4 ms·

I think this observation is very much on point. Imho, there's a bit of what amounts to fetishism in the knife-making community about steels. Truthfully, the pri

by qchris 7y ago

I think this observation is very much on point. Imho, there's a bit of what amounts to fetishism in the knife-making community about steels. Truthfully, the primary differences should be in fit, finish, and balance for a knife. It's just as possible to put a fine edge on the cheapest steel in the world as as it is an expensive tool steel like 440C. Jay Fisher, a custom knife-maker, likes to makes the point that a ceramic flint-knapper can put an edge on a stone that will scare any knifemaker alive, as long as the edge doesn't accidentally touch anything too solid and chip. An AUS8 blade hits a nice balance between corrosion resistance, end-user servicing, decent maximum hardness, and manufacturability, though focusing on "our steel is special" seems to sell blades. Plus, I think it's worth noting that if most manufacturers were to make blades out of more expensive knife making steel like S3OV, not only would they likely corrode, people would be close to incapable of properly caring for those blades properly anyway. It's not an easy task, especially for someone who is only using the knife to achieve their primary goal: cooking.

bartread 7y ago
I don't get the steel fetishism either, and with kitchen knives it's clearly very much about environment: your fancy-pants pocket knife steel may not do well in an environment where it's sat around damp and with food residue on it for hours or days, shoved into a dishwasher, or whatever. I'm not mad on pocketknives, but I've got a small handful in 440C, a couple in AUS-8, and then one in S35VN. The latter used to be considered fairly high end as a blade steel but now appears to be increasingly commonplace in even relatively inexpensive knives. From a practical standpoint, and for my use cases, there's no significant difference between any of these, except that the S35VN is harder to sharpen. I have no complaints with edge retention or sharpness for any of the 440C or AUS-8 knives I own even though they're looked down on as blade steels by the knife community and, in fact, my favourite pocketknife for everyday and DIY use is the very inexpensive Ontario Rat #1 in AUS-8. It fits my hand well, is a great cutting tool, and is incredibly easy to sharpen and maintain.

by qchris 7y ago

bartread 7y ago

I don't get the steel fetishism either, and with kitchen knives it's clearly very much about environment: your fancy-pants pocket knife steel may not do well in an environment where it's sat around damp and with food residue on it for hours or days, shoved into a dishwasher, or whatever. I'm not mad on pocketknives, but I've got a small handful in 440C, a couple in AUS-8, and then one in S35VN. The latter used to be considered fairly high end as a blade steel but now appears to be increasingly commonplace in even relatively inexpensive knives. From a practical standpoint, and for my use cases, there's no significant difference between any of these, except that the S35VN is harder to sharpen. I have no complaints with edge retention or sharpness for any of the 440C or AUS-8 knives I own even though they're looked down on as blade steels by the knife community and, in fact, my favourite pocketknife for everyday and DIY use is the very inexpensive Ontario Rat #1 in AUS-8. It fits my hand well, is a great cutting tool, and is incredibly easy to sharpen and maintain.