You’ll hear some Old Timers say “Don’t buy a knife made from stainless steel….that stuff is CRAP!”
When stainless steel was first introduced and developed around 1914, it was the new ‘wonder steel’. Manufacturers were making everything from it. Problem was, that early stuff didn’t contain enough carbon content (should be around 1% or better) and blades wouldn’t hold an edge no matter how sharp you got it. So, it gained a bad reputation, and that has been continued for over a hundred years.
Today’s stainless steel is quite another matter. The good stuff has 1% carbon added, or more, and it can hold an edge longer than many tool steels. One of the reasons for this, is tool steels are subject to rust, and a blade will start rusting right along the thinnest part of the blade, the edge. Upkeep or maintenance is necessary to keep that in check.
You’d think companies would have learned their lesson and upgraded to a better grade of stainless. Not so! I suspect some accountant pitched switching to a cheaper grade of stainless to save some money, and not knowing how this affects edge holding, they’ve done so. There is one company that makes head knives out of SUS410 stainless. You need 1% carbon content for good edge holding and that stuff contains only .15% carbon. The hardest you can make it when heat treating is RC-37. Cutlery grade stainless can have a hardness of RC-61 63! So that edge on the cheap stuff might last for a 12 inch cut and then it’s gone!
Another factor is edge geometry. Each steel has it’s own sweet spot when honing an edge, and that must be tailored for the material you want to cut as well.
So, when buying a leather knife…or any other knife, ask the maker what steel they are using and the hardness of the blade. If they don’t know or won’t tell you, I suggest looking elsewhere and do some research on the type of steel a maker is using. Marketing terms such as “Surgical Steel” are meaningless and tell you nothing. There is no such thing as “Surgical Steel”, as far as steel manufacturers are concerned.
Bottom line, don’t depend on marketing terms and generic descriptions for steel. You want cutting leather to be easy, not difficult!
That is some very useful information. I would hate to buy a knife anywhere else, but at least I would know the questions to ask; thank your for that Terry!