With steel there are three basic properties that we deal with in knives and cutting tools. They are:

Edge Holding
Sharpenability
Corrosion-resistance

For Metallurgical purposes you can have two of the three in any given blade.
A blade that holds and edge and is easily sharpened (carbon steel) is going to give up something in corrosion resistance.
A blade that holds an edge and is corrosion-resistant is going to be harder to sharpen.
In general carbon steels properly hardened can take an excellent long lasting edge and are easier to sharpen. Stainless steels are harder to sharpen but are more corrosion resistant. A carbon steel will take a slightly finer edge but not enough IMO to matter in a hunting knife.
My advice would be to decide what type of hunting you will do and choose a steel accordingly. For example if you are going to be in the woods for a long time you'll need a blade that is easily sharpened in the field. If you are going on a shorter trip where you'll probably only need the knife to dress 1 animal you could probably give up sharpenability for the other two............DJ

Andre,

The information I have on SK 5 tool steel. It is a Japanese specification, which has NO direct SAE equivalent.

The only significant alloying element in SK 5 is Carbon which is set by specification at 0.8% to 0.9%.

SAE W1 (water queched tool steel) has less carbon in it than your SK 5.

The closest SAE grade to SK 5 is SAE 1084. SAE1084, which is a plain carbon steel, has a carbon specification of 0.8% to 0.93%. It also contains slightly more manganese, but at the levels present in either SAE 1084 or SK 5 this alloying element (manganese) has no significant effect.

With regard to performance.

SK 5 should have a tempered hardness between HRC 53 and 57. At these levels it should possess good toughness relatively speaking(resistance to breakage) and fair (mediocre) wear resistance, on par with 420HC.

I have to agree with Jiri this isn't a very good knife blade steel, by today's standards.

Hope that answered your question.

ASS_CLOWN

Experts AC and Jiri

What about SK-5 carbon tooling steel (SOG Bowie)

Cheers,

Andr�

What I know is that SK-5 is Japan W1. W1 is mostly used for files. It will rust very easy, but hope sog bowie has some protective layer. It is typical old school low alloyed tool steel, in that I am not interested . . .

Jiri

AC



Thank you.

I will try to check out knives made in the D2 I have also heard great things about this steel.



http://www.dozierknives.com/



Cheers,



Andr�

AC and Jiri

Thank you very much for the info on the SK-5 Carbon steel.
I find the steel very hard to sharpen, it takes me half an hour to get a perfect edge and it will only last for the dressing of one animal.
The steel it also very brittle I broke the tip when dressing a roe buck once and had to take the knife to a professional to get it fixed.

My next knife will properly be a knife in the steel VG 10 or A2. I like the knife from Fallkniven or the knives of Chris reeve, The skinner

What can you tell me about the steel CPM-3V, 1095 High Carbon Alloy, S30V & BG42.


Cheers,

Andr�

Andre,



I suspect the reason the knife is hard to sharpen is because it is relatively soft. This seems to be supported by the fact that it also dulls quickly. At least in my own experience the only knives I have found to be difficult to take an edge have been soft ones (unless the particular knife has been abused too long and has NO edge left at all).

If the knife had a fine point, which it appears to have, the thin section would be more difficult to not "overharden" and generate quenching fractures. This may explain the ease by which you lost the tip.



1095 will be slightly better than what you got, but not much (and good chance not at all). I have used Ontario knives which are 1095 @ 57 Rc. They have been OK, but not great. To me a nice cheap American Made utility knife, not a serious bush blade.



I have not used A2, but it should be about equal to 440C, made a little less wear resistant. D2 would be better.



The other steels are beyond my experience envelope, perhaps Jiri can be of assistance with them.



Dave,



No problem, I hope I didn't come across like an asshole or anything. Yes 12% Cr sounds about right.

Yep--had a brain fart--sorry! To be SS isnt the % 12?

Dave,

I agree with you regarding corrosion and wear. Chromium is the MAJOR anti-corrosion ingredient by the way (not nickel).

ASS_CLOWN

Jiri,

W1 can have carbon from 0.7% to 1.1%. So the SK5 falls within that range. SAE1084 is just a whole lot closer, in that it has a much narrower and nearly identical carbon range to SK 5. Thus my reference to th SAE 1084 material, which was a commonly used high carbon knife steel in days gone by.

ASS_CLOWN

JD, Dozier knifes are superior cutting tools. They are not the knives to use if you tend to pry with a blade but they cut extremely well. His kydex sheaths go from very good to the best I've ever seen. D2 Sharpens relitively easily, holds an edge well and takes a particularly fine edge......DJ

JD, VG-10 is a very good all around steel and can usually found in somewhat less expensive knives the Fallknivens are excellent. My F-1 Skinned an Elk and still shaved hair on my arm, it probably could have done 2 or 3 more. I also have an S-3 but think it's too big for a pure hunting knife. I have a U-2 in my pocket as I'm typing this - it weighs nothing and takes one of the best edges of any knife I own, I hope they make a F-1 out of the laminated powder steel. I have an Idun out of laminated VG-10 and it gets simply wicked sharp but I've not used it in the field yet.
The Chris Reeves skinner is made of A2 tool steel - sharpens relatively easily and takes a good edge, some people that live in very cold area's have commented that they don't care for a metal handled knife - I wear gloves always and so it doesn't bother me as much.
I have 2 Chris Reeves Sabenza's, 1 with BG-42 (and older one), and 1 with S-30V. The BG-42 is a little harder, probably holds an edge a little longer but is slightly chippier. The S-30V takes a while to sharpen but seems to be very tough. If you do a lot of hacking type cuts you might prefer S-30V, if you mainly slice a lot BG-42 may stay keener longer.
Another excellent steel you might consider is 440V. It is also known as S-60V. I have a Spyderco military model in it. It is one of the toughest steels that I have ever messed with and takes a superior edge.
I've sharpened 20-30 Damascus blades (I'm good enough at it all my buddies have me do their knives) and I've yet to come across one that seemed as tough and keen as a good 440V,S-30V or laminated steel.
The very best steel I've ever sharpened and/or used is the "silver-steel" used in some of the very high end Pukka's. It took only a few minutes to achieve a dangerous edge and 1 stayed sharp through the dressing of 7 deer. I don't own one yet because they are very expensive ($600-1200) but someday I may trade my buddy out of one of his.

-Lately my favorite test for sharpness is to be able to cut lettering off of newspapers without going all the way through or to be able to shave paper in 1/2. Shaving hair is too easy.........DJ

Bottom Line is that my Stellite and Vasco Wear knives even though it would ruin them would far outlast any abrasion test of the steels mentioned in this thread. What that means is that better edge retention. Also the corrosion resistance of the steels mentioned in this thread are not in the same league as Stellite. Sorry but that is a fact�Vasco Wear is way short of nickel content to be classified a stainless but with very little care works in the field. The CPM series of steels have worked well for me but I still like the Vasco Wear for tasks such as skinning! You hit the dirty fur a few times with a lesser steel and the edge is hurt. My caping set is made of CM 154 and I wish it had been made from Vaso Wear but Martin Pullen is gone now so no more knives like that for me.

Jiri Metalman

Once again thank you very much.
This silver steel you are talking about who makes knives in that steel ?
Sounds like the VG-10 from fallkniven is a good buy
It sounds like s-60V/440V is good steel too Who makes hunting knives in that steel ?


Cheers,

Andr�

Jeffery : I belive you mean djpaintles . . .

I don't own any VG-10 knife, but what I heard from owners here (spyderco and fallkniven), they are pretty satisfied.

If you don't need stainless steel, don't buy knife from stainless steel. For example I would like CPM-3V over CPM-S30V, all stainless are not as tough or strength (bending or compressive strength) as "same class" nonstainless.

And there are also damascus steels, some classicaly made, some PM

Some interesting brands :
http://www.fehrmanknives.com/
http://www.sibertknives.com/
http://www.simonichknives.com/
http://www.pok-knives.com/

For silver steel knives:

http://www.kellamknives.com/cart/shop.cgi/SID=PUT_SID_HERE/page=index2.html

http://www.kellamknives.com/cart/shop.cgi/SID=PUT_SID_HERE/page=index2.html

I would like to try the "Wolverine" with SPT steel. I doubt it's quite as good as the Tommi's but for $88 it's more in the range of affordability.....DJ

Cabellas, Knives of Alaska are D2 tool steel:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/horizontal-pod.jhtml?id=0006357&navAction=push&navCount=1&indexId=cat20889&parentId=cat20889&parentType=index&rid=&cmCat=MainCatcat20712

Knives of Alaska

Field tested and proven performers in the last frontier

Crafted by Alaskan guide and biologist, Charles Allen, Knives of Alaska are made to handle the roughest abuse and skinning chores professionals could put them through. Each is engineered of high-carbon D2 tool steel (The Bush Camp and Cub Bear are AUS8A steel.) that's double drawn, fully annealed and cryogenically treated at -200�F for superior edge retention. They are rated at 57-59 Rockwell. All combos include a 4" sharpening steel with 325-grit and 600-grit diamond-coated surfaces for fast in-the-field sharpening chores.



Is the 57-59 Rockwell decent, or should it be harder, like the Dozier knives?