Хоть на английском, но понятно
Surgical Steel - Also often referred as Stainless Surgical Steel in many knife promotion materials. Clear sign that you should steer away from that knife. There is no official surgical steel to begin with, besides, even if it was true, these days, whatever surgeons use is disposable pretty mush 100% of the cases. Do you really want a disposable knife in your kitchen? As usual, the term surgical refers to low wear resistant, cheap steels like 420 series or worse. In short, it's bad, stay away.
420 Series - Low wear resistance, highly stain-resistant, good choice for diving knives, but nothing interesting for the kitchen. Very low Carbon content, less than 0.3%-0.5%, makes it too soft for a useful cuting tool. Used mainly in very cheap kitchen knives. Skip it. Ref - AISI 420 Steel Composition.
440A/440B - Not too good to begin with, and haven't seen anyone lately using them for the good kitchen knives. Skip it. A lot of low cost mainstream kitchen knvies are made from this or similar steels. Ref - AISI 440A vs. 440B Steel Composition comparison.
440C - Used to be a premium steel for years, by now it's rather old. Ref - AISI 44C Steel Composition. Still, many makers use it in kitchen knives. Phil Wilson used to use it too. When heat treated properly, it's a decent performer in the kitchen and outside of it too. The only thing is, factories don't heat treat that steel to those standards. Therefore, if you can get a custom from the trusted maker, then it is probably worth it, otherwise not that good. Good toughness and stain resistance. Ref - AISI 440A vs. 440B vs. 440C Steel Composition Comparison.
12C27 - Another old timer. Swedish stainless steel. Interesting, because it's a very pure alloy. Ref - Sandvik 12C27 Steel Composition. Takes very keen edge. Edge holding is ok. Several western and Japanese makers use it. It's an ok steel IMHO. If you find a good maker, he'll make a pretty good knife out of it. Nothing outstanding IMHO, but a lot of makers like it, which is understandable, it's easy to work with and lots of knife folks(i.e. customers) like it too.
1.4116 - W-Nr standard name of the X50CrMoV15 steel, which is a DIN standard name. See below.
154CM/ATS-34 - 154CM (don't mix with a better CPM154 steel) is the original American steel, and ATS-34 is Hitachi version of it. Good stainless steels, not used in mass production kitchen knives though, too expensive. Some makers use it, in custom kitchen knives. High wear resistance, but brittle at higher hardness. I personally, wouldn't choose either of them for my custom kitchen knife, there are better choices. That's not to say they(154CM/ATS-34) are bad choces, but if I spend few hundreds on custom kitchen knives then I will definitely pick a better steel, and that will add another hundred or so to the total price. Ref - ATS-34 vs. 154CM Steel Composition Comparison.
Cronidur 30 - Same as X30CrMoNi1-5-1.
Cowry-X - Latest super duper PM steel. Ultra high carbon and chromium content. C - 3% and Cr - 20%. Very high hardness, several makers harden it to 65 or even 67HRC. As you can guess very expensive too. ZDP-189 and MC-66 are very similar, in that those two have the same C and CR content. Exact element makeup unknown. Overall, very good edge holding and toughness. Hard to sharpen compared to other steels, nothing impossible though. So far Hattori is the only one making kitchen knives out of it.
CPM™ 154 - Crucible Particle Metallurgy version of 154CM. Significantly better then it's predecessor. Purer steel, with finer carbides. Elemental makeup is identical to 154CM, however, rummors are CPM154 contains small amounts of Vanadium, thus being more wear resistant. Toughness and finishing properties are increased considerably. Easier for makers to work with, and for the user it means quite tougher, little but more wear resistant and finer edged knives. Several custom makers use it for kitchen knives, no factory knives in CPM-154 though. Phil Wilson makes fillet and chef's knives out of it. Can go up to 61HRC, although not many makers take it there. Very good choice. Ref - AISI 154CM vs. CPM154 Steels Composition Comparison.
CPM™ S90V(CPM420V) - CPM S90V (420V is the old name) is a very high alloy steel from Crucible Particle Metallurgy. Very high wear resistance coupled with very high corrosion resistance. Ref - CPM S90V Chemical Composition. As you can see alloy content is extremely high. Because of the very high Vanadium content it's really difficult for the makers to work with. Upper limit for hardness is 61HRC. For now, the only maker I know of, making kitchen knives with S90V is Phil Wilson. Sadly, Phil isn't making large kitchen knives anymore. On the other handparing knife from S90V or even small chef's knife is also a very good choice. Perhaps I'll get one later too. I have S90V Lochsa folder from Scott Cook, heat treated by P. Boss to 60HRC. Very good edge holding. Definitely a good choice for a quality kitchen knife if the maker knows how to work with it.
CPM™ S110V - CPM S110V is another very high alloy steel from Crucible Particle Metallurgy. Very high wear resistance coupled with very high corrosion resistance. The news is the addition of the Niobium - Nb. Ref - CPM S110V Chemical Composition. As you can see, alloy content is extremely high in S110V too. Because of the very high Vanadium content it's really difficult for the makers to work with. Recommended hardness by Crucible is 61-63HRC. Although, Phil Wilson did manage to get it to 64HRC and make exceptionally good cutters out of it. For now, the only maker I know of, making kitchen knives with S110V is Phil Wilson. The real problem with the steel is that it's pretty hard to get from Crucible in knife making suitable sized bars. Edge holding ability is even greater than that of the CPM 125V and CPM 10V. Mainly because of the addition of the 3.5% Niobium. Nb carbides are very hard, harder than Vanadium carbides, and overall carbide volume is very high in this alloy. Thus, wear resistance and edge holding for abrasive cutting is extremely high.
CROMOVA 18 - Yoshikin proprietary stainless steel for their brand Global knives. Cr indicates Chrome in the alloy, Mo is for Molybdenum and Va is for Vanadium. Exact chemical composition is unknown, except for 18% of Chromium in it, which is what 18 stands for in the name of the steel. Better performer compared to X50CrMoV15 types of steel. Highly stain resistant with pretty good edge holding ability.
MC66 - Used exclusively by Henckel in their Twin Cermax line. extremely high carbon and chromium content. C - 3% and Cr - 20%. Very high hardness, 66HRC. Simpler versions of the knives made out of it are reasonably priced. Cowry-X and ZDP-189 are very similar, in that those two have the same C and CR content. Exact element makeup unknown, as I said suspicions are, that this is either ZDP-189 or Cowry-X. Well, according to some sources, Henckel reps confirmed on the knife show in Japan that MC66 indeed is ZDP-189. Overall, very good edge holding and ok toughness for the kitchen knife. Hard to sharpen compared to other steels, nothing impossible though.
SRS-15 - Japanese Powder Metallurgy(PM) steel. Excellent choice for kitchen knives. Ref - SRS-15 PM Steel Composition. As you can see, it's really high on Carbon, and all that Tungsten with Vanadium increase wear resistance significantly. Overall, it can get to 64-65HRC no problems. Akifusa gyuto that I have, is made of SRS-15, and I can only attest to its excellent performance.
SG-2 - Japanese Powder Metallurgy(PM) steel. Made by Takefu steel company. Excellent choice for kitchen knives. Also known as SGPS, well Fallkniven uses it under that name. As far as I know SG2 stands for something like Super Gold. For curious minds - Takefu SG2 steel composition. Shun uses SG2 steel in their elite line. It's a good steel, according to other accounts, less of a performer compared to SRS-15. Although, I've seen quite negative comments on SG2 performance in Falkniven U2 folder. On the other hand, folks seem to be happy with SG2 performance in Shun elite knives. Achieves very high hardness, Shun Elite knives are officially 64HRC, although lately 62HRC figure is cited quite often too. Ref - SRS-15 vs. SG2 Steel Composition Comparison.
SKD11 - Japanese tool steel. It is same as AISI D2. Stain Resistant, not truly stainless. Very good edge holding. Yoshikane uses this steel for their kitchen knives, hardened to 64HRC. Most of the reports I've seen are very positive. Some indicate microchipping along the edge. Though this is perhaps related to sharpening angle. For the record, I haven't seen western kitchen knives in D2 steel. Ref - SKD11 Steel Composition.
S30V - Quite good cutlery steel. CPM S30V was developed by Crucible Metallurgy with knives in mind, which is very rare in the industry. Apart from Shirogami and Aogami steels, I don't really know any others created for knives. Based on very tough and wear resistant CPM3V. Has added Cr and other elements. Although, it has added too much chromium and Carbon to be as tough. Can get pretty hard, up to 62HRC. Better wear resistance than 154CM. It was quite hyped up back in early 2000 when it first appeared, but proper heat treatment isn't that simple and several manufacturers and even custom makers produced knives that were either too soft or chipped easily. Obviously that didn't work well for S30V reputation. Also, compared to many other alloys this one is more difficult to machine and process. Perhaps that explains why some makers choose to run this steel at 58-60HRC. Haven't seen many S30V at 62HRC to be honest. Phil Wilson is really good with this steel, and makes kitchen knives out of it. Unfortunately, Phil is shifting his focus mainly to smaller fillet, chef's and paring knives. Longest being 6"-7".
S30V is pretty popular with other makers. I have Trace Rinaldi TTKK, that I've used in the kitchen for years. It's not exactly a kitchen knife, but held up pretty well. For very good information regarding this steel I highly recommend Phil Wilson's CPM S30V Introduction. Ref - CPM S30V Steel Composition.
VG-10 - Very good stain resistant steel. Used widely in Japanese kitchen knives. From western makers Fallkniven uses it in some of their blades like K2 - White Whale. Most of the Japanese blades are 60-61HRC, except for Tojiro, who makes them at 62HRC, Tojiro Santoku, Tojiro Paring. Fallknivens are 59HRC. Old, but very good performer. Needs minimal care to avoid corrosion. Takes very good edge and easy to sharpen even at 62HRC. Good edge holding. Ref - VG-10 Steel Composition
X30CrMoNi1-5-1 - Also Cronidur 30. Stainless steel, used in aero-space industry. Henckel uses it in their limited edition knives. I have absolutely no idea why would a knife out of low carbon steel like that would be so expensive. No personal experience, but it is a low carbon steel. May be Nitrogen helps some, but I doubt it's a good competitor of the better knife steels. Ref - Cronidur(X30CrMoNi1-5-1) Steel Composition.
X45CrMoV15 - German steel. Similar to X50CrMoV15 below. As you can deduce contains 0.45% C. Nothing interesting. Used by several western makers including F. Dick. Technically and practically, this is not a high carbon steel. Medium it is. Ref - X45CrMoV15 steel composition.
X50CrMoV15 - German steel. Very stain resistant. Other than that not much to speak of. The cryptic X50CrMoV15 stands for 0.5% carbon, the other 15% is composed of 14% or 14.5% of Cr, some Mo and V. I don't know who in German marketing came up with the idea to use X for Carbon, in periodic table it's C. 0.5% C content means, by definition X50CrMoV15 isn't a high carbon steel, despite of some marketing claims. In fact it has less C content compared to 440C steel. However, it's plenty tough and resists corrosion well. If you don't want to bother maintaining your knives this is a good choice. Except for the low edge holding ability of course. In the end, you end up sharpening it a lot more often, so low maintenance statement is really arguable. Used by Wusthof, Victorinix and others in their high end knives. Ref - X50CrMoV15 Steel Composition.
X55CrMoV15 - Variation of 1.4116 steel. Pretty much the same, except for the slightly higher C content - 0.55%. Used by Messermeister. Not sure who else uses it. You can see the detailed differences in composition on this X55CrMoV15 vs. X50CrMoV15 steel composition comparison graph.
ZDP-189 - Latest super duper PM steel. extremely high carbon and chromium content. C - 3% and Cr - 20%. Very high hardness, several makers harden it to 65 or even 67HRC. As you can guess very expensive too. Cowry-X and MC-66 are very similar, in that those two have the same C and CR content. Although, Henckel representative in Tokyo did confirm MC66 being ZDP-189. Exact element makeup unknown, whatever I have in the Knife Steel Chart is not confirmed by Hitachi. Unlike Cowry-X, ZDP-189 contains Molybdenum, Tungsten and Vanadium. Overall, very good edge holding and toughness. Hard to sharpen compared to other steels, nothing impossible, really. Ref - ZDP-189 Steel Composition.
T
erminology clarification again. Since we already know that all steels are Carbon steels strictly speaking, under the term Carbon Steels I refer to the steels with no, or very low stain resistance.
Aogami(Blue) 1 (YSS) - Also referred as Ao-Ko, or Ao-ichi-ko, where ichi is one in Japanese and ko is steel. Hitachi high carbon steel(C 1.3%-1.4%), very pure(P
Aogami(Blue) 2 (YSS) - Also referred as Ao-Ko II. Hitachi high carbon steel, specifically developed for tools and knives. Ref - Aogami 2 Steel Composition. Very pure alloy - P
Aogami(Blue) Super (YSS) - Hitachi high carbon steel, specifically developed for tools and knives. Aogami Super Steel Composition. Another solid performer from Aogami family. This one has highest wear resistance and lowest toughness of three. I have Takeda Chukabocho(cleaver) and Takeda Deba in Aogami super. Both knives exhibit very good edge holding, and Deba is just fine crushing chicken bones. Both knives are hardened to 61HRC. Ref - Aogami 1 vs. Aogami 2 vs. Aogami Super steels composition comparison chart.
Kigami 2 (YSS) - Better steel compared to JIS KS series, but worse than both, Aogami and Shirogami. Used in high end tools and low/mid class kitchen knives. Ref - Kigami 2 Steel Composition.
Kigami 3 (YSS) - Very similar to Kigami 2, with less Carbon. Ref - Kigami 2 vs. Kigami 3 Steel Composition Comparison.
SK3 - Solid performer as a cutlery steel, Tsukiji Masamoto uses it in his Carbon steel kitchen knives. Ref - SK3 steel composition.
SK4 - Low grade steel, mainly due to impurities. Used mainly in hand tools like axes and hammers. Can be found in cheap kitchen knives as well. Ref - SK4 steel composition.
SK5 - Similar to SK4, with even less Carbon. SK3 vs. SK4 vs. SK5 steel composition comparison.
O1 - Similar to 1095 and Aogami steels by makeup. Gets very hard and has very good edge holding ability. As far as I know several custom knife makers produce kitchen knives out of this steel. Good choice, no resistance to corrosion obviously. L.R. Harner aka Butch works with O1 kitchen knives. Ref - O1 steel composition.
Shirogami(White) 1 (YSS) - Also referred as Shiro-Ko 1 or simply Shiro-Ko. Identical to Blue 1, except for the absence of Cr and W. So, it's pretty much very pure carbon steel. Takes very fine because of this. Very popular knife steel for high end Japanese cutlery and especially with Honyaki type blades. Very good edge holding, gets very high hardness. Ref - Shirogami 1 steel composition.
Shirogami(White) 2 (YSS) - Also referred as Shiro-Ko 2 and Shiro-ni-ko. Same as Shiro-Ko 1, except slightly lower C content. Very good edge holding, gets very high hardness. Ref - Shirogami 2 steel composition.
Shirogami(White) 3 (YSS) - Also referred as Shiro-Ko 3. Same as Shiro-Ko 1, except contains C - 0.8%. Good edge holding, gets very high hardness. Not too tough. Haven't seen any knives in Shirogami 3 so far. May be used in tools like chisels. Ref - Shirogami 3 steel composition.
* YSS stands for Yasuki(sometimes Yasugi) Specialty Steel.
http://www.zknives.com/knives/kitchen/misc...kksteelp3.shtml
