08-07-2015, 04:39 PM
As a sometimes knifemaker (OK, not for a while now...) I can back you up 100%.
I can make a knife out of "old fashioned" SAE 1095, with no fancy alloys, that out-cuts a whole BUNCH of "modern" steel knives that were made with ease of manufacture as the top criteria for steel choice by the maker...
I can also make a knife out of steels that no mass-market maker would touch because they are a rat bastige to grind... (S7 comes to mind.. makes a very good rough-use knife, but I'd spend $300 on grinding belts getting it shaped. )
Still tough to beat "old fashioned" O1 oil hardening, not-stainless, steel for a knife if properly heat treated. There's better steels, sure.. but O1 makes a VERY good knife if heat treated right, and cared for right.
I can make a knife out of "old fashioned" SAE 1095, with no fancy alloys, that out-cuts a whole BUNCH of "modern" steel knives that were made with ease of manufacture as the top criteria for steel choice by the maker...
I can also make a knife out of steels that no mass-market maker would touch because they are a rat bastige to grind... (S7 comes to mind.. makes a very good rough-use knife, but I'd spend $300 on grinding belts getting it shaped. )
Still tough to beat "old fashioned" O1 oil hardening, not-stainless, steel for a knife if properly heat treated. There's better steels, sure.. but O1 makes a VERY good knife if heat treated right, and cared for right.
Racer X wrote:
The true bottom line, and I am sure any engineers here will back me up, is if the manufacturer spent the time and money to properly heat treat the steel. You can use an older alloy, with a mediocre rep, and heat treat it in a masterful way, and get fantastic results.