If you could only use one type of knife steel for the rest of your life, what would it be?

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Depending on the blade, probably Blue #2
 
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52100, **** just works
 
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Agreed on A2, which is why it's second tier for me. Though in 3-4" belt knife I love it. Cuts like a demon.
CruForgeV is hard to get in a broad range of useful dimensions, apparently.
 
I think it would be really interesting to get a cross-section of user profile for those choosing a stainless/semi-stainless vs. carbon. Part of me thinks professionals may want a stainless just due to less upkeep, but then also home cooks (maybe not this cohort, but in general) probably don't care for knives very well. . . so maybe they want stainless. OR, conversely, the exploration would be just a ****-show and nothing more than mental masturbation.
 
Elliot said:
I think it would be really interesting to get a cross-section of user profile for those choosing a stainless/semi-stainless vs. carbon. Part of me thinks professionals may want a stainless just due to less upkeep, but then also home cooks (maybe not this cohort, but in general) probably don't care for knives very well. . . so maybe they want stainless. OR, conversely, the exploration would be just a ****-show and nothing more than mental masturbation.
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With something like hard treated AEB-L it is very difficult to recommend a carbon instead. The usual benefits of carbon that make many pick it are ease of sharpening and that simple carbons get really sharp. AEB-L has these benefits too and at the same hardness seems to be better than, for example 52100, in every category. If we take that into consideration than it is hard to recommend a simple carbon over AEB-L. Now, there is a romantic, visual benefit to carbons in that they patina and as such feel more alive and ever changing, but this can be a plus or a minus depending on your point of view about what the blade should look like, stainless definitely has its place. Some carbons are also much easier to deferentially heat treat and heat treat in general, but I am still not clear of the benefit of differential heat treatment in a kitchen knife...
 
Barmoley said:
With something like hard treated AEB-L it is very difficult to recommend a carbon instead. The usual benefits of carbon that make many pick it are ease of sharpening and that simple carbons get really sharp. AEB-L has these benefits too and at the same hardness seems to be better than, for example 52100, in every category. If we take that into consideration than it is hard to recommend a simple carbon over AEB-L. Now, there is a romantic, visual benefit to carbons in that they patina and as such feel more alive and ever changing, but this can be a plus or a minus depending on your point of view about what the blade should look like, stainless definitely has its place. Some carbons are also much easier to deferentially heat treat and heat treat in general, but I am still not clear of the benefit of differential heat treatment in a kitchen knife...
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The romance is a major part of my reason for being curous. Being honest, even as a pretty decent home cook with a knife and stone obsession, my ability to really tell the difference between a lot of the steels is probably minimal. I would argue the same could be said for a lot of us (minus obvious things like patina formation vs. stainless).

So, I am working under the assumption, which could of course be right or wrong, that the ability for most of us to identify SKD from SLD from AEL from HD2 is minimal in practice.
 
if its all I can use and has to be a balance of toughness, edge retention, edge taking ability, ease to sharpen, ease of grinding both pre and post heat treat, and only mid level difficulty of heat treating. 52100 would be my all around pick.
 
if i had to choose only 1??

well talking carbon then blue2 for sure. best carbon steel out there overall.

talking SS i'd go all in on aus8... yes you read that right. why?

it gets sufficiently hard (above 60 when cryoed)
its quite wear resistant.
its quite stain resistant.
its gets very sharp.
its very easy/fast to sharpen.
it never chips out. not even microchips
 
Well, I'm going to go against the grain and choose stainless. If it has to last me the rest of my life i don't want to bother with carbon.

For stainless it would be a toss up between AEB-L, Ginsan or Damasteel, with Damasteel being my pick.

Why, well it looks pretty, has great wear resistance, gets plenty sharp and isn't too difficult to sharpen.
 
It’s always hard to say how much of the performance is the steel, even when that encompasses heat treatment and forging. I picked A2 because a lot of the knives whose performance stands out to me are in a steel with an A2-like composition (Masashi VS1, Yoshikane SKD) or rumored to be such (Gengetsu SS, Heiji SS). I like how they sharpen and how they take and hold edges. But I haven’t tried, for instance, Dalman’s or Devin’s AEB-L. So one of the biggest variables is the individual’s collection/toolkit/range of knives used. For another example could I really say my favorite is SC145 since I’ve only experienced it as a single data point in a Raquin knife? It’s a hell of a knife but teasing out the characteristics pertaining only to the steel is beyond my level.
 
Most of my knives are white steel mono & stainless clad. My favorite Yanagiba was white steel. All the hype on TF knives got a good deal on a TF hammer finish white #1. Really like it.

Anybody's answer is valid. Stainless R2. User friendly, good edge retention, easy to sharpen. Not to mention you can get it very sharp similar to carbon.

Watanabe Blue #2 OK that's three of favorites just can't do one.;)
 
For me, it would be Burke 52100 or Hinoura W2.

AS far as stainless, I have limited but good experience with AEB-L so understand the comments from fans. SG2 is probably my favorite stainless though.
 
I haven't actually heard much about PD-1 and a quick search of the internet comes up fairly empty re. kitchen knives. Would someone be able to give me a quick run down?
 
vitreous said:
I haven't actually heard much about PD-1 and a quick search of the internet comes up fairly empty re. kitchen knives. Would someone be able to give me a quick run down?
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The original alloy was made by Vasco called Vasco-wear which was cast/wrought. Lots of companies make a version of this steel, most are PM. PD-1 is made by Carpenter, cru-wear, z-wear are similar grades.

This steel has highish wear resistance with highish toughness, very good balance of properties. Not stainless but not very reactive. It’s a good one.

Hoss
 
Using carbons in the working kitchen is where they are the best. Only wash & dry at end of shift. Cutting all day a patina is set quickly. I had masamoto's last 4 to 5 years massive cutting every day until worn down from sharpening. Buy a couple more.

Quality stainless is expensive. By far vast majority of cooks are not going to spend 250.00+ for a 240mm gyuto. That is why San Mai blue #2 core is an excellent option many are under 200.00
 
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