Steels you won't buy...and why

[resonanzmacher]

For a long time I wouldn't buy D2 (which, I cannot help but notice, Spyderco doesn't use either unless it's sprayform or PM) and S35VN (which I notice Spyderco doesn't make much use of) because I had so much of both and a lot of it wasn't terribly well done.

Nowadays the question is less centered wholly on the steel and more to do with who's doing what to it. I'll probably buy a Dozier or a Brous in D2 because I'd expect it to bring out the very best of it, and I've had some good luck in S35VN from CRK and Spartan and ADV.

I'm probably a lot more likely to try a steel I'm unsure of on a model I otherwise like if it's a Spyderco, because I have a level of comfort with their approach to steel.

I hear the people who say 'there are many steels I won't buy above a certain price' and I'm there with them most of the way, but if someone's making a knife I like. and I can have confidence that the steel will truly be well done and be a good fit for the blade geometry, then I am less concerned about such things.

[skeeg11]

D2 heat treat has a very narrow range of around 50 degrees latitude and there is a lot of lousy D2 out there. Dozier built a reputation doing it right. Still have 3 or 4 Doziers laying around.

[resonanzmacher]

D2 heat treat has a very narrow range of around 50 degrees latitude and there is a lot of lousy D2 out there. Dozier built a reputation doing it right. Still have 3 or 4 Doziers laying around.

I've read that he's known to have rejected many batches of D2 he was shipped because they didn't meet his parameters.

[metaphoricalsimile]

After a very poor experience with spyderedge H1 (did not have anywhere near the legendary levels of edge retention people claim), I won't be buying any more H1.

Other than that I've been shying away from the super-high-edge-retention steels like S110V and Maxamet because I'm allergic to sharpening chips out of extremely high edge retention steels, although I am EDCing an S90V knife right now so who knows where I'll go in the future.

[bdblue]

I don't know that there are any reasonably good steels that I wouldn't buy, depending on the knife and the projected use. I don't think I would go below 440, Aus8, 8cr13. I don't think I would have a use for Maxamet due to its relatively low toughness. Otherwise it depends.

[nerdlock]

Damascus for me, just has no performance benefits for the price.

Also if it wasn't for the seconds sale last year, I probably wouldn't buy Maxamet at all.

[Xformer]

Anything that rust. Stainless steal is one of the top 10 inovation of mankind.

[Joshua J.]

S30V.
I think what put me off of it most is at the time it came out we were also being introduced to S90V and ZDP-189 and S30V only seems like a compromise in comparison.
Out of nearly a hundred knives in the history of my collection I think I've owned less than five S30V blades.

[Abyss_Fish]

Nothing is a “no buy”. It all depends on the knife.

But generally I avoid low low end stuff (440s, 9crs etc) because they don’t hold an edge for any reasonable amount of time, and have no other beneficial qualities. I also avoid steels that take a lot of attention, be that because they’re rusty, or chippy, or whatever (maxamet, etc.) But most importantly I avoid mediocrity, steels that hit an uninteresting middle ground that doesn’t excel in any direction (s30v, vg10 etc.) I mean why use one knife in s30v, when you can have two knives, one in lc200n and one in 3v.

[jkurtz7]

I won’t buy any steel with vanadium carbides because I value ease of sharpening over edge retention. I’m not cutting up hundreds of feet of cardboard, and if I did I would use a utility knife, nor am I doing any kind of heavy duty cutting on a daily basis. I also don’t like to spend lots of time sharpening.

[FRNFanboy]

H1… incredible rust resistance, adequate toughness, and the edge retention of a stick of butter.

[JD Spydo]

The Blade Steel in a knife is one of the primary reasons for my purchase. And Spyderco gives us a great selection of premium blade steels to choose from. I'm doubtful however that I'll buy another VG-10 blade because I have so many of them now. And I have no desire to ever try that 8Cr stuff that the use on many of those Byrd models. Because premium blade steels are one of the main motivators for buying a new Spyderco blade. When I got my first M390 blade I've only wanted to go upward on the chart since then.

Unless it's a super rare collector's piece I would have no reason to buy any older blade steels like GIN-1 or any of the other older steels from the late 90s/early 2000s. However serrated models are a different animal all together and my blade steel preferences for full SE models are as different as apples and oranges.

[mb1]

AEB-L. Hate it.

[araneae]

I buy a knife based on the overall package. Wouldn't disqualify a knife solely based on the steel. All good, just different. Some will suit my needs in a given package, others won't be of interest.

[VooDooChild]

Vibranium and Adamantium.

Its impossible to find, crazy expensive, almost impossible to work with, and supposedly, if you do actually get a hold of it a bunch of weirdos in crazy costumes show up and start ruining your life.

It just doesnt seem worth it to be able to cut through anything.

[Bolster]

AEB-L. Hate it.

Why? Lack of edge holding?

[Enactive]

Vibranium and Adamantium.

Its impossible to find, crazy expensive, almost impossible to work with, and supposedly, if you do actually get a hold of it a bunch of weirdos in crazy costumes show up and start ruining your life.

It just doesnt seem worth it to be able to cut through anything.

Hahahahaha

[PineyBoy]

I know that I'm way, way over the hill, but you asked. I grew up on tool steel knives going back to my original tool steel Case, about 70 years ago. At least I think it was a Case Trapper. I still have it. I made 02 knives for many years for the local deer hunters. We learned how to care for what we had and these archaic slabs of steel did what was needed.

[mb1]

AEB-L. Hate it.

Why? Lack of edge holding?

Yeah really just personal preference. I’ve had several knives in it. It’s just thoroughly unremarkable to me. For basic carbon steel level edge retention I’d rather have a nice patina.

[Rinzler]

I avoid low end steel because it's just cheap.

In particular though I actively try my best to avoid s30v as I find it far too chip prone for my needs.