After a month or two traveling this summer I am doing something I have had on the back burner for several months, namely publish a comprehensive table on knife steels, including comments on the blade steels themselves, and some short notes on each of the alloy elements and their basic purposes.

I have not included some steels like 420HC and 01760-1, but I will do so later, since in my opinion, 420HC is not really a custom knife steel that I would want to buy as my blade steel, and 01760-1 and others of this type are used mostly by forgers for high end custom knives. I owe them both a separate description and evaluation.

Anyone who buys or collects knives these days knows there has been an explosion of superb alloy steels being brought to the market, first by custom makers, and then by major knife companies. We are all the beneficiaries of this, but it would seem to me that you should know what to expect from your blade steel before you buy any knife.

Several great knife companies, like Spyderco and Benchmade, have published some good tables and descriptions of blade steels. I have gone beyond their tables by utilizing data sheets from two of the major, special purpose, alloy steel makers. Both Crucible and Timken/Latrobe have done an outstanding job of developing and documenting these new "super" steels. I have not accessed any of the Japanese companies yet, but probably will, as time permits.

This table is as accurate as I can make it, but may have errors. I have drawn on all my knowledge and reading, in addition to the sources I have mentioned, to provide what I hope is a complete working document for a blade buyer.

Click Here to see the Table