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About Blade Steel

The most common blade material used to make knives is iron and carbon that is enhanced with a variety of elements such as chromium, vanadium, manganese, and more. Different types of steel are created by adjusting the amounts of each material that is added. Stainless steels, for instance, are created by adding more rust resistant materials.

Finishing processes play a large role in creating blade steel. Processes such as rolling and heat treating have a great affect on performance. Each material performs differently under varying finishing processes.

The choice of steel will depend on the desired balance of characteristics such as corrosion resistance, edge retention, toughness, and ease of maintenance for a specific knife.

1095

This is a traditional high carbon steel often found on traditional style pocket knife blades. At the time of writing, Great Eastern Cutlery is an ardent user of the steel as it is the only steel found in the blades of their Tidioute and Northfield brand knives. 1095 is not a stainless steel, so it will be prone to rust if not cared for properly. GEC & others argue that the advantage over stainless steel such it its edge holding ability, its willingness to take a keen edge, and its ability to gain a very high polish.

There are many modified versions of 1095 that go by other names that often have properties that are very similar and often near indistinguishable. The W.R. Cased & Sons Cutlery company, for example, was a a steel it calls Chrome Vanadium & it was widely reported for years that this steel is an enhanced 1095 steel. The certainty of the composition over time is hard to know, but at some point, it has been & may still be the same as 1095 with added Nickel-Chromium and a small amount of Vanadium. Many claim it performs slightly better than traditional 1095.

As you add other materials, the ratio of carbon content can be reduced if not adjusted, so you may end up with something closer to 1085 (The "Ten Series" has reduced carbon as you move down the scale ie... 1095, 1085, 1070, etc.). The 1095 is highlighted here & used as a baseline due to it being the most popular ten series for knife blades in recent history.

Note that in 2022, Case started using straight 1095 on some knife blades with designation of CS.

154CM

This is an American made stainless steel that was originally developed to make turbine blades in jet engines. It is very similar to ATS-34. It's very corrosion resistant and has good toughness and edge quality.

440C

This is a stainless steel that is used on many factory manufactured knife blades. It is very tough and extremely stain resistant. It holds an edge well and is fairly easy to sharpen. It is generally hardened to between 56 and 59 Rc., and makes a great all around blade. 440C is far superior to most other 400 series steels. 440A and 440B are not as good.

ATS-34

This is a stainless steel that comes from Japan and is very similar to The U.S.'s 154CM. It became very popular with knife makers in the 1990's as a higher quality alternative to 440C. The steel is not as rust resistant as 440C, but holds a better edge. The carbon content is 1.04% . It works best when hardened to between 59 Rc to 61 Rc.

AUS-8

This steel has a low carbon to chromium ratio. It is very resistant to corrosion, and is very tough, but does not hold an edge as well as many other steel variations with higher carbon content.

BG-42

This material is a stainless steel. It has a better edge holding ability than 44C and ATS-34, and is tougher than ATS-34. Works best when hardened to 61 - 63 Rc.

D2

This material is a very high carbon steel (1.5%) that has superb edge holding ability and unmatched wear resistance, but lacks toughness. It is not as corrosion resistant as 440C or ATS-34, and is not considered a stainless steel because it only has 12% chrome. Stainless blades have 13% or more.

Damascus

Damascus is made of a variety of steels that are layered together. The finishing process involves an acid etch that exposes the surface lines. The end result is a tough blade with good edge quality. It is quite expensive and used mostly for its artistic nature.

H1

H1's claim to fame is its corrosion resistance. Blades made of the material sacrifice edge quality for this corrosion resistance and toughness.

M2

This is an extremely tough, tool grade steel. It is used mostly for industrial cutting tasks. The steel has superb strength and is extremely wear resistant, but is highly susceptible to corrosion.

S30V

This is a premium grade steel that was designed in the U.S. for knife making. It has very good edge holding ability and is very corrosion resistant.