Makes sense of the Steels

Also SKD and V2 are worth looking into I have had great experience with those as well. The bar setters for those steels (as far as I am aware) are Yoshikane and Itinomon respectively.

 

Lol, Don't forget about the 400's, 1090's 52100, AEB-L and and and and...

Steel matters but type doesn't matter as much. As so many other people said, look at the other stuff.

I love my white #1 blade and I love my AEB-L. One in an octagonal handle the other a D. I have a VG-10 Damascus nakiri that is also nice (not sure if I like it more than the white or AEB-L but that could just be grind/geometry). You need to start volunteering in a kitchen where the cooks and chefs use nice knives and ask very politely if you can cut an onion with it. You will probably get told to 'sod off and don't ouch my f^&*ing knife.'

 

Just download Gator's app. I has everything you would ever need to know.

 

but Then Id have no reason to ask questions here lol, ill keep the app handy when I can doop some new guy into thinking I know what im talking about though

 

It won't take long... just get a knife of each steel type ;-)

 

or just get one made up of a blend of all of them in one knife. we can call it "excaliber, Psssh, I got your excalibur right here" or "Seriously" for short

 

White Steels, 1 has more carbon than 2, 2 has more carbon than 3. Very pure steel, little alloying elements. Takes a wickedly fine edge very easily, but may not hold it as long as Blue steel. Can be very reactive. Edge holding is sometimes described as a straight line degrading a little at a time. Often recommended for people who are learning to sharpen.

Blue Steels, similar to White steels, has some extra alloying elements to it (Chromium and Tungsten) that give it better edge holding and a little more stain resistance (not enough to be stainless, but is slightly less reactive than White steels), but not taking quite as fine of an edge. It is a little more difficult to sharpen, but not much. Edge holding is sometimes as losing a little bite (90-95% edge), then plateauing for a while and then dropping off.

Most users probably won't be able to tell the difference between White and Blue steels in all honesty without extensive use to compare edge holding on the long term as most of us will sharpen before it's really necessary! Blue seems to hold an edge better than White in Pro kitchen use, especially on poly boards from reports I have heard.

Super Blue, similar to the regular blues, but more carbon, Chromium, Tungsten, Molybdenum and Vanadium. Better edge holding than Blue 1 or 2, a little more corrosion resistance (still not stainless!!), takes a good edge (may not be as fine as White and Blue) and holds it very well. Can also be hardened a bit higher before it gets "chippy".

Super Blue is one of my favorite steels. Still fairly easy to sharpen/deburr, takes a nice patina, and holds an edge longer than Blue or White. But again, I usually sharpen before it's really dull anyway.

I have yet to see a solid Aogami Super steel blade, White #2 seems to be more available in a mono steel blade; I have seen very few White #1/Blue #1/Blue #2 solid blades (Sakai Takayuki makes a Blue #2 Western handle mono steel knife) unless they are Honyaki blades. The cladding helps reduce cost and allows a thinner/harder core steel and softer cladding, which helps absorb some of the shock to the blade. This makes sharpening/thinning easier and the knife a bit more durable, but may mute some of the feedback while cutting.

The Heat Treating will make more of a difference in the carbon steels than differences between types. Overall, I prefer Aogami Super, 2nd choice is a blue steel, 3rd choice is white steel providing they all have a great heat treat.

 

Everyday I come here I feel I know a little bit more then the day before, this post was great Taz, thanks for taking the time to type it all out, I appreciate it.

 

That's weird, the more I read here the less I feel like I know. This is way more complicated than "the pointy end is the sharp part.".Hey, we gots new smilies!

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