Victorinox blade steels?

C

Conner Michaux

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Jul 8, 2018
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I kinda want to try out a Swiss army knife, I have heard lots of great things for years about them, But what do they make there blades out of? I have looked on there web and Bladehq but nothing talks about the steel...

Thanks
 
"For the blades themselves, the 1.4110 is the standard and it’s functionality truly reflect the intent of Victorinox. This standard puts a strong focus in Chromium, but also utilizes; Carbon, Molybdenum, Manganese, and Silicon to name a few of the overriding secondary elements. The Chromium normally sits between 13.3 to 14.8% ensuring its stainless steel properties. The carbon will normally hold just below .70% in order to provide the tensile strength needed to last, and Mo, Mn, and Si are found around .75 to 1.0%. The blade hardening occurs at 1900 degrees with an annealing temperature of 140 degrees giving it an Rc of 56."
 
X55CrMo14 or DIN 1.4110 for blades, for the other parts is X39Cr13 (aka DIN 1.4031, AISI/ASTM 420) and for the springs X20Cr13 (aka DIN 1.4021, but still within AISI/ASTM 420). The steel used for the wood saws, scissors and nail files has a steel hardness of HRC 53, the screwdrivers, tin openers and awls have a hardness of HRC 52, and the corkscrew and springs have a hardness of HRC 49.
 
Conner Michaux said:
Soooo does that mean its a decent steel? Sorry Im not one for metallurgy :D
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It’s not a high end steel, but for the more common and mundane tasks that actually tend to be about 99%of our knife use, it’s more than up to the task. The good news is that the blades are thin so they cut well even after the hair popping sharpness of the edge is long gone.
 
I've had mine since '86. I've sharpened it twice. It probably needs another, but it still cuts so...:thumbsup:.
 
Conner Michaux said:
I kinda want to try out a Swiss army knife, I have heard lots of great things for years about them, But what do they make there blades out of?
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They make them out of steel. Steel that doesn't corrode easily. Steel that sharpens easily. Steel that gets sharp. Steel that gets dull. Steel that can bend a bit. Steel that can break if bent too far. Steel that has been making people happy for many many years. Steel that makes people say great things about their knives.
 
By our usual standards, the blade steel is soft. It dulls pretty easily, but also sharpens up very easily.

What I like to do is to carry a small SAK for tools, then a one-handed folder for a nice blade.

Occasionally, I take a big risk and skip one or the other.

If you have a small SAK + one handed folder, the SAKs blade is just a back-up.

If you have a larger SAK, the big SAK blade can be kept clean and sharp for food, small blade is a general utility blade, and the one-hander is for tougher cutting duties.

Give it a try. I recommend a Super Tinker for a typical size SAK, or a Manager for a truly pocket-sized one.
 
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Conner Michaux said:
Soooo does that mean its a decent steel? Sorry Im not one for metallurgy :D
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It's not great, but the geometry is thin so it cuts well for what it is, it's also decently tough at the edge since it's very soft and has low alloy. The common man enjoys the steel.

The Swiss army knife steel however lacks horsepower, someone that is more obsessed with high performance cutting will be left wanting. In my experience, it's too soft, it needs frequent sharpening and goes blunt quickly in use, it's perfectly fine though for the majority, most will enjoy the ease of sharpening and resistance to chipping. Everything is a Trade off, high performance is more extremes, but if you stay in strengths of the trade offs and avoid the weaknesses then you get extreme performance.

However, there are nitrogen steels that are similar in tougheness and ease of sharpening. Yet offer more corrosion esistance, high hardness, more strength and less blunting.
They cut wayyyyy longer.

Steels like lc200n, Bd1n, NitroV, Vanax SC, Nitrobe77

Unfortunately, you, the consumer don't get to pick and choose what steels you get in the knife unless you go custom or are making knives yourself, also nitrogen steels are extremely expensive steels, so unlikely to ever be in the Swiss army market or a lot of other Production knives.

No one buys a Swiss army knife though to geek out on steel, so don't focus on that. It will still cut stuff at the end of the day.

Just don't look at a Toyota Camry if you're looking for Horsepower.
 
Its decent enough for most tasks. Its a master of none sort of steel. I carry SAKs because I can carry one anywhere with no reason under local law, and if I have a reason for a better knife, I have said reason by which to carry it under. But for a "walking around" knife, it does fine.
 
Conner Michaux said:
I kinda want to try out a Swiss army knife, I have heard lots of great things for years about them, But what do they make there blades out of? I have looked on there web and Bladehq but nothing talks about the steel...

Thanks
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Pushing aside all the "candy coated" wording on Victorinox's blade material Conner...it's cheap steel.Nothing wrong with the cheap stainless steels...they take a great edge,highly rust resistant,and they perform.But I can't talk up Victorinox's steel
Conner Michaux said:
Soooo does that mean its a decent steel? Sorry Im not one for metallurgy :D
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Define "decent"...

I don't think Victorinox's steel is unreliable.Soft and sharpens easily to a razor edge.Very rust resistant and it's durable.Edge retention wise? see the results and comparative quality...





All of these steels work well enough for the traditional user.But people do like to glamour Victorinox's steel as something good but then turn around and call a cheap China knife steel that performs similar to be total crap.
 
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At one point in my life, I went for 10 years with only one knife: a Victorinox Spartan. It served me well. Sure, the main blade required resharpening more often than a 'supersteel', but it's a breeze to resharpen.

Way back when, Schrade had straight carbon steel blades that were a couple points lower on the hardness scale than Victorinox's 56 RC (on the knife blades). I'm not glamorizing Victorinox's steel; but it's served me well for decades. I also carry other knives for other purposes.

Jim
 
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Smaug said:
By our usual standards, the blade steel is soft. It dulls pretty easily, but also sharpens up very easily.
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Our standards? By my standards it's a perfectly good steel. I carry and use one daily. Great slicer blades easily whipped into shape with the simplest of tools.
 
It’s the optimal steel for what the knife is designed for IMO. It’s meant to always be in your pocket without bothering you until you need it for something and honestly, you’re gonna get a whole lot more use out of the other tools than out of the knife blade.
If you really need a more effective blade, you can bring one separately.
 
Conner Michaux said:
I kinda want to try out a Swiss army knife, I have heard lots of great things for years about them, But what do they make there blades out of? I have looked on there web and Bladehq but nothing talks about the steel...

Thanks
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You said try one out, pick one that has some tools you think you will use and go for it.In my area northern oh,you can get them at wally world, the big m place etc local hardware,go get one
 
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