AUS 8 vs carbon steel

[Deltaten]

'Spurs posts to the Trident thread and subsequent readings of the SOG specs have led me to ask...

What's with the new (?) s.s. blades? Better than CS.? Only s.s. blades I've used are my Victorinox and some funky/crap kitchen knives that aren't worth a crap. The Swiss jobbie hold an edge just about as long as it takes to skin open a box. ;)

I've long been fond of carbon steel for cutting tools.I have a pre-war Ka-Bar Hunter that's the cat's nutz; but too valuable as a collector AND a legacy to use for anything but shaving :D

I picked up a TOPS for general use/EDC while camping/shooting, and it too has a C.S. blade; one of the reasons I got it.

So just WHAT *is* the real-world dealon the newer s.s. steels? Anyone care to edjumacate me on it?

Best,
Paul

[goldenspurholderx2]

My feelings are the AUS-8 will infact hold an edge longer, but is a bitch to sharpen. Carbon will hold a really nice edge and in my opinion is easier to sharpen, so if I just give my carbon a couple of strokes vs. an hour on the AUS-8 I feel I'm ahead of the game. I have both and the main difference is for feild dressing a moose the AUS-8 will do the job start to finish but I'm going to be spending an hour sharpening it later, with good Carbon I'll have to stop half way through for about 5min. to touch up the blade then give it a good 10min. sharpening after the job is done.

[MACV]

Any steel with a chromium content of 11% or greater is called stainless. There are some pretty good stainless steels on the market right now. 154 CM and its Japanese counter part ATS-34 are very good knife steels. D-2 steel is a great non stainless that has a chrome content of 10%, so it cant be called stainless.
All the above mentioned steels are very good for making knives. Dont associate all stainless steel with junk kitchen knives.

http://www.agrussell.com/knife_information/knife_encyclopedia/articles.html

Edited
Stainless is actually 13% + chrome content not 11%
D-2 steel is 12% chromium not 10%

[RMLamey]

there are some very decent SS variants out there. Noting i have used/tried is as tough or can cut with basic high carbon steels such as 1095.

If you need SS, there is some usable stuff out there. I simply prefer the benefits of carbon steel over any "stain resistance".

[MACV]

Deltaten, to answer your original question, AUS 8 is a Japanese steel equal to 440B. The 440 series of steel goes from worst to best, 440A, 440B, 440C.
440C is damned good knife steel. Any manufacturer using it will have it clearly marked on the blade. If you see a blade marked with just "440 stainless" its more than likely 440A or 440B.
The link I provided above has all the info you could ever ask for on knife steels.

[Deltaten]

LOtsa good info, guys. Thanks.

AFA the d-2? Can I assume that it has all the "good" properties of both? I have seen some blades offered in this steel, and wonered WTF it was ;)

Good example, Dave. Just what I was looking for AFA "real-world" usage.

RML; I like CS for the same reasons :D To find a s.s. that will perform and work like CS is a challenge.

MACV: The engineering and metalurgical highlites you provide are enlightening, and provide some intelligable data.

Now, I think I can read mfgr's specs with a little more confidence.

Thanks,
Paul