Why would you use a knife made of 440 SS?

Saying that 440C is excelent and other grades are not is wrong (or at least incomplete)! It is all about what you need the knife for. If you ever tried to cut bone by hammering the knife into the spine, you probably know 440C is brittle and will chip. In this case, for better impact resistence you need something less brittle, with a lower carbon content. And that is 440A or 440B.

Look at Noss's tests on knifetess.com and see how some 440C knives perform (for example the Smiss&Wesson) and look how the 440A knives perform (for example the Cheaper than Dirt Rough Use Knife) and you'll see that 440A is much more tough and strong. If your first priority is edge retention, than 440C is the best, otherwise 440A is the choice. 440B is an intermediar step between the two.
 
"Steel--because it's better than bronze!"

Even soft steel is usable. There's only so soft it will go, after all. I'd take a knife made out of annealed black iron over a small chip of flint any day.

I prefer more premium steels, though I have seen many more than passable blades done in the 440 series of stainless. As many others have said, it's all in the heat treatment.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
That's true. Although I look for 12C27, the French laguiole is often found in 440A and at a lower Rockwell than the American market likes, but that's a real working knife.
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What of the Douk-Douk? they have a stainless version,which I have,that cuts like a devil-it's stamped 440.
 
Hi,

I have a fair number of knives, (slippies), with 440A blades and I find them to be just fine for me.

I remember having a Buck 119 Special with 44C steel back in the '70's. I hated the steel that it was made out of. Back then diamond hones, Japanese water stones, ceramics and even good India stones weren't easy to get, (no popping on-line and ordering one). And when you did find something like that, they were prohibitively expensive. All most of us had were arkanas stones. And generally, just a medium. I remember cussing the hours that it took to put an edge on that Buck. I finally got so mad I gave it to my brother. I swore off Buck knives until this just this year. A lot of guys my age will not buy a knife with any kind of stainless blade.

dalee
 
Esav Benyamin said:
440V is not really in the same series as 440A, 440B, and 440C. It is now known as S60V to eliminate this confusion. In the same way, 420V is now known as S90V.
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I have knives in 440V and like has been said its a whole different beast from 440C which even when treated well wont hold an edge like 440V (my mili in 440V was a pain to sharpen until I knew how). Thats a real good steel imo. I have several knives in 440C and its a good steel when heat treated right and sharpens well and holds and edge good enough. Its all in who its from and how they treat it.
 
440a is ok, that's about it; as has been noted, heat treat and blade geometry play a huge role in how the blade actually performs. 440c is a very good steel, but there are so many good to excellent steels available that it has a hard time being noticed. I have a Nimravus Cub in 440c, it sharpens very easily, holds the edge reasonably well, and is quite corrosion resistant. Overall, I like it about as much as 154cm. 440v is really not a true "440" type steel at all, it is actually one of the powdered steels otherwise known as cpm s60v.
 
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