What makes 440A stainless steel good for knives?

0.03% of Sulfur: Increases machinability, and decreases strength. 0.09% of Molybdenum: Increase Machinability and strength. As you can notice, it has 18% of chromium, which means the 440a is stainless steel, is made for corrosion resistance, and the presence of carbon creates a great plus in hardness.

Is it OK to temper stainless steel grade 440?

Heat Treatment. Tempering at temperatures between 425 and 565°C should be avoided as the corrosion and impact resistance properties of grade 440 tend to reduce in this range. Also, tempering of these grades at 590 to 675°C will result in high impact resistance and loss of hardness.

Which is the higher end 440C stainless steel?

440C Stainless Knife Steel is the high-end of the 440 stainless steels. Being harder than the others, keeping a sharper edge much longer than standard 440A or 440B stainless steels. We must apologize…

When did Chinese knives start using 440 stainless steel?

During the late 80’s and early 90’s every cheap Chinese knife on the market would say “440 Stainless” and a lot of the knives were not tempered well or in some cases at all it would seem. And with the rise in use of 420js people eventually began to make a larger assumption that 4XX steels are junk.

As you can notice, it has 18% of chromium, which means the 440a is stainless steel, is made for corrosion resistance, and the presence of carbon creates a great plus in hardness. What is the hardness (HRC) of 440a stainless steel According to @aksteel, the Rockwell hardness of the 440a steel is between 55-58 HRC.

Which is the best stainless steel for a knife?

It’s a high carbon martensitic stainless steel, used for knives, blades, cutting tools, and surgical tools. It has great corrosion resistance and wear resistance, its widespread in the knife industry due to its excellent combination of hardness and corrosion resistance.

Which is better the 440A or the 420HC?

As you can see both the 440A and the 420HC are very close. The 400 series or family are very close in with little difference in edge retention, as you can see, the 440C is a bit more superior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nkP0JfGH5U