AUS8 vs everything.

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flip888

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Jun 8, 2006
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I use to hate AUS8 steel and wouldn't even buy a knife made from it. But because of the reviews of the Rat1 knife I decided Id give it a try. Most of my other knives are in zdp189/1095/s30v/vg10/bg42/cpmD2/etc. but I've found that even though AUS 8 doesn't hold an edge quite as well, I have absolutely no problems with it, unlike info the other steels. They're hard to sharpen, expensive, brittle, chip easily, I've found. AUS8 is tough and durable, inexpensive, holds a decent edge, gets extremely sharp, sharpens from nothing to razor sharpness in no time at all. It makes me wonder why I ever bothered spending 4x more money just because I wanted a premium steel, with all their problems.

From now on I will be buying things in the AUS8/8cr13mov/14c28n/1095 range of steels and stop wasting my money.

Your thoughts?
 
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With the right heat treat, AUS8 can be very good. It can also be very bad. Cold Steel and SOG do a pretty good heat treat on AUS8.

I would never buy anything in 8cr13mov.

The Sandvik 14c28n is a very good steel.

I have yet to have any issues with my knives in 154CM, ATS-34, VG10, S30v, 1095 or CPM-M4.
 
Every knife steel is going to have pros and cons. The problem is that for some people, high hardeness and edge retention are the only things that matter when it comes to choosing a steel or shining over which steel is best.

Thus was displayed perfectly when kai stated they ran elmaxa around 59hrc and people started dumping in
them because 61-62 was the 'optimal' hardness.

Kai's response was perfect: 'define optimal'
 
I've got no problems with AUS8. I do prefer VG10, though, and often it's offerings are usually only a few bucks more. I think there is a $ amount where it's the law of diminishing returns. All steels seem to come with compromises. They do this and that better, but lack here and there. It's a matter of figuring out where exactly the best performance versus dollar is that is able to suit your needs.
 
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AUS8 is one of my personal favorites. Easy to sharpen, good enough edge retention for me, and very reasonably priced. That's a pretty nice combo, in my book.
 
AUS-8 is my favorite cheap steel and I prefer SOG's version from the various brands I've tried.

That being said, I still prefer the higher end steels for their toughness and edge retention. AUS-8 loses it's razor edge very quickly so I tend to only use it for very light tasks like opening mail.

My favorites, in order, for folders and EDC fixed blades are M390, 154CM/ATS-34, and 440C. For rough use/wilderness/large fixed blades I stick with 1095 or 5160.
 
I want an American Lawman, but still haven't taken the plunge because of its AUS8 steel...and that's coming from a guy who was served well by a Tenacious and Gerber Gator. I think it's all in my head :confused:
 
Didn't Cold Steel have rust problems with some of its AUS8 folders (eg the Spartan)? From memory though, I believe the rust problem was also linked the type of blade finish on their folders.
 
It all depends on who is heat treating it, like with any other steel. People who hate it generally only care about edge retention and aren't concerned with the other aspects of what makes a steel "good". I think such people should stick to using disposable box cutters.

In general, it's a good "all around" steel that doesn't excel at anything except ease of sharpening, and doesn't suck at anything, either.

Glenn Jones said:
Didn't Cold Steel have rust problems with some of its AUS8 folders (eg the Spartan)? From memory though, I believe the rust problem was also linked the type of blade finish on their folders.
Click to expand...
Entirely to blame on the bead blast finish, which is being replaced with stone wash finishes on the Spartan and G-10 Espadas as we speak.
 
I have a delica in zdp, isnt that bad. Love the aus 8 on my flash 2 and cold steel ti lite. Just ordered a emerson with 154cm so we will see how that chisel ground goes.
 
I gotta say, I'm not necessarily impressed with the cutting ability/edge retention of the AUS-8, 440C & 8Cr13MoV family of steels but I have no problems with them, in fact I can only free-hand sharpen as well as I can today because of those steels, had I started trying to sharpen on super steels I imagine I would have gotten a lot more frustrated and possible learned less or even have up completely.
 
AUS-8 gets a bad rap for the same reasons as AUS-6 or 440C (or A for that matter). It's used on cheap knives and it gets a cheap heat treat, people use it and believe its crap. But there are plenty of instances where it is done well, like Cold Steel or Al Mar, but it is dismissed because it is "only AUS-8". People also tend to forget that a lot of Spyderco's high end knives, like the Caly, were made with AUS-8.

My experiences with it have been largely positive, and I am eager to see how my recently acquired SRK holds up. It isn't a perfect steel for all applications, but for basic EDC tasks, it works well enough for me. If I am going to cut cardboard all day, gimme S110V.
 
My sweet spot is probably vg-10, or 154cm. I love my PM2 but it is just so stiff...the edge doesn't sharpen up to my specs fast enough even though it keeps an edge forever.
 
Super steels are nifty. If I was cutting loads of carpet or skinning a moose I would much prefer something like M390 or CTS-XHP. But for me, folders usually fall into the pull it out, cut something, put it back category and AUS8 is more than fine for that.
 
Only AUS-8 blade I have is a SOG Aegis, and within the context of what I've used this knife for (light use EDC) I really like the steel. I can get it sharp easily and find its retention to be pretty good.

Actually, I thought it was really good steel, until I got S30V, S35VN, ZDP, M390.
 
AUS-8 is very easy to sharpen and gets really sharp but has horrible edge retention IMO. I would not call it a bad steel comparatively speaking, in it's price range.

However, 14c28n and 1095 are my favorite steels for the money and can be had for just a tad more or the same as a "quality" knife in AUS-8.
 
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