It is steel, but because of the different carbon content and different composition of rare metals, the toughness and hardness are different
A good knife must ensure good hardness, toughness and corrosion resistance
p>
Commonly used materials are
420J2: (produced by Cold Stee Company) Due to its low carbon and high chromium composition, this steel is the best choice for making tough and shock-resistant blades, and it also It has good corrosion resistance and good blade edge retention. It is an ideal blade material that can be used in various environments, such as high temperature, humidity, sea water, etc. The high amount of chromium gives it super corrosion resistance, making it an ideal tool for manufacturing portable knives and Excellent material for knives that require little maintenance.
4Cr13: Domestic high-quality stainless acid-resistant steel, low-carbon high-chromium steel, widely used in weakly corrosive media parts. Medical tool springs. Rolling bearings. Surgical knives. Surgical instruments. It has excellent corrosion resistance. The processability is excellent, and the overall performance is equivalent to 420J2.
425m: A modified variety of 420 series steel, named 425M. The carbon content is increased to about 0.55, and 1% of molybdenum is added. After heat treatment, it can achieve a more ideal hardness (HRc58) ), but retains the excellent processability of 420 series steel, so it is extremely suitable for use in factory-made knives. The two famous knife factories in the United States, BUCK and GERBER, selected 425M as their blade material in the 1990s.
9Cr18: Domestic high-quality stainless acid-resistant steel with a chromium content of 18 and a carbon content of 0.9. It is widely used in automatic lathe parts, fiber factory machinery, corrosion-resistant and wear-resistant parts in the petroleum industry, and surgery. Knives and surgical instruments, with excellent corrosion resistance and excellent processability. After mature treatment, it can reach a hardness of HRc58.
440-C: High-quality stainless steel made in the United States, with a chromium content of up to 16-18. Originally used in surgical knives and the shipbuilding industry, it has excellent corrosion resistance and corrosion resistance; and has strong toughness. Now it is more widely used in hand-made knives and high-quality factory-made knives. The carbon content is about 1 (440 series is divided into A, B, C, and F grades; C grade and F grade have the highest carbon content, while A grade has less carbon content). After mature treatment, it can reach a hardness of HRc58.
9Cr18Mo: Domestic high-quality stainless steel with a chromium content of 18, a molybdenum content of 0.9, and a carbon content of 0.9. It is mainly used in weakly corrosive media parts, medical tool springs, rolling bearings, surgical knives, and surgical instruments. It has excellent corrosion resistance and processability, and can reach a hardness of HRc58 after mature treatment.
154CM: High-quality stainless steel made in the United States, with a chromium content of 15, a molybdenum content of 15, and a molybdenum content of 4; hence the name 154CM. It was first adopted by R.W. Loverless, one of the masters of modern hand-made knives. It has excellent processability, corrosion resistance, blade damage resistance and toughness, but the price is high, so it is only used in handmade knives. The carbon content is about 1.05, and the hardness can reach HRc60~61 after heat treatment.
ATS-34: A high-quality stainless steel developed by Japan's "Hitachi Metal Industries" for the US-made 154CM. The materials and ingredients are similar to 154CM, and all aspects of performance meet the standards of 154CM, and are still available. However, the price is cheaper, and it is recognized as one of the best knife steels in the industry. It has now become the mainstream application of handmade and high-quality factory-made knives. After heat treatment, the hardness can reach HRc60~61.
AUS8(8A): A high-quality stainless steel material developed by Japan's "Aichi Steel". It has excellent corrosion resistance, blade damage resistance and toughness. It is mostly used in high-quality Japanese-made knives. . AUS steel grades are divided into three types: 10A (carbon content about 1), 8A (carbon content about 0.8) and 6A (carbon content about 0.6). 8A has a hardness of HRc58~59 after heat treatment.
D2: D2 is a wear-resistant tool steel used for metal machining. It belongs to Air-Hardening steel; it is widely used in the production of felling knives or hunting knives. The carbon content is as high as 1.5 and it contains chromium. The weight is also as high as 11.5, and the hardness can reach HRc60 after heat treatment. However, its ductility (toughness) is relatively weak, its endurance is not very good, and the surface of the steel is difficult to mirror polish.
Hi-Speed ??Tool Steel: Highly processed tool steel with high carbon content and low chromium content (about 4), so the gloss of the polished steel surface is relatively Dark. After heat treatment, it can reach a high hardness of HRc62, but its resistance is not very good.
Cowry Large felling knives. The carbon content of the steel is as high as 3. After heat treatment, it can obtain a high hardness of HRc67.
Cowry Y (CP-4): A high-quality powder-based alloy steel developed by Japan's Daido Special Steel Co., Ltd. in 1993. The carbon content reaches 1.2, and the rare metal element "columbium" is mixed with 0.2 , after heat treatment, it can reach a high hardness of HRc63, but still maintains excellent ductility.
A-2: High toughness and wear-resistant tool steel A-2 for metal processing. It is an air-hardened steel with a high carbon content of about 1. After heat treatment, it can reach a hardness of HRc57. The chromium content About 5. After polishing, the steel surface has a darker luster, excellent corrosion resistance, ductility (extremely strong), and good damage resistance of the blade.
VG10: The "V Gold No. 10" stainless steel of Japan's "Takeo Special Steel" is "V Gold", which is the best grade of steel. It contains about 1 carbon, 1.2 molybdenum and 1.5 cobalt. , the hardness can reach HRc60-62 after heat treatment. VG-10 has excellent processability, strong toughness and corrosion resistance, and is mostly used in high-quality Japanese-made knives.
BG-42: An extremely high-quality stainless steel with a carbon content of 1.15 and a vanadium content of up to 1.20; therefore, the steel structure has fine particles and can reach a hardness of HRc60-61 after heat treatment. It has excellent processability. It has strong corrosion resistance and good toughness. BG-42 was originally used in the aerospace industry as a material for making pulleys and crankshafts. Due to its high price, it is mostly used in the knife making industry to make handmade knives for knifemakers.
SANDVIK: SANDVIK is a leader in the Nordic steel and hardware industry. 120C stainless steel is one of SANDVIK's excellent steel types. It has a carbon content of about 1 and a chromium content of about 14. After heat treatment, it can reach With a hardness of HRc56-58, excellent processability and toughness, most famous knives produced in Northern Europe are made of SANDVIK steel.
1095: The best quality among high-carbon steels is 1095. Its carbon content reaches 1.03. After heat treatment, it can reach a hardness of HRc58-60. It has very good toughness, but it is not corrosion-resistant and is often used. Applied to traditional European hunting knives, large felling knives and military knives. For example, the famous KA-BAR military knife in the United States during World War II used 1095 as the blade material.
T10: Domestic high-quality high-carbon steel with a carbon content of 1, which can reach HRc58- after heat treatment It is a tool steel with a hardness of 60, very good toughness, good wear resistance, and the cutting edge does not heat up, but it is not corrosion-resistant. It is widely used in my country's export knife making industry.
W-2: High carbon tools. The steel designated as W-shaped is water-hardening steel, which is the cheapest among tool steels.
W-2 steel (after heat treatment) can easily reach high hardness (HRc65), and can be easily hardened locally, so that adjacent parts can be hard enough to be wear-resistant, yet soft enough to be easily manufactured, and extremely processable. Excellent, so it has a wide range of uses. However, W-2 has poor durability, so the surface of steel is mostly protected by coating to prevent corrosion.
O-1: Oil-Hardening types of tool steel are the most widely used, and the best among them is O-1 type. Its high manganese along with chromium and tungsten can increase the hardening ability. , so that the steel can be hardened to a high hardness (HRc62) level without the need for severe water quenching (replacing it with strong oil quenching). O-1 steel has good processability, but its toughness and endurance are weak. The famous American knifemaker Randall often uses O-1 tool steel as the material of his blades.
ZDP-189: A new type of powder steel developed by Japan's "Hitachi Metal Industries" in 1996. Its research and development goals are in line with the CowryX steel of "Dadodong Special Steel Co., Ltd.". It is a super high-performance steel with excellent processing performance. Hard alloy steel, ZDP-189 has a carbon content of 3 and a chromium content of 20. After heat treatment, the hardness can reach HRc67. It has excellent processing performance. The metal structure particles are more uniform and finer than ATS-34 and 440-C, and it is corrosion-resistant. It has good properties and toughness, so "Hitachi" declares ZDP-189 to be "the next generation cutting tool steel heading into the 21st century."
GIN-1 (G-2): The "Ginzhi No. 1" steel of Japan's "Hitachi Metal Industries" is the best grade of "Ginzhi" steel. The steel properties are the same as those of "Aichi Steel" "Steel" is similar to 8A, but the hardness is slightly softer than 8A (HRc57-58) and the price is cheaper.
ATS055: A high-quality steel material developed by Japan's "Hitachi Metal Industries" after ATS-34. It is an improved version of ATS-34. ATS-34 contains about 4% molybdenum, so it can withstand extremely high temperatures and has a wide range of applications (it can be used to make mechanical parts, such as crankshafts, pulleys, air chamber valves, etc.). ATS-55 reduces the molybdenum content to 0.6, but also adds 0.4 cobalt. This reduces the heat resistance of the steel itself but increases its hardness (making it more suitable for the knife-making industry). Overall, the performance of the ATS-55 is slightly inferior to the ATS-34, but better than the G-2 from the same manufacturer.
CPM440V: CPM (Crucible Particle Metallurgy) powder steel is a new generation of knife steel developed by the American Crucible Raw Materials Company. The manufacturer once claimed that CPM440V is a super custom knife steel of the 90's. Although the carbon content of CPM440V is nearly double that of traditional 440-C, the hardness after heat treatment is only HRc57-58, which is affected by other elements (5% vanadium, 17% chromium ). Its real excellence lies in retaining the damage resistance and ductility (flexibility) of the blade. The price of CPM440V is quite high, so it is mostly used in handmade (handmade by knifemakers) knives.
CPM420V: In 1996, Crucible Raw Materials Company of the United States once again developed a higher-level CPM steel than CPM 440V: CPM420V. It has nearly double the vanadium and molybdenum content than CPM440V, so it can maintain more steel. Superior blade damage resistance and corrosion resistance (25-50 times better than CPM440V). The hardness obtained after heat treatment is equal to CPM440V. CPM420V is quite expensive, twice as much as ATS-34.
420J2: (Produced by Cold Stell) Due to its low carbon and high chromium composition, this steel is an excellent choice for making tough and shock-resistant blades. It also has good corrosion resistance and a good blade edge. Retention.
It is an ideal blade material that can be used in a variety of different environments, such as high temperature, humidity, or environments with high salt content in the sea air. The high amount of chromium gives it super corrosion resistance, making it a good material for making portable knives and knives that require little maintenance.
ATS-34: ATS-34 is an expensive stainless steel most widely used in handmade knives and high-end mass-produced knives. The copyright is owned by Hitachi Steel Company of Japan. The same 154CM steel is available in the United States. , produced by famous manufacturer Bob Loveless.
AUS-8 (also known as 8A): The word "stainless steel" is often misleading because in fact no steel is rust-free, and rust can leave stains on the knife and Leaving the tool in poor condition. Adding chromium to the steel during smelting and reducing the carbon content can make it "stainless steel". Some experts believe that the performance of stainless steel is contradictory: increasing chromium and reducing carbon can enhance rust resistance; but it also makes the blade more difficult to sharpen, and some even say that the durability of the blade will also be reduced. But we have found that most stainless steel blades can be just as sharp and stay just as sharp as those made from other materials. AUS 8A is a high-carbon, low-chromium stainless steel. Long-term practice has proven that it is an excellent steel that achieves a good balance between toughness, strength, blade durability and corrosion resistance.
Carbon V: COLD STEEL’s patented steel, a carefully smelted advanced carbon alloy steel, is a masterpiece of metallurgy and experimental science. Its composition is very similar to O-1 . In the process of inventing the steel, Cold Steel put various blades through what it calls the "Cold Steel Challenge Test," classifying them according to the results in order to examine their microstructural composition. Using this method, we finally summarized the ranking of the advantages and disadvantages of steel materials and smelting methods, and produced the best steel. Cold Steel purchases a large amount of high-grade high-carbon blade steel to re-smelt. These high-carbon steels contain small amounts of other alloying elements. When smelted, these elements enhance the blade's ability to retain and elasticity, making the steel exceed its original quality. Extreme, more suitable for making blades. Then, the blade material is heat-treated in molten salt, and then quenched in temperature-controlled oil to form the blank of the blade. It then goes through a professional heat treatment process, including strictly controlled Austrian melting temperatures, preset soaking times, specially selected quenching substances and precise tempering times and temperatures. This production process results in each knife having the same excellent quality, even better than expensive handmade knives.
CPM-T440V: CPM-T440V, recently touted as a “super steel,” remains firmly established in the stainless steel market. However, it is too hard to sharpen (hence its unprecedented edge retention), which in turn requires less frequent sharpening. CPM-T440V is widely used by hand knives and is slowly moving into the field of high-end product knives.
Droppoint: A blade shape in which the apex of the blade cutting surface is drop-shaped and slightly streamlined (I personally prefer this style). It feels great to use and has a strong cutting point.
GIN-1 (G2): Another low-priced steel, slightly softer than AUS-8.
High Alloy: A complex alloy.
High-Speed ??Steel: A steel in the steel family that is used to process other steels. The main difference between them and ordinary steel is that their cutting edges will not be damaged under the high temperature and red fire caused by high-speed friction, and they have strong wear resistance. M2 is a kind of high-speed steel. However, high-speed steel has the disadvantage of being brittle, so it is not suitable for making large blades.
High-Carbon: Steel with a carbon content of 0.5 or greater. Sometimes it also refers to non-stainless steel, which is not strictly appropriate. The more famous high carbon steels include BG-42, CPM154M, ATS-34, 440C, etc.