What is the best steel for a knife? What offers the most durability as well as edge retainment?
Is it 1095 cro van?
My vote goes to INFI, but unless you are prying a tank open, D2, elmax, even S90V will all get the job done, just hone your blade when it needs it
all blades will need some sort of resharpening unless you baby the shit out of it.
>>28841645
which is why guns are better than swords
>>28841689
Because firearms never require any sort of maintenance, right?
>>28841174
This question literally can't be answered ever. Different steels perform different ways for different scenarios.
High carbon tools steel hold great edges but will rust.
Stainless steels hold inferior (but not useless) edges and resist corrosion.
Titanium will resist corrosion but requires carbonization to hold an edge as it is too tough to be sharp on its own
Ceramics hold an edge naturally but are too brittle to be used hard.
Literally all blade properties cater to some specific function. If I had to pick favorites it would be O1, 1095, ZDP-189, 8CR13MOV, and S30V. All those cover different niches and perform adequately. But no one is exactly better IMHO
Explosion Bonded (XBOND) CPM S30V and Titanium
http://miltner-adams.com/knives/products/ma-4_ii_tactical-knife.html
https://youtu.be/Ifv9ZNMw9Os
WELCOME TO THE 21st CENTURY!
>>28841924
Thanks Zoolander.
>>28841709
This is a good post. I prefer stainless in my outdoor knives. AUS-8, S30V, VG-10. They all work fine. For kitchen knives I like ceramic.
>>28841174
For any answer to come close to decent you will tell us what you are using it for.
>Cutting plastic wrap off incoming material ?
Folding boxcutter with disposable blades.
>General pocket knife to wear during the day?
Litterally does not matter, or same as above.
>Self defense?
Glock 30SF
>Generic hipster knife of special snowflake alloy?
Who fucking cares?
>>28841174
CPM S30V is probably the most baller steel for medium to large general purpose knives and swords. Crucible particle metallurgy steels are expensive as fuck, and require exacting heat treat and temper regimes though.
1095 is a nice 10xx series steel that was originally designed to be spring steel. Like leaf springs in horse drawn carriages. It's pretty easy to heat treat well and sharpens easily. Wouldn't go over large Bowie size in 1095, great for anything smaller. It's cheap, it rusts easily, but you can sharpen it on a rock to near shaving sharp.
Hundreds of steels out there OP, all designed for particular things and applications. Learn and buy and learn. There is no one perfect steel
>>28841696
Cleaning a firearm is far easier than having to sharpen a knife and oil it
Sharpening a knife/sword requires more time and skill to get to a good edge
>>28842162
That's why you hone it depending on use, touching up the edge is far easier than sharpening, and oiling doesn't really take that long at all. and for the purpose of the topic I am referring solely to knives
>>28841174
That's like asking who is the best runner: A sprinter or a marathon runner?
Steels are not good or bad in an absolute sense. The question is which steels are most suited for which applications.
The first thing to keep in mind is that blade thickness, edge thickness, edge coarseness and quality of heat treatment will all be much bigger influences on a knife's performance than the steel choice will be.
After that, the question has to start with the application. What do you need the knife to be good at should dictate which steels are appropriate.
>>28841174
>What is the best steel for a knife?
If there was a best then everyone would use it.
See: >>28843034
M4 is my favorite so far. I think it's the closest I've seen to that perfect balance of toughness, edge retention, and not being too difficult to sharpen. S30v/s35vn are also nice.
>>28841973
I could google this,
But how do you personally sharpen ceramics?
440C :-)
>>28841174
I can't say this is the best steel, but my vote goes to 5160. See, I'm lazy. I prefer a (mostly) maintenance free blade, or in other words, one I don't have to constantly oil and/or clean to keep it from rusting. I also prefer an actual real carbon steel blade. 5160 is the best of both worlds. Its chrome alloy carbon steel. It has the strength, flexibility and tenacity of carbon steel and the rust and corrosion resistance of stainless steel.
>>28841174
1095 is a good steel but when it is heat treated by a company like LTWK they can really make it exceptional.
>>28841709
>>28843034
Say I wanted a bayonet for a rifle, 7 inches in blade length, 1 inch wide and about 1/5th of an inch thick.
what would be the best combination of steel and construction ect to hold a basic edge while still being strong enough for stabbing while mounted and survival brushwork?
>>28845300
Literally fuck off and die with your garbage LTWK shilling. LTWK is overpriced garbage.
>>28845332
>Bayonet
If money was no object, 3V with a toughness focussed heat treat. Edge retention and apex stability come way behind toughness in that use case.
>>28845376
chill, dude. He's just some troll who's shitposting other people's knives.
And the post you replied to doesn't even make sense - LT doesn't use 1095 (he uses a2, d2, o1, and 1075 in one case).
>>28845393
>Edge retention and apex stability
what is Apex Stability exactly? and could you give a rough estimate on what the price could be? Assume I am just getting the blade manufactured and have all of the other parts such as handle, mount, ext.
>>28841174
>1095
>better at anything
1095 is only good at toughness and for that job you can get 3V that will literally break in half your poorfag steel.
>>28845666
go away satan.
People overestimate the importance of steel, like it's a magic metal or something. Mithril swords anybody?
A 1095, A2, or O1, 5/32'' thick blade that's about 4.5-4.75 inches long with proper heat treat will be tough and take a good edge.
There's a bunch of makers that still do the thick "survival knife" thing, but for bushcraft/general purpose knives, 1/8'' is becoming the standard, and for good reason.
If you want uber-toughness, go for something like that retarded jagdkommando kampfdildo (or whatever it's called) - doesn't work as a knife though.
For normal use, a good maker is more important, and you will pay for that - you're looking at anywhere from 170 dollars, to well over 400, especially if you go for "legendary status" makers like busse, etc.
Can anyone recommend any knives? Looking for 6+ inch blade.
Also interested in some S30v steel ones, but anything thats good. Only ones I looked at are sogs, are they any good?
>>28846012
>6+ inch blade
>S30V
I can't think of any use case where you would want both of these things to be true of the same knife.
>>28846024
It would probably be cheaper to make the knife from unobtanium at this point.
>>28846012
the standard answer for a 6+ inch blade is a Becker BK7, and work from there.
>>28846024
Maybe I phrased it wrong. Im Interested in any s30v but looking for 6inch in any steel, I need some smaller back packing knives as well.
Is this any good?
>>28846138
>>28841174
I think the guys on Forged in Fire mostly use spring steel.
>>28841709
Pretty much this.
I spent about a couple months researching different metal properties of most knives I look at online, was very interesting.
Reminds me of a question a saw aked over and over on NASIOC;
"Whats the best turbo?"
The answer is any quality brand and on the spool's spectrum you desire (low to high end). It's not which one but What kind of turbo you want,same for metals; 'Whats it being used for/how will you use it?'
>>28845573
Apex stability is the ability of a steel to resist rolling or chipping (micro or macro scale) in thin cross sections.
Basically, wear resistance generally describes how long an edge will last slicing cardboard while apex stability indicates how long an edge will last push cutting zip-ties or whittling.
Generally, steels with very fine grain structures and low to moderate carbide volumes will have higher apex stability.
>>28845958
>go away satan.
but my trips are saying the truth, anon
>>28841174
HPM-T85
/thread
>>28841632
This
>>28846125
S30V is not a very good choice for backpacking or outdoors use, really.
For backpacking and such you want steels with a lot of toughness that are thus at a very low risk of gross failure (visible chipping, breaking, etc).
For that type of use 3V (ideal) ,1095, VG-10, Aus-8, AEB-L, 14c28, etc type steels are much better than something like S30V with has high wear resistance, low apex stability, and low toughness (comparatively).
the best steel in the world is useless, if the heat-treatment isnt right.
I'd rather have 1050 done by an expert, than some super-alloy cryogenically treated by a cack-handed village idiot
what does /k/ think of the
kershaw launch 6
and
benchmade hk axis
?
thanks
>>28841174
Right now the top 3 are INFI for toughness, 3V for edge retention, and Mission's Titanium for rust imperviousness
>>28841924
Out of a fucking Mad Max movie.
I'd buy that meme knife If I had money to spare
>>28841174
Fucking pleb.
" durhur high carbon always best steel "
Get out of the 80s and learn some supersteel properties
>>28846987
> Saying companies like spyderco and benchmade are cack-handled idiots
> Will rather buy the overpriced carbon shit made by the expert fat old guy
>>28841689
A blade never needs reloading and never jams.
>>28845300
>It's that faggot again.
At least Sebenza guy was funny and did it ironically.
There's nothing funny about your endless shitposting of tasteless knives
>>28847767
>>>28841174 (OP)
>Right now the top 3 are INFI for toughness, 3V for edge retention, and Mission's Titanium for rust imperviousness
This is why you need to be careful about who you listen to in online knife communities.
Most of the posters literally have no fucking idea of what they are talking about beyond parroting what they have read others say and/or marketing nonsense said by makers.
The rest have alterior motives, either because they are shilling, or because they enjoy misleading others.
>>28847789
>using "supersteel" unironically and uncritically
Exhibit B of a clueless fuck who wouldn't be able to differentiate any two steels in a blind test repeating marketing buzzwords.
>>28841174
Knives are memes and should not be used anymore. There's nothing a knife can do that a gun can't do .
>>28843382
You don't
>>28848161
Kek.
INFI is by far the toughest.
The guy from Survive! has experimented recently and has come up with a super 3v he cannot market yet.
And the titanium from Mission is the toughest existing on knives, to add to the fact they don't rust.
Are you a faggot or what?
I own two EDC knives and both are S35VN (ZT Sinkevichs if you must know)
how did I do? is it really S30V + extra toughness like Crucible claims?
>>28848337
Depends of heat treating and geometry.
Even if it was heat treated by Crucible, some companies like Bark River fuck up their steels because they power grind them to oblivion, generating excess heat and as I said fucking up the properties.
I have a Chris Reeve Pacific in S35VN and while it takes a jolly good edge, it also looses it in no time. Edge flattens easy and readily.
>>28848311
When you claimed that 3V was the best steel for edge retention you immediately proved that you literally know NOTHING about materials properties and are just repeating shit you've read.
Fuck off and stop misleading people with regurgitated nonsense.
>>28846605
This desu senpai
>>28848364
That's because you got memed into buying a knife from pleb catcher dickhead who deliberately under-hardens his knives.
>>28848364
do you own any S30V? if so, how does that compare to your CRP S35VN?
I've heard about the power grind thing fucking up ZT's Elmax, but haven't heard shit about their S35VN. in fact, there's some English-subtitled Youtube video where a Russkie takes a ZT S35VN folder (0550 I think) through a test and it stands up very well. is every individual blade different or should I expect similar results since mine are also ZT S35VN?
>>28848417
Lol, no.
I bought it for a good price second hand because I collect.
The design is top notch though.
I wish Bill Harsey worked for decent makers.
>you will never own a Gough Custom
http://goughcustom.com/
>>28848428
I own 2 more Chris Reeves in s30V, but he is known for fucking up his steels with poor heat treatment (he has the retarded idea that if he makes them softer they'll be easier to sharpen, when in fact what happens is that they're both soft AND brittle. They shatter).
One I dont use and the other one performs well, but it's very small (prof soldier).
The folding knife on my Leatherman is s30v and it outperforms both of Chris Reeve's knives.
With the Professional Soldier I've gotten flat spots, but my leatherman is still going strong after cutting and carving bamboo and stabbing cans.
>>28848498
I dont want to. They're ugly and nothing special.
He keeps getting better but he's far, faaar behind in the manufacturing process.
His steel treatment is spartan and crude as fuck. Almost primitive.
Look for example at his liquid nitrogen treatment. That's normally done in a vacuum with a controled pressure. What he does is equivalent to sharpening knives with files or heating them in coals in a fire.
>>28848544
>His steel treatment is spartan and crude as fuck. Almost primitive.
Develop your hypothesis
>>28841174
Busse INFI...
>>28848568
He ditches his knives in a fucking cooler full of liquid nitrogen for fuck's sake.
Also he uses a home-made oven.
Gough is a good marketer because his workshop is extremely clean and good-looking, and his knives are lean and non-aggressive looking.
Good Youtuber, not so good knifemaker.
Also I think they're ugly as fuck, and they dont have the most comfortable handles
>>28848364
>this spanishfag again
Morakniv. Best bang for your buck.
http://www.amazon.com/Morakniv-Companion-Outdoor-Military-4-1-Inch/dp/B004TNWD40
>>28842096
S30V sword?
WTF you on about now? Sword steel needs to have some flex. Something S30V is not at all good at being.
I'm not a sword expert or anything but I would be wary of any sword designed for combat that is S30V.
I like S30V in a folder but I'd prefer something else even in a smaller fixed blade.
>>28841924
>explosion bonded
>>28848599
>Also he uses a home-made oven.
You gotta start somewhere brah, how are your knife making skills coming along?
>>28848663
That is irrelevant to my point.
My point is his knives are nothing special in any way, so I dont want to own one.
He has to move up in the manufacturing process, there's not a lot of things he can do with the resources he has at the moment.
Otherwise his knives will always be more mediocre than other makers with better stuff
No knife will ever come close to the usefulness of a one inch OLFA.
>>28848739
Only useful for hoarders who need to open their amazon boxes
>>28848739
I know you're meming but you'll spend more in replacement blades than if you just buy a Tenacious, Rat, or Leek.
>>28848686
>implying that are that many more makers than him
Many of them even uses an not in house heat treatment, in which they have no control at all.
>>28848498
That's a bk16
>>28848841
There are many more makers and yes, there are some that dont heat treat.
If their stock removal technique is good, this is no problem and may in fact be better for performance than home-made knives.
For example Winkler knives are stock removal but are mighty reliable.
>>28848739
The blades dull almost instantly. Why would I tolerate that shit when I can have a sharp knife with some edge retention.
>>28848852
What? It's Gough's Resolute MK3
http://goughcustom.com/products/resolute-mk-iii/resolute-mk-iii.html
>>28841174
Whatever steel LWTK uses in theirs. I trust their expertise and commitment to quality and craftsmanship.
>>28848895
Why do you keep on shilling?
>>28848922
Just pointing out it's not a BK16
>>28848877
I wanted to say many more makers better than him, somehow I missed that word.
If you outsource your heat treatment you have deserve no credite as a knife maker, you can't control 100% your product, fact.
What do you say about Survive knives? Good, bad, awesome, shit? What's your opinion do I can just know if you know shit about what we're talking about.
>>28848969
Personally I dont give a shite about knifemaking credit. If it works it works, if it doesnt it doesnt.
Survive! are top fucking notch and getting better. I'd personally tweak his designs but overall they're some of the most functional in the market (for the high end semi-production knives I mean).
The guy that makes them made a video not so long ago talking about a new heat treat of ·V that could potentially rival INFI.
I dont like his fanbase though. It's becoming as obnoxious and vomitive as the Busse fanbase. Just read through Bladeforums to see whan I'm talking about.
I also dont like his production schedules. It's currently worse than Busse, in that their knives are always pre-ordered and always out of sale.
>>28849045
As I expected you're someone from Survive! PR personnel or Guy himself, now I see why you shit on Gough's products. That's sad lad.
Just joking, I follow Survive! on youtube and I've read Survive! threads on Bladeforums, they really make a good product and tough as hell. I do still think you're being harsh as shit to Gough, he has a super comfy chanel and have improved is skills along the way, you can't expect it to be perfect in the blink of an eye. Many manufactures don't even cryo threat their knives, he does it even if it's rudimentary.
>>28849186
Yeah dude, what I mean is that I dont see any appeal on his knives.
I own expensive knives and top performers like Busses, but I also enjoy more humble knives like the ones made locally.
I'm just amazed at some people believing Gough makes some top notch shit. It's ok, but that's it. The best thing about it is the Dark Souls name.
Also I dont own a fucking Survive! because of their retarded sales pitch of not having fucking knives in stock. That Guy should perhaps hire more people.
>>28849227
Fair enough.
Yeah but you can pre-order, I don't know the waiting time though. For me the GSO 4.1 in 3v would be my perfect knife, he also offers cpm 20cv steel.
I just picked up this Manix 2 with s110v steel. At $100 it seemed like a good price. What is the consensus on this steel? Will it basically be impossible to sharpen once it is dull?
>>28850128
>s110v
Requires diamond plates or highly friable silicon carbide stones to sharpen in a timely manner.
Extremely high wear resistance, primary mode of wear is microscopic chipping/carbide tear out, very low apex stability, very low toughness.
Well suited for extended use in cutting of abrasive but soft materials like cardboard or carpet when run at a coarse apex finish because it will microscopically self-serrate in use.
Will be terrible at at a high-grit finish trying to push cut. Care required to avoid side-loading the edgebto avoid risk of macroscopic chipping due to brittleness.
>>28850226
>>28842162
>Cleaning a firearm is far easier than having to sharpen a knife and oil it
maybe you should stop being a skillless faggot and learn how to hone a blade? it takes like 30 seconds
>>28850270
How do you know when to hone a blade versus sharpening it on a stone?
Is this thing any good? Is Atlanta cutlery any good?
I've had a growing desire to buy a bowie knife for inna woods but I don't know if there are any good options
>>28850304
>28850304
Blade is cool and sheath is cool, but handle is dogshit..
Not worth it.
>>28850226
How do you know all that shit?
>>28850474
I've got too much time on my hands so I read about the metallurgy of knife steels
>>28850304
I would look at a bk9 first, the cold steel 1917 doesn't look too bad for the price but I hate choils
>>28850474
This is a good place to start.
http://faq.customtacticals.com/steels/index.php
>>28841632
>INFI
Yup.
I hammered (with a hammer) my Team Gemini into my driveway for giggles. Some stropping brought the edge back to pre-hammer sharpness.
I prefer Benchmade's 154CM for EDC though. Takes a nasty edge, and it's easy to sharpen.
>>28850474
Because this is not amateur hour.
>>28850226
That was much more helpful than I was expecting when I asked the question. Thanks mystery knifemaster.
Hey knife guys. If I wanted to get a really good fixed blade knife for under $350 what would you go with? Probably wanted to keep the blade in the 4-6 inch range.
>>28841174
Love me some O1, OP. Super easy to work with, hardens and tempers easily, oil quenches... holds an edge well, sharpens easy. Cuts like a razer, even without a terribly fine grind.
Pic related is my attempt to work with D2. Attempted an oil quench, because that's easy. Bad juju on D2... Very bad. Warped, cracked, broke.
So I know nothing about knives, what kind of oil do you use? How do you oil it? Do all knives need to be oiled?
>>28851761
Generally most edc knives are stainless steel so they don't need to be oiled, just kept clean
For carbon steel knives a light gun oil works great, and occasionally you might need to oil the mechanical parts on folders and such
>>28846138
I have the Tigerstripe one, I paid $50 for a knife and got $50 worth of knife. Haven't used it since I got it since it's retard tier heavy and can't even be removed from the sheath one handed. It's mainly a lulz piece now, my friends and I just laugh at it because of how impractical it is
>>28850707
I bought my TGLB just over a year ago as a beater, old photo, but I haven't yet really put it through it's paces. I have seen some absolute torture given to busse knives, and they just ask for more
>>28851571
Survive! , Busse
>>28851571
>fixed blade
I would always go with a custom maker for fixed blades, personally.
>>28847889
>At least Sebenza guy was funny and did it ironically.
No he was not and no he did not. Maybe some of the later Sebenza fags were shitposting ironically, but that's still shitposting. Fun fact: the person you just replied to was one of them.
The first Sebenza guy was just mad that people shat on his S&W tacticool folder many moons ago.
>>28854799
Yes he did you stupid fuck.
The whole purpose of it all was to shit on Chris Reeve as a quality brand.
You all shoved the bait up your asses
>>28841174
I'll throw my vote at s30v
>>28848635
s90v sword
>>28854839
>The whole point was to shit on this brand that nobody ever talked about before he started posting it everywhere
Ironclad logic.
Anon, he was a buttmad shitposter and I can't imagine why you're defending him.
None if you faggots even mention cryo tempered S7 steel. It's current year guys
>>28854917
so is this one.
Incidentally, lt wright makes really awesome knives, but I'm sick of seeing those pictures pop up in every thread now, accompanied by some full retard text.
>>28854966
The Coyote will be your best buddy, best companion, and go to guy while hunting or on a hike. The Coyote is a bird and trout style knife that is great at field dressing deer or small game. You will want this knife to be on your hip at all times. We start with 1/8 inch precision ground D2 tool steel and create a flat ground, multi-purpose, quality piece of cutlery. With it’s secondary cutting edge of 2 7/8 inches it will process game, make a great fuzz stick, and slice through most anything at camp.
>>28854966
Well dude you shouldn't have bitched at people for having inexpensive knives and/or factory edges.
You made a monster, you don't get to complain about it.
>>28855040
i never bitched about either. Even if most of /k/ is butthurt jellyfags with $30 knives sperging out over "muh ganzo" and whatnot.
It's one thing to have a cheap knife (and you can do pretty well with very little if you know where to look - Condor for example). It's another thing entirely to be in hardmode denial, that a high quality knife is better than a cheap chink mystery steel.
Even with diminishing returns meaning you pay more and more for less and less.
Realistically, Delica4 and Izula2 are as good as you'll ever need, and last I checked, they were both $67-ish on bladehq. Can't afford that? Well, sucks to be you - save up some money, or get a 40-dollar kershaw and stop whining.
And if you can blow 150+ on a knife that is marginally better (but still better) than a 70 dollar one - who am I to stop you?
As for the topic at hand - powder steel (aka super steel) is equal parts technological marvel, and marketing gimmick.
Honestly - HI has some old dude in sandals working in a hut in Nepal, banging out 1st class knives from old Mercedes leaf springs. You can yak all day about the wonders of modern magic steels, but in the end, what does it matter if your knife is six times stronger than you need, or only four times - it's still waaay above the required parameters.
>>28842162
>cleaning a firearm is far easier...
>>28851571
Medford
>>28841174
Objectively, under abuse, INFI.
>>28845332
INFI.
Tie a Busse to your rifle
>>28858241
Where can you find INFI blades?
>>28860408
In safes
>>28863128
What
>>28863267
Majority of all Busse blades are safe queens
>>28860408
It's a proprietary steel used by Busse knives.
>>28863296
Is correct, but occasionally pic related occurs
>>28863669
They have a no questions asked warranty like esee right?
>>28863713
Correct. Busse even contacted me after they saw this pic and asked to use it for social media purposes.
>>28863822
Are there any models without choils?
And ordering is kind of weird right, don't they only do a batch of knives at a time or something?
>>28863857
There are occasionally models with reduced choils. The choil with holes is their trademark (legally), so it benefits them to use it.
Most knives are made to order, unless they are doing a run, so you place your order for your preferred handle material, then wait a month or two (unless they have one on hand). I stripped the coating off of my blade, which gives it the rough look it has.
>>28863296
Whats a safe queen?
>>28863961
Interesting, I'll start looking into it more but choils kind of kill the designs for me, I like everything else though
>>28863961
>>28863669
Why would you do that to knife other than because you can?
>inb4 to test the toughness under hard use
>>28863974
It's a knife that does not sees really usage, it's more something to take pics of it and post in social media and brag about it other than use it as a proper tool.
Also sometimes is seen as an investment.
>>28864108
>Why
I'm not really worried about breaking the knife in any way, so why not. I've done quite a few things to my Busse just because I can. I took a healthy swing at a barbed-wire fence once.
>>28864355
To give you some credit at least you use it and have fun with it. If I had a Busse(maybe one day, they're not that expensive) I would for sure hard use it but in /out/doors but would not feel comfortable smashing it against hard floor, no matter how good the product or the garanty are.
>fuck it I broke the tip
>no problem send it back and we take care of you
>2 months later knife arrives to my hands again
>mfw
>>28841174
why does this knife not have a proper place to brace your thumb?
If you tried to stab someone in the chest you would slice yourself quite bad.
Looks good though.
>>28864701
>why does this knife not have a proper place to brace your thumb?
... It does?
>If you tried to stab someone in the chest you would slice yourself quite bad.
Stop parroting things you read on the internet. A guard is usually preferable, but plenty of knives in human history were made without guards, usually to aid in concealment.
