Best Chopper Knife Steel

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Carson Falk

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Apr 28, 2017
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I am looking to build a larger chopping knife that needs to be able to handle some serious abuse. I am curious as to what steel is best suited for this. I am really looking for great edge retention and toughness. Any advice would help!
 
I don't know what's best and I suspect that will be debatable. I've used 1075, 1080, 1095, 440c, 52100, 5160, and I want to say something like S7 or 1055. My favorite is 52100 by a fair margin with 5160 being 2nd, maybe. I can't tell the difference between 5160, 1095, or 1080. 1075 and 1055 seem to loss an edge noticeably faster but those knives have also had much lower hardness. 440c was actually a surprise but it wasn't a big chopper, it was a 9.5" HK feint made by benchmade. I chopped a fair bit with it, dried hardwood, and it held a nice edge for quite a while. The 52100 I have in a monolithic hawk and swamp rat ratweiler (SR101, very close to 52100 from my understanding but something proprietary from busse) have been very solid for chopping, slicing, and the edges seem to hold for a long time.
 
Most competition choppers are made from CPM-M4,and CPM-4V is starting to show up in competitions.
 
You're going to have to choose between extreme toughness and excellent edge holding.

3V is a good balance between toughness and edge wear. S7 will be a lot tougher, but with much less edge retention.

M4 and Vanadis 4E are tough enough to win the blade sports championship, but will not be as tough as 3V. They will have better wear resistance than 3V.

Being able to take "serious abuse" means it won't have great edge wear.
 
If you want both great ease of sharpening combined with stainless, yet don't ever expect to strike near rocks or metal objects, or to ever use it in -30 degrees Celcius temperatures, then 420J or HC.

If you don't care about stain resistance, and might occasionally strike near metal/rocks, or chop in serious freezing temperatures, then 5160.

440C does well, but is very hard to sharpen neatly with a crisp micro-bevel, and performs no better than the two above. It also varies a lot more, being very "temperamental" to temper. Some of it is the worst stuff out there... Never go for S30V, CPM 154 or even CPM-3V: The apex tends to make a tiny, nail-rubbing detectable lip under impact. INFI does not make these lips, but needs thick edges to otherwise stay straight... Below is all at the same level of use, with similar edge thicknesses:

420J above, CPM 3V below:

oY7jInb.jpg


INFI above, 5160 below:

jrQcBdJ.jpg


Gaston
 
CD#1, CPM S7, S7, CPM 3V, 5160, 1075, 80CrV2, K340, A8Mod, boiler viking steel, 52100, L6
 
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Gaston444 said:
If you want both great ease of sharpening combined with stainless, yet don't ever expect to strike near rocks or metal objects, or to ever use it in -30 degrees Celcius temperatures, then 420J or HC.

If you don't care about stain resistance, and might occasionally strike near metal/rocks, or chop in serious freezing temperatures, then 5160.

440C does well, but is very hard to sharpen neatly with a crisp micro-bevel, and performs no better than the two above. It also varies a lot more, being very "temperamental" to temper. Some of it is the worst stuff out there... Never go for S30V, CPM 154 or even CPM-3V: The apex tends to make a tiny, nail-rubbing detectable lip under impact. INFI does not make these lips, but needs thick edges to otherwise stay straight... Below is all at the same level of use, with similar edge thicknesses:

420J above, CPM 3V below:

oY7jInb.jpg


INFI above, 5160 below:

jrQcBdJ.jpg


Gaston
Click to expand...
Another excellent post Gaston, but you forgot to mention the importance of tube socks, sleeping pills, and how specific colors make sheathes more water proof than other colors. Also remember to inform people that you don't actually use knives for any kind of cutting tasks and instead choose to use exacto blades without a handle. All of this is very important to help establish what a credible source of information you are.
 
But Gaston always speaks with such authority. I love his posts! Though I would never ever take his advice on... anything.

And I would vote CPM 3V if you are planning a stock reduction knife with professional heat treat.

If you are looking to forge and heat treat at home, I dunno, 1095 maybe? 1084?
 
Gaston444 said:
If you want both great ease of sharpening combined with stainless, yet don't ever expect to strike near rocks or metal objects, or to ever use it in -30 degrees Celcius temperatures, then 420J or HC.

If you don't care about stain resistance, and might occasionally strike near metal/rocks, or chop in serious freezing temperatures, then 5160.

440C does well, but is very hard to sharpen neatly with a crisp micro-bevel, and performs no better than the two above. It also varies a lot more, being very "temperamental" to temper. Some of it is the worst stuff out there... Never go for S30V, CPM 154 or even CPM-3V: The apex tends to make a tiny, nail-rubbing detectable lip under impact. INFI does not make these lips, but needs thick edges to otherwise stay straight... Below is all at the same level of use, with similar edge thicknesses:

420J above, CPM 3V below:

oY7jInb.jpg


INFI above, 5160 below:

jrQcBdJ.jpg


Gaston
Click to expand...



OP I suggest you don’t follow Gaston’s advice. I’ll add on to the others that when I comes to toughness and edge retention, 3v hits the balance point perfectly.
 
Last edited:
You should reach out to Dan Keffeler somehow. He makes his own knives and he is/was a multi-time Bladesports World Champion..he's no joke in cutting competitions with his choppers. I have no idea on how you could reach him but he does have a few videos on youtube and he seems like the type of guy that would be open to sharing this type of information.....He is literally probably the best brain in the world to pick for this specific question. I know for a fact that he's a big fan of 3V but I'm not sure if that's what he uses for his chopper. Here's his youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/dancbr929

Beast mode

 
Gaston is right to say that 420hc is a pretty tough stainless. With a thick geometry many steels can make good choppers... the differences inly appear when you start using thinner stock or grinding a thin edge
 
Graillist said:
You should reach out to Dan Keffeler somehow. He makes his own knives and he is/was a multi-time Bladesports World Champion..he's no joke in cutting competitions with his choppers. I have no idea on how you could reach him but he does have a few videos on youtube and he seems like the type of guy that would be open to sharing this type of information.....He is literally probably the best brain in the world to pick for this specific question. I know for a fact that he's a big fan of 3V but I'm not sure if that's what he uses for his chopper. Here's his youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/dancbr929

Beast mode

Click to expand...
Something tells me they aren’t using 420J. Call it a hunch. ;)
 
Gaston444 said:
If you want both great ease of sharpening combined with stainless, yet don't ever expect to strike near rocks or metal objects, or to ever use it in -30 degrees Celcius temperatures, then 420J or HC.

If you don't care about stain resistance, and might occasionally strike near metal/rocks, or chop in serious freezing temperatures, then 5160.

440C does well, but is very hard to sharpen neatly with a crisp micro-bevel, and performs no better than the two above. It also varies a lot more, being very "temperamental" to temper. Some of it is the worst stuff out there... Never go for S30V, CPM 154 or even CPM-3V: The apex tends to make a tiny, nail-rubbing detectable lip under impact. INFI does not make these lips, but needs thick edges to otherwise stay straight... Below is all at the same level of use, with similar edge thicknesses:

420J above, CPM 3V below:

oY7jInb.jpg


INFI above, 5160 below:

jrQcBdJ.jpg


Gaston
Click to expand...

Please do not listen to this member. He is purposely putting false information out there. If you search his posts, they all regurgitate the same misinformation on the exact same steels with the exact same pictures.
 
There is no "best". It's all about compromises. Some steels are better than others for certain applications. But geometry is king and even geometry is subject to compromises when different tasks will be demanded.
 
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