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Knife Steel

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KWG Site Map > Home Page > index > Knife Steel

Knife Steel By definition, steel is a combination of iron and no more than 2% carbon.

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Knife Steel Facts
Which Steels For Which Knives?

Heat treatment is as crucial a part as the grade of steel.

Basically, knife steels are high carbon stainless or non-stainless high carbon.

High carbon stainless is rust resistant though harder to sharpen.

Non-stainless high carbon rusts easier but is easier to sharpen.  

With proper heat treatment, 440 should hold an edge slightly better and sharpen a bit easier than the lower 400 series stainless. 

The lower 400 series stainless are gaining in popularity among the factories because they cause less wear on tooling.

ATS-34, CPM 440V and Crucible S30V cost more than the other stainless steels, and the CPM or Crucible costs the most. 

Blades of most stainless steels used in knives are not rustproof but are rust or stain resistance. Therefore stainless steel blades should still be kept clean and wiped dry after use, especially many of the new high carbon stainless steels like ATS-34, and CMP-T440V. But they do not need as much care as carbon steel knives. Sandvik 12C27 -Stainless steel made in Sweden. Known as a premium steel.

A blade's hardness is one indicator of how well it will hold an edge and its hardness is controlled by the heat treatment and grade of steel. A blade's hardness is determined by using a Rockwell machine and measuring the depth of penetration of an indenter into the metal's surface. The depth of penetration is correlated to a scale reading, called the Rockwell scales. A higher number is assigned to harder steel that allows less penetration. Knife steels are measured on the "C" scale and range from about Rc 50-63. In comparison, a diamond will range in the 80s on the Rockwell "C" scale (Rc). This is why diamond hones are very good for sharpening most knives. You will see lower Rc 52-54 in rough use knives like throwing knives and even lower still for axes Rc 40–45.

Metric/Inch/Fraction Conversion Chart - Quick reference for conversion

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