im hearing so much about this steel <<it wont hold a edge well, it may be too brittle etc. am i wasting my time making knives with it?:mad:

sorry guys iwas saying that ive heard alot about this steel like it wont hold an edge well etc am i wasting my time making knives out of ss:mad:

I use 440c and like it. It will do very well...if the HT is exactly right. Just like all alloy steels. There are some better alloys out there, but I choose 440c because I can temper it at home. ATS-34 is said to be better than 440, but the tempering temperature is around 900*, and my tempering/cake baking oven only goes to 500*.:D

Take some time to read all the back threads. I know that knifemaking is exciting, and you want to jump right in and do it, but everyone has to get the background. You will never, ever find a better resource than this forum. There are very few questions that anyone can come up with that haven't already been answered. You just have to read. And read. And read some more. It took me about a month to read everything that was here, and I started on these boards about 9 months ago. There's even more here now than there was then. Nobody minds answering questions, but you'll get a broader scope of answers by reading the past threads. Use a search. You'll find many threads about what you want to know. Five threads are better than one. And if you still have questions, feel free to ask. We'll answer.

Now go read--and have fun. Be open to new things, new steels, new processes. And be prepared to be disappointed with things. I've always wanted to make folders, and I've never been able to do it. I think it was Clint Eastwood in "Dirty Harry" who said, "A man's gotta know his limitations." Making folders is mine. Doing the HT on stainless steel may be yours. But don't let that discourage you. Keep trying. I try that folder a couple of times a year.

Jamey, I have some good news for you. Hitachi's HT charts show that ATS34 can be tempered at 425 F. It costs you about a point in hardness, but greatly improves the rust resistance. I've been doing it for years.

http://www.internetbusinesslinks.net/snoopydance.gif

I've got a new steel! Hot d@mn! Thanks, Don!

Properly heat treated 440C makes a good blade. Most of the negative you hear about stainless knife steels is based on factory knives. It is very difficult to properly heat treat stainless in very large batches, so factory stainless blades tend to be brittle and of uncertain hardness. Badly done, 440C is not good.

I first started making stainless blades using 440C HT'd to 58 and thought, and still think, it's a good steel. Unfortunately, some of my first knives went to some avid pig hunters down in cental Florida. They liked the knives, but weren't happy with the edge holding(these guys were REALLY using those blades). So I switched to cryogenically HT'd ATS-34, and never had another complaint. Nowadays, it's mainly 154CM, D-2 and, occasionally, Bg-42. I still think 440C's a good steel, just not in real hard use applications where edge holding is a prime prerequisite. In my own personal experience with it, it's a Deer-and-a-half steel. That means gutting, skinning and butchering with the knife until there's some obvious change in the blade sharpness. With the other steels I've mentioned/used, I get three deer(legal limit),and still have a good edge. Some of my customers that hunt out of the big camps report 4/5 deer, but then I don't know if that includes full butchering. Doubt it.