Each Knife is Made with its special Use and Design, You can't Use a Kitchen Knives for Hunting and Vice Versa. What Makes Knives Different? it's the Design and Material Used, Especially Metal Used for the Blade...
Here is Some Types Of Steel/Metal Used in Blade Production :
Steel 17-7 PH - Is an Alloy made of Chromium, Aluminum, and Stainless Steel. It has great Corrosion resistance but is harder to Sharpen due to the high Chromium content. It holds great Edge retention and does very well around water. High Corrosion resistance typically means it has a high Chromium content.
154 CM - Was originally used on the fan Blades of jet engines. It is the precursor to the Japanese made ATS-34. It has good Blade toughness. It holds a good Edge and is fairly easy to Sharpen. Good Corrosion resistance
420 - Its a hard and strong Blade steel. A common Stainless Steel used in Knives. It is Corrosion resistant. Holds a decent Edge and its pretty easy to Sharpen.
420 HC – This is a high Carbon version of the 420. It has great wear resistance because of the high Carbon Alloys and has great Corrosion resistance because of the Chromium Stainless Steels. The high Carbon content makes it is harder to Sharpen but the Edge holds longer.
440 A - They use this in many production of Knives. It is a high Carbon Stainless Steel and has a good balance of Edge retention. It is easy to Resharpen and is Corrosion resistant.
440 C – Stainless Steel with high Chromium content. It has an excellent balance of hardness and Corrosion resistance. Easy to sharpen and takes a nice Edge.
1095 - This is a cheaper plain Carbon Steel. Low resistance to Corrosion, the Edge retention is low to medium. The only benefits to this Steel is that it is very easy to Sharpen, it will take an extremely Sharp Edge, and its cheap.
5150 - This is a medium Carbon Steel and it hardens well. Typically used on blades with a thick cross-section like Axes and Tomahawks. Impact resistant and extremely tough.
ATS 34 – Is a high Chromium Stainless Steel with Molybdenum added to it. Holds a good Edge and has high Corrosion resistance. It is more difficult to Resharpen than lower Chromium Steels.
AUS 6A – This is Stainless Steel that is medium to high in Carbon. It holds a good Edge. Its good for long heavy Blades that endure a lot of stress during Chopping and Hacking. It has decent Corrosion resistance and its fairly easy to Sharpen.
AUS 8 - A very strong Japanese Stainless Steel that has good Edge holding capabilities. Easy to Sharpen, great Corrosion resistance, and has a generally low cost.
AUS 8A - Low Chromium, high Carbon Stainless Steel. Its the ultimate compromise between toughness, strength, Edge holding, and Corrosion resistance.
BG 42 – Is a high grade Bearing Alloy. It has large amounts of Carbon and Molybdenum. They also added Vanadium for improved strength and Edge retention. It has decent Corrosion resistance and is easy to Sharpen.
Carbon V – This is a low Alloy, Cutlery grade Steel and because of its chemistry it is superior to most other Steels. It has superior Edge retention, and decent Corrosion resistance. Because of how exceptionally tough this Steel is it is harder to Sharpen then most Stainless Steel.
CPM S30V – This Steel was engineered in the United States and was created for the Knife industry. It has great Corrosion resistance and excellent Edge retention. This is the best all around Knife Steel and has the perfect balance between Corrosion resistance, Edge retention, and Sharpen-ability.
D2 - This is a Tool Steel that is a Semi-Stainless Steel and is air hardened and only contains 12% Chromium. It offers decent Corrosion resistance with exceptional Edge retention. This Steel is harder to Sharpen than most but can be polished to a high shine.
Damascus – Damascus Steel is made from fusing dissimilar Steels together with heat. Typically acid etched to bring out the different Steels in a striped pattern. It has excellent toughness and Edge capabilities which make it a great Blade. It has a high cost for production so it is usually used in special applications such as decorative Blades.
M2 – This is a high speed tool grade Steel that is primarily used in industrial Cutting Tool applications. This Metal is used to cut Metal. Very strong and has tremendous wear resistance. This is one of the toughest Steels used to make Knife Blades. The tradeoff for the toughness is that it is hard to Sharpen and highly susceptible to Corrosion. All Blades made with this Steel is coated with a Corrosion resistant coating to give it some Corrosion resistance.
N690 – This is an Austrian engineered Stainless Steel that is very similar to 440C in performance. Has good Edge holding qualities and excellent Corrosion resistance along with easy Sharpening.
S30V – This Steel contains Molybdenum, Vanadium, Carbon, and high amounts of Chromium. Double Tempered for Edge retention and hardness. Its slightly more difficult to Sharpen but has excellent Corrosion resistance.
Sandvik 12C27 – This is a Swedish Stainless Steel. This is a premium Steel for Knife Blades. It offers a great balance between Edge retention, Sharpen-ability, and Corrosion resistance.
San Mai III - San Mai means “three layers” the term is used when talking about traditional Japanese Swords and Daggers. The Blade maker uses a laminated construction technique that allows different grades of Steel to be used in a single Blade. The center layer is high Carbon that provides strength and Edge holding qualities while the outer layers are lower Carbon Steels which provides flexibility.
X-15 T.N – This was developed by the airline industry for jet ball bearings. The medical industry uses it for scalpels. This is an ideal Steel for Knives used in water sports. It has excellent Corrosion resistance in which it can withstand the harshest conditions while maintaining ample Edge retention. It is an easy to maintain Edge.
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