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> When it comes down to it, most of today’s super exotic alloys will outperform any pattern-welded steel ... A well-made Damascus blade will stay sharp for long

by 21 8y ago

> When it comes down to it, most of today’s super exotic alloys will outperform any pattern-welded steel ... A well-made Damascus blade will stay sharp for longer than most production quality knives, but if you’re looking for the ends-of-the-earth best performing blade steel, look elsewhere Can someone link/name one of these super exotic alloys knifes?

phonon 8y ago
http://knifeinformer.com/discovering-the-best-knife-steel/ http://knifeinformer.com/discovering-the-best-knife-steel/
pdpi 8y ago
Personally, I don't see the value in going for something super-exotic. It's not exactly the fanciest exotic alloy knife in the world, but my Global G-2 is an amazing workhorse of a knife. I've owned the knife for 8 years, and, while I take good care of it, I've never babied it — it's still in impeccable condition and remarkably sharp (I've never gotten around to resharpening it).
mbubb 8y ago
this is a knife maker I follow - nice Damascus blades http://www.bloodrootblades.com/chef-2/ http://www.bloodrootblades.com/chef-2/
abakker 8y ago
A go-to for non-stainless that many people get excellent performance from is 52100 - which is ball bearing steel. Not a “super steel” but very high performance when given a good treatment (I.e. from a maker that understands how to treat it in a knife making context) CPM154 and S30V are pretty special steels. Nearly impossible to home-heat treat without a lot of equipment, (molten salts pots, cryogenic equipment). When done right, though, they sure perform.
int_19h 8y ago
Some examples would be CPM S30V, S35VN, S90V, and S110V; CPM 3V, 9V, 10V, 15V; A2, D2, O1 and S7; VG-10. Some of these are arguably "more Damascus than Damascus", in a sense that they're also mixes, but on a much finer level. For example, S30V - a relatively affordable "super steel" - is one of those known as "powder steels" due to the way they're made, achieving extreme uniformity and purity of the alloy even at microscopic level: https://www.knifeart.com/particlesteel.html https://www.knifeart.com/particlesteel.html This lets knife makers create alloys that are outright impossible using traditional methods (because they wouldn't be able to make them uniform enough). It also means that they can formulate an alloy precisely to match the desired qualities, instead of approximating it by mixing steels in layers as Damascus does. The kind of stuff we can do with modern technology and modern materials would be considered genuine magic back in the days where the quality of those blades was a life-or-death matter. It's kinda ironic that these days, we use it for EDC knives to avoid sharpening them more often than we'd like. Here's a good example of how a modern knife made from one of the highest-end steels performs (scroll down to the "Performance" section): http://knifeinformer.com/spyderco-military-s110v-review/ http://knifeinformer.com/spyderco-military-s110v-review/
- vvanders 8y ago
  Really big fan of S30V, it's a pretty decent blend of edge retention without being an absolute pain to resharpen. There's some really interesting specialty metals out there like Boye Dendritic Cobalt[1]. I've got one of their sheepsfoot folders and it's a pretty neat for a specialty knife. [1] https://www.boyeknives.com/pages/new-dendritic-cobalt https://www.boyeknives.com/pages/new-dendritic-cobalt
  - int_19h 8y ago
    I actually find even S30V to be a bit overkill as far as resharpening goes, and prefer softer steels that are easier to keep sharp with little effort and basic tools, even if you need to do it more often - such as 14C28N and VG-10. But it's all very subjective. I have some S30V and S35VN folders, too, and large 3V choppers (got a couple Fehrmans back in the day on a whim). They're all great blades, and if it comes to a zombie apocalypse, I'm definitely swinging a Fehrman. But until then... ~
    - vvanders 8y ago
      Yeah, I've got a Benchmade Anthem which is easily one of my favorites(aside from the fact that the incredibly smooth action may qualify it as a gravity knife in some overly zealous jurisdictions), however the CPM-20SV is pretty hard to resharpen if you let it go too far. I probably just need to spend some proper time to learn it as almost all my other stuff is either 30SV or 154CM.
- rstuart4133 8y ago
  What I'd give to have that performance in a folding fish filleting knife. Resharpening after every 2nd fish when you have 30 fish to do gets tiresome after a while. I tried to find such a beast, but either they don't exist of my google failed me.
  - int_19h 8y ago
    Look for small shops that do custom orders - they are usually happy to make whatever you need. Of course, it's also going to be priced accordingly. Also, it looks like these guys make them with S30V and S90V (it's not on the page, but look at the title!) http://www.dunnknives.com/filletknives.html http://www.dunnknives.com/filletknives.html Having said that... wouldn't a ceramic knife be better for this task? It's going to be more wear resistant than any steel, and I don't think you need to worry about brittleness or chipping in this application.

by 21 8y ago

phonon 8y ago

http://knifeinformer.com/discovering-the-best-knife-steel/ http://knifeinformer.com/discovering-the-best-knife-steel/

pdpi 8y ago

Personally, I don't see the value in going for something super-exotic. It's not exactly the fanciest exotic alloy knife in the world, but my Global G-2 is an amazing workhorse of a knife. I've owned the knife for 8 years, and, while I take good care of it, I've never babied it — it's still in impeccable condition and remarkably sharp (I've never gotten around to resharpening it).

mbubb 8y ago

this is a knife maker I follow - nice Damascus blades http://www.bloodrootblades.com/chef-2/ http://www.bloodrootblades.com/chef-2/

abakker 8y ago

A go-to for non-stainless that many people get excellent performance from is 52100 - which is ball bearing steel. Not a “super steel” but very high performance when given a good treatment (I.e. from a maker that understands how to treat it in a knife making context) CPM154 and S30V are pretty special steels. Nearly impossible to home-heat treat without a lot of equipment, (molten salts pots, cryogenic equipment). When done right, though, they sure perform.

int_19h 8y ago

Some examples would be CPM S30V, S35VN, S90V, and S110V; CPM 3V, 9V, 10V, 15V; A2, D2, O1 and S7; VG-10. Some of these are arguably "more Damascus than Damascus", in a sense that they're also mixes, but on a much finer level. For example, S30V - a relatively affordable "super steel" - is one of those known as "powder steels" due to the way they're made, achieving extreme uniformity and purity of the alloy even at microscopic level: https://www.knifeart.com/particlesteel.html https://www.knifeart.com/particlesteel.html This lets knife makers create alloys that are outright impossible using traditional methods (because they wouldn't be able to make them uniform enough). It also means that they can formulate an alloy precisely to match the desired qualities, instead of approximating it by mixing steels in layers as Damascus does. The kind of stuff we can do with modern technology and modern materials would be considered genuine magic back in the days where the quality of those blades was a life-or-death matter. It's kinda ironic that these days, we use it for EDC knives to avoid sharpening them more often than we'd like. Here's a good example of how a modern knife made from one of the highest-end steels performs (scroll down to the "Performance" section): http://knifeinformer.com/spyderco-military-s110v-review/ http://knifeinformer.com/spyderco-military-s110v-review/

vvanders 8y ago
Really big fan of S30V, it's a pretty decent blend of edge retention without being an absolute pain to resharpen. There's some really interesting specialty metals out there like Boye Dendritic Cobalt[1]. I've got one of their sheepsfoot folders and it's a pretty neat for a specialty knife. [1] https://www.boyeknives.com/pages/new-dendritic-cobalt https://www.boyeknives.com/pages/new-dendritic-cobalt
- int_19h 8y ago
  I actually find even S30V to be a bit overkill as far as resharpening goes, and prefer softer steels that are easier to keep sharp with little effort and basic tools, even if you need to do it more often - such as 14C28N and VG-10. But it's all very subjective. I have some S30V and S35VN folders, too, and large 3V choppers (got a couple Fehrmans back in the day on a whim). They're all great blades, and if it comes to a zombie apocalypse, I'm definitely swinging a Fehrman. But until then... ~
  - vvanders 8y ago
    Yeah, I've got a Benchmade Anthem which is easily one of my favorites(aside from the fact that the incredibly smooth action may qualify it as a gravity knife in some overly zealous jurisdictions), however the CPM-20SV is pretty hard to resharpen if you let it go too far. I probably just need to spend some proper time to learn it as almost all my other stuff is either 30SV or 154CM.
rstuart4133 8y ago
What I'd give to have that performance in a folding fish filleting knife. Resharpening after every 2nd fish when you have 30 fish to do gets tiresome after a while. I tried to find such a beast, but either they don't exist of my google failed me.
- int_19h 8y ago
  Look for small shops that do custom orders - they are usually happy to make whatever you need. Of course, it's also going to be priced accordingly. Also, it looks like these guys make them with S30V and S90V (it's not on the page, but look at the title!) http://www.dunnknives.com/filletknives.html http://www.dunnknives.com/filletknives.html Having said that... wouldn't a ceramic knife be better for this task? It's going to be more wear resistant than any steel, and I don't think you need to worry about brittleness or chipping in this application.