Knife Steel Selection Chart

Steel Type Characteristics

Approximate
Rockwell
Hardness
17-7 PH
Good corrosion resistance, excellent for water sports applications.
This alloy is a chromium-nickel-aluminum precipitation
hardening stainless steel with good edge retention. Great corrosion
resistance generally means a high chromium content, and this
means knies made with this steel will !e a little harder to sharpen
than !lades with a lower chromium content.
"#-"$
1"# %&
'riginally designed for (et engine fan !lades, it is the precursor to
the )apanese made *T+-,#. -n recent years, this steel has made a
resurgence in the knife industry, offering good !lade toughness,
edge holding capa!ility and corrosion resistance. .airly easy to
resharpen.
"/-$0
#01
* hard, strong !lade steel. This stainless steel is commonly used
in knife !lades, and offers good corrosion resistance at a low cost.
2ecent edge holding capa!ilities and fairly easy to resharpen, this
steel is a good !alance of the most desira!le traits for knife steel.
#3-",
#01 H%
* high car!on ersion of #01 steel, this steel com!ines the
excellent wear resistance of high car!on alloys with the corrosion
resistance of chromium stainless steels. The high car!on content
makes this steel harder to resharpen, !ut the tradeoff is !etter edge
holding properties.
"/
##1 *
* high car!on stainless steel, used in many production knies. *
good !alance of edge retention, easy resharpening and corrosion
resistance.
""-"7
##1 %
* high chromium stainless steel which exi!its an excellent
!alance of hardness and corrosion resistance. This steel takes a
nice edge, and is fairly easy to sharpen een for a noice.
"/-$1
113"
This is a plain car!on steel, which means it has low resistance to
corrosion, and low to medium edge retention. The !enefit of this
steel is it4s easy to sharpen, will take an extremely sharp edge and
is generally aaila!le at a low cost.
"$-"/
"1"1
* medium car!on, low alloy steel that hardens well. This steel is
ideally suited to !lades with a ery thick cross-section such as
tomahawks and axes. 5xtremely tough and impact resistant, this
steel is most often used on !lades which are hafted and6or thrown.
""-$1
*T+-,#
* ery high car!on, chromium stainless steel with additional
amounts of moly!denum. This steel has good edge holding
properties and high corossion resistance, !ut is more difficult to
resharpen than lower chromium steels.
$1-$1
*7+ $* * medium to high car!on stainless steel, this steel holds a good
edge and is particularly well suited for heay, long !lades that are
su!(ected to a lot of stress while chopping and hacking. -t has
good edge retention, and is fairly easy to resharpen with decent
""-"7
Steel Type Characteristics
Approximate
Rockwell
Hardness
corrosion resistance.
*7+ /
* )apanese stainless steel, with surper! toughness and good edge
holding capa!ilities. This steel is fairly easy to sharpen and
generally low cost with great corrosion resistance.
"7-"/
*7+ /*
* high car!on, low chromium stainless steel which has proen
itself to !e the ultimate compromise !etween toughness and
strength, edge holding and resistance to corrosion.
"7-"3
8G-#0
* high 9uality, !earing grade alloy with significantly increased
amounts of car!on and moly!denum content plus anadium for
improed edge retention and strength. 5asy to sharpen, with
decent corrosion resistance.
$1-$0
%ar!on :;
This low alloy, cutlery grade steel is superior to most other steels
due to its chemistry. 2ecent corossion resistance with superior
edge retention make this a premium steel for knife !lades. This
steel is exceptionally tough, and therefore harder to sharpen than
most stainless steels.
"3
%P& +,1:;
This *merican made and engineered steel was created especially
for the knife industry. -t is a powder made steel with uniform
structure and great corrosion resistance. 5xcellent edge retention
and first rate toughness make this steel one of the !est all-around
knife steels, striking a !alance !etween corrosion resistance, edge
retention and sharpena!ility.
"/-$1
20
This air hardened tool steel is sometimes called a <semi-stainless<
steel, !ecause it contains 10= chromium. -t offers decent
corrosion resistance with exceptional edge retention. -t is harder to
sharpen than most, !ut can !e finished to a high-polish shine.
"3-$1
2amascus
This steel is made from dissimilar steels folded or fused together
with heat. -t is often acid etched, which !rings out the different
steels in a striped pattern. 5xcellent toughness and edge holding
capa!ilities make it a great !lade, !ut the cost of production is
high. 2amascus is most often used in special applications like
decoratie !lades.
>ayers ary from ",-$0
&0
This high-speed, tool grade steel is used primarily in cutting tools
in industrial applications. This is metal used to cut metal. ?ith
excellent strength, enduring toughness and tremendous wear
resistance, this is some of the toughest steel used to make knife
!lades. The tradeoff for all this toughness is that this steel is hard
to sharpen, and it is highly suscepta!le to corrosion. *ll !lades
made from this steel will hae a corrosion resistant coating
applied, to gie good corrosion resistance with such a tough steel.
$0
@$31
*n *ustrian made stainless steel, it is compara!le to ##1% in
performance. -t offers good edge holding 9ualities with excellent
corrosion resistance, and fairly easy sharpening.
"/-$1
+,1: This steel contains car!on along with high amounts of chromium,
moly!denum and anadium. This steel is dou!le tempered for
"3."-$1
Steel Type Characteristics
Approximate
Rockwell
Hardness
hardness and edge retention.-t has excellent corrosion resistance,
!ut is slightly more difficult to sharpen.
+andik
10%07
This stainless steel is made in +weden. -t is generally known as a
premium steel for knife !lades, offering a good !alance of
corrosion resistance, sharpena!ility and edge retention.
"7-"3
+an &ai ---
+an &ai means <three layers<. -t is a term used when talking a!out
traditional )apanese swords and daggers. The laminated
construction is important !ecause it allows the !lade maker to
com!ine different grades of steel in a single !lade. * high car!on
center layer proides the strength and edge holding 9ualities,
while the outer layers are lower car!on steels, proiding
flexi!ility.
%enter layerA "3 'uter
layersA "7
B-1" T.@
2eeloped for the aircraft industry for (et !all !earings, and used
in the medical industry for scalpels, this steel resists rust in the
worst of conditions while maintaining ample edge retention.
'ffering an easy to maintain edge and excellent corrosion
resistance, this steel is ideal in knies used for watersports.
"$-"/
Handle Materials
Material Characteristics
%ar!on
.i!er
This material is a woen composite of graphite fi!ers fused together with an
epoxy resin. Proiding ultra light weight and extreme tensile strength, it most
often has a isi!le weae-like pattern. The weae pattern can !e aried, as can
the color of the epoxy used.
2elrin;
This lightweight and dura!le polymer was engineered for excellent long-term
wear characteristics. -t can !e molded to form, and is used in many industries.
G-11
G-11 is an epoxy filled woen <5< glass composite, reinforced with glass fi!ers
for strength. 'riginally designed for circuit !oards, it offers the knife industry a
handle which is imperious to most elements like oils, water and acids. -t can !e
made in many colors, and finished in a ariety of ways, offering different
amounts of texture matched to different end uses.
Craton;
This !lack thermoplastic elastomer offers super! flexi!ility and memory
elasticity een under harsh conditions. &ost often molded onto a harder su!-
structure, Craton; offers excellent grip and comfort.
&icarta
Technically descri!ed as <fa!ric reinforced phenolic laminate<, micarta is created
!y pouring a resin into a flat pan, then laying down a strip of linen or paper
fa!ric, which gets saturated with the resin. This process is repeated until the
desired thickness is achieed. -t can !e made in lots of colors, is lightweight and
and can !e finished in many ways including polishing to a high luster.
@oryl; * modern, engineered plastic offering extreme dura!ility. -t is imperious to
Material Characteristics
GTB
harsh enironments and chemicals and is ery strong. -t offers no flexi!ility, !ut
can !e molded to any shape and in any color.
Phenolic
This hard, e!ony-colored compound is almost imperious to heat cold and shock,
making it practically indestructi!le.
:alox;
* reinforced resin with exceptional stiffness, :alox; offers strength and
dimensional sta!ility. -t has outstanding chemical and flame resistance, and is
molded to form.
Dytel;
Dytel; is a material made up of fi!erglass and nylon. The two are com!ined and
heated to near $11E. and then in(ection molded to the desired form. +trong and
lightweight, it offers excellent surface grip.