 52100... but also sets the bar pretty high....
I think I'll get a small batch and start just playing with it to build my own impressions.
 
52100 is my carbon steel choice
CPM M4 is my tool steel choice

CPM 10V gets impressive reviews

CPM 20cv is the an impressive stainless.

AEB-L is very underrated.

Laminated Cobalt steel has captured my imagination
 
Speaking only of steels you can get your hands on billets of without much trouble...

Carbon Steels
Heavy Batoning- S7
Light Batoning- 3V (semi-stainless)
General Cutting- 10v

Stainless Steels
Heavy Batoning- N/A, stick with carbon
Light Batoning- 3v (semi-stainless)
General Cutting- CTS-204P
 
My favorite stainless steel is AUS8. No, it won't hold an edge as long as M4 will and it won't resist rust like VG-10, but it's a steel that does everything reasonably well, is easy to sharpen and won't turn an otherwise $50 knife into a $250 knife. Also a fan of 420HC for the same reasons.

For carbon steels I like basic, plain steels like 1095 and 1055. They've stood the test of time, have been around long before I have and will long outlast me.
 
VG-10 has been my most reliable edc steel so far

x55CrMo14 in vic sak satisfies my needs as a secondary knife that seldom gets used so therefore holds an edge for a very long time and very easy to sharpen to keen edge.

just purchased a knife in cpm s35vn a month ago and things are shaping up quite nicely. I sharpened it today for the first time and brought up a sharper edge than on my vg10 although it took a few minutes extra. However, seeing that it took a whole month to need sharpening when my vg-10 would ask for it every two weeks, is leading me to believe this may be my new go to for edc.
 
DeadboxHero said:
52100 is my carbon steel choice
CPM M4 is my tool steel choice

CPM 10V gets impressive reviews

CPM 20cv is the an impressive stainless.

AEB-L is very underrated.

Laminated Cobalt steel has captured my imagination
Click to expand...

Aebl has long been on the top of my list for steels I'd like to work with... unfortunately I do more field type knives and it seems impossible to find aebl in thick enough stock for my blades.
 
Rennd said:
Speaking only of steels you can get your hands on billets of without much trouble...

Carbon Steels
Heavy Batoning- S7
Light Batoning- 3V (semi-stainless)
General Cutting- 10v

Stainless Steels
Heavy Batoning- N/A, stick with carbon
Light Batoning- 3v (semi-stainless)
General Cutting- CTS-204P
Click to expand...

Never looked much at CtS but would definitely like to do.some testing one day with S7 and 3v..... just too many good steels out there these days to play with them all at once...
 
Kwon Kwang said:
My favorite stainless steel is AUS8. No, it won't hold an edge as long as M4 will and it won't resist rust like VG-10, but it's a steel that does everything reasonably well, is easy to sharpen and won't turn an otherwise $50 knife into a $250 knife. Also a fan of 420HC for the same reasons.

For carbon steels I like basic, plain steels like 1095 and 1055. They've stood the test of time, have been around long before I have and will long outlast me.
Click to expand...

Can't go wrong keeping.it simple...
 
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