AUS8 vs. AUS6 steel

T

Talon66

Joined
Apr 21, 2002
Messages
16
What is the difference between these two steels as knife blades? Can anyone recommend a link or thread that can help me understand the different blade materials?
 
AUS8 should hold the edge longer than AUS6, at the cost of toughness I believe. That's the quick and dirty explanation.
 
AUS6A:
0.65% Carbon
1.00% Manganese
14.00% Chromium
0.50% Nickel
0.10-0.20% Vanadium
1.00% Silicone

AUS8A:
0.85-1.00% Carbon
1.00% Manganese
14.00% Chromium
0.50% Nickel
0.10-0.20% Vanadium
0.10-0.30% Molybdenum
1.00% Silicone

For those of us with nothing but time on our hands those should mean everything.
But assuming you don't have time on your hands I'll break it down:
AUS6A will hold an edge for a shorter period than AUS8A. Since Carbon is the only major difference between the two alloys and has the greatest effect on hardness, I calculate AUS8A to hold an edge for approximately 30.77%-53.85% longer than a given AUS6A counterpart (assuming all things are equal like heat treat and grind, which they never are)
AUS8A is very slightly less tough (more brittle) because of this hardness increase, but the added Molybdenum in the AUS8A should help counteract alot of that.

So the bottom line is, AUS8A is clearly better, but not by alot.
 
Aus8 is also easy to sharpen and takes a really wicked edge, you can strop that thing to 5000 grit easy. Its a great EDC steel IMO but not to good for anyhting more than about 4" long, Then i would go for a tougher carbon steel, like L6, 52100, A2, O1, etc.
 
Heh.. I'm seeing my CRKTs getting nicks recently. Afterall I do resharpen them at a much higher angle and I was cutting on carpet. They're all AUS6 blades.
I'm thinking of getting my first spyderco to see how good they're.
 
I much prefer aus8 to aus6. I have a CRKT Neck Peck and a CRKT m16 and the m16 outcuts the neckpeck in everyway imaginiable. It could just be the grind or the angle I suppose but the aus8 seems like much better stuff.

I just got a spyderco calypso jr a week ago or so and the vg-10 completely blows aus8 out of the water.
 
Ian,

part of the reason your M16 is wooping your neck peck is because not only is AUS6 an inferior steel, but CRKT seems to cut corners on the heat treat for their AUS6 to keep their prices REALLY cheap. Personally, i'd pay more to get it right - as it is, I don't buy CRKTs.

Also something worthy of note, CRKT uses AUS6M, which is actually a variant of AUS6A (normal AUS-6).
My evaluation of the elemental formula is that AUS6M *SHOULD* be better, but since CRKT is the only factory company that uses it, and since they skim on the heat treat, I guess we'll never know.
 
Originally posted by calyth
Heh.. I'm seeing my CRKTs getting nicks recently. Afterall I do resharpen them at a much higher angle and I was cutting on carpet. They're all AUS6 blades.
I'm thinking of getting my first spyderco to see how good they're.
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, do you mean "nicks" as in chips, or nicks as in indents? 6A is weak and should indent readily, especially when left with a thin edge

Joe
 
I've never had any indication that CRKT skims on their heat-treating and the CRKT knives I own perform just fine.
I think it's the cheap Taiwanese labor that keeps the price down. Not to mention that they don't have to creat many in-house designs since they use the designs of custom knife makers.

Allen.
 
Allen,

the way I drew the conclusion that CRKT skims on their AUS6 heat treat is because their competitor's AUS6 seems to perform so much better.
Spyderco, Kershaw, SOG - they all seem to do generally better than CRKT, so either every CRKT designed has an awful grind, or they aren't being heat treated properly.
 
I enjoy super steels as much as the next guy, but I try not to be a snob. I know that some good kitchen knives are soft so that frequent sharpening is easier and the chef always has a fresh edge. Then again, not every job requires a knife at a higher price point. And let's face it, the forumites have seen this stuff come and go and they usually pick out the better stuff.

A good article on AUS6A appeared in the May, 2002 issue of Tactical Knives. It mentioned heat treating, and stated that AUS6A was in the "good" steel category. SOG and Ka-bar use AUS6A.

The best description is that it is very similar to 440A. Not the finest, but if a job called for that level, I wouldn't turn it away. I would check the Rc rating.
 
Ichabod,
I read that article in TK and agree with it, I just feel that CRKT is blowing it on the heat treat.
 
YoungCutter, I agree with you. Skimping on quality to say a few bucks is probably never a good idea if you want repeat customers. I know I'm impressed if I see the initials BOS on a knife. And I sure do love my Microtechs.

I know where to buy kitchen knives of quality for about 100 bucks a throw. I'll bet most of my wife's stuff costs 5 bucks a piece. As much as you might wince, my wife could care less.
 
Y.C., Either I've been lucky or you've been unlucky,
but I have not noticed any significant difference in performance between my AUS-6 Spyderco and my AUS-6M CRKT (at least no difference that can be attributed to the steel).
Of course I do own only one AUS-6 Spyderco and only two CRKT's, and that's not enough to detect a real trend and judge them all.

Maybe you just got a bad one?
Has anyone else reading this noticed this problem?

Good luck,
Allen.
 
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