Best Blade Steel

[MIDWESTKNIFETRADER]

I'm sure this has been covered before but it would be nice for the new people to hear. What is the best
all around blade steel? No better place to ask this one.
Thanks
Adam - Kansas City

[sal]

Hi Adam,

I have come to the conclusion and have shared that conclusion: "No best, All Good, just Different".

This steel is best at edge retention (abrasion resistance). That steel is best at corrosion resistance. Another best at toughness. Another at being balanced. still another at just being inexpensive. Best at taking a very find edge. Best at holding a thin edge, etc.

Discussing blade steels is always an interesting discussion with this group.

sal

[vivi]

Like Sal said, the best overall steel depends on your priorities.

I'm tough on the corrosion resistance of steels but not edge retention. H1 and LC200N are my best all around steels.

Others never encounter corrosion issues but push the edge retention of their steels. K390, Maxamet or Rex45 would serve them better than my favorite steels.

Others push toughness of their steels more, and going to something like S7 could work better for them than Maxamet.

[Buddafucco]

K390

[TkoK83Spy]

Should we dig even deeper into "the best blade steels" and discuss DPS and grit finishes??

[TkoK83Spy]

Like Sal said, the best overall steel depends on your priorities.

I'm tough on the corrosion resistance of steels but not edge retention. H1 and LC200N are my best all around steels.

Others never encounter corrosion issues but push the edge retention of their steels. K390, Maxamet or Rex45 would serve them better than my favorite steels.

Others push toughness of their steels more, and going to something like S7 could work better for them than Maxamet.

That's the fun part about all these steels. You and I are very similar in that we like thinning out our blades and having a more coarse finish. But, we don't typically care for the same types of steels. Normally on total opposite ends of the steel spectrum. We're similar, yet so different!

[RustyIron]

K390 puts a smile on my face.
SPY27 puts a smile on my face.
These two are very different.
Maybe I'm bipolar.

[benben]

Someone tell that new fella the best all-around steel is Cru-Wear so he can get to buying!


***unless he's cutting up fish at the ocean! Adam, wayyy too many great steels to put your thumb on which one is the best! I'm on a K390 / Cru-Wear kick this month, that may change next month...

[z1r]

K390 puts a smile on my face.
SPY27 puts a smile on my face.
These two are very different.
Maybe I'm bipolar.

Lol, coincidentally, I am carrying the Spy27 N5 my wife and son gifted me last year. Carrying it in place of my K390 Endela. I love not having to sharpen K390 "often" but love how easy it is to sharpen Spy27. I was actually carrying my CruWear N5 and Spy27 N5 yesterday.

Can't wait for my Magnacut N5.

[TomAiello]

There is no 'best'. Everyone has a personal 'favorite'.

[JRinFL]

Best for me is Cruwear, at least until MagnaCut is more wide spread. In no way am I implying those two are the best for *you*.

And the real answer is Sal's oft said phrase: "All Good, just Different"

[metaphoricalsimile]

Best for a newbie is probably something like S30V, or S35VN or Magnacut (when it starts to be widely available in affordable/popular models) and then using your experience with that knife to figure out what's best for your uses.

Are you using it hard enough that you're getting chipping issues?
Is the edge not lasting as long as you'd like?
Could you spend more on a knife with a blade steel specific properties you like?
Do you like to spend time sharpening?
Etc. etc.

Asking these kinds of questions in feedback to your experience will guide you. If honestly you don't run into any issues that prompt these kinds of questions then whatever steel that knife used is good enough for you.

[Evil D]

Whatever the current best average of edge retention, toughness, and corrosion resistance is, that is also available in SE. Right now it's a toss up between H1 and LC200N, but I'm very hopeful that MagnaCut will reign supreme once it's available with serrations.

[pantagana23]

Well, here go my 2 cents:
Best non stainless - Rex45, K390
Best stainless - S90V, M390 (my favourite)
Best corrosion resistant - LC200N, maybe Vanax if it ever goes to full scale production. I'm deliberately leaving H1 out because it's really soft in plain edge.
Best allaround/toughness - CruWear, Magnacut
Best cheap - 14C28N
Best dirt cheap - Victorinox :)

So far I've been sticking with M390 mostly due to high corrosion resistance and more than average cutting performance (take this with a grain of salt, you can count producers that managed to get the best of this steel
on the fingers of one hand). Don't care so much about toughness.

[JSumm]

I will plug Larrin's Knife Steel Nerds site. Lots of great info with testing to read about and see why some things are better for others, and while some are better for you.

Here is a great article from his site.
https://knifesteelnerds.com/2019/05/20/ ... ery-knife/

Here is another.
https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/06/15/ ... ife-steel/

Assuming a newbie is also new to sharpening, I would strongly suggest something that will get sharper easier. Typically has less vanadium in the mix. With Spyderco, VG-10, SPY27, LC200N, BD1N. Others may recommend H1 or some of the budget steels that like to get sharp. Getting a sharp edge reliably can be very satisfying.

If a newbie to Spyderco, but an experienced sharpener, then start asking the questions of what you want in a steel and enjoy the ride finding the "perfect one."

One thing is for sure, Spyderco does a great job with every steel they handle. They really try to optimize it for a large range of buyers and they do it well IMHO.

[bdblue]

A lot of the characteristics are at odds with each other, for instance you can't have top toughness and top edgeholding at the same time so you need a compromise. So you can't say "best" without giving qualifications. I think Cruwear is a good compromise for enthusiasts who pay some attention to their blades, particularly for thin blades. Most users probably need good corrosion resistance so that gets back to S30V, S35VN or SPY27. For someone willing to use carbon steel I think Rex45 is great.

[warriorsociologist]

Right now I'm really liking Z-Wear/CruWear as my do-it-all steel. I expect the much anticipated MagnaCut to perform like a stainless version of these. I'm also fond of CPM-M4 & H-1, and I'm likely to add at least one K390 to my stable.

That said, the vast majority of my non-Spydercos sport blades of 1095 or X55CrMo14 (mostly carbon-steel Moras and Alox SAKs).

So, until MagnCut knives begin to hit the market en masse --- I'll say Z-Wear/CruWear currently checks all the right boxes for me except for high corrosion resistance... and I'm quite happy with that.

[ykspydiefan]

74 different flavors on the Spyderco menu.

A person walks into 101 Flavor Matter Separator shop and asks, "Hey, what happened to the other 27 flavors?" The person behind the bar replies, "They did not taste enough like iron for our licking."

Nothing funny about putting the words, "best" and "knife steel," together.

The best I have been able to do is buy what I can afford, what I will use, what suits my environment and tasks. Then I bought some fun stuff, then invested in better sharpening, and then I bought out of my comfort zone. Probably would do better moving sharpening gear up in line.

The real forum fun starts when you workout your bests, buy the best steel for you, and then get back here to share your stories about how those two things worked together.

It is hard to ignore MagnaCut, CruWear, K390, 8cr13mov(I still like value Tenacious), 14c28n, too many choices. It is nice to have inexpensive good blades around to test with and not care about before one moves to testing on a blade with a more expensive resale value.

[kennethsime]

K390

Agreed.

But also, Cruwear and Magnacut are great.

Also, all the things that everybody else said about balance.

[Danke]

The best steel is the new one that's being released in six months. The worst steel is the new one released six months ago.