ForgeBrain
Composition, four working properties and heat-treat data for the thirty-three steels in this database.
33 steels · 61 head-to-head matchups · free to read
Reading guide
The meters are relative to the rest of this database, not absolute laboratory numbers. A 5 for toughness means tough for a knife steel — it does not mean unbreakable.
The database
Carbon, alloy, stainless and powder metallurgy, alphabetically. Open one for composition chips, the four notes, the heat treat and every comparison it appears in.
A lean, tough high-carbon steel prized for swords, machetes, and hard-use choppers, offering outstanding shock resistance at the cost of some edge retention compared to higher-carbon steels.
The classic beginner-friendly high-carbon steel: simple, oil-hardening, and forgiving, with a strong balance of toughness and edge-holding that makes it a go-to choice for a first knife.
A classic simple high-carbon steel known for taking a very keen edge and reaching high hardness, but shallow-hardening and less forgiving to heat treat consistently than steels like 1084.
Sandvik's razor-lineage stainless, designed with Kershaw: AEB-L's fine-carbide toughness with nitrogen chemistry that delivers the best corrosion resistance in the budget class. Run soft in factories, outstanding at a maker's 61–62 HRC — the thinking maker's budget stainless.
A classic conventionally-melted stainless steel and the direct ancestor of CPM 154, historically the premium stainless steel behind many well-known production knives.
The bright layer in damascus that is secretly an excellent standalone knife steel: a 2% nickel bandsaw alloy with outstanding toughness, very fine grain, and the hardenability to run 61–62 HRC in thin blades — easy to heat treat and easy on belts.
Uddeholm's 'Spicy White': ~1.25% carbon, ultra-clean and nearly alloy-free - the Western take on Japanese White steel. Scary-keen fine edges at 62-66 HRC, superb razors and kitchen knives, gorgeous hamon capability. Wants a fast oil quench, modest wear resistance, zero rust resistance - the classic fine-carbon contract.
The classic chromium spring steel: outstanding toughness at moderate hardness, low cost, and a leaf-spring heritage that makes it the default choice for swords, machetes and camp choppers — provided you resist the urge to run it hard.
A fine-grained, chromium-alloyed bearing steel valued for exceptionally keen, stable edges and toughness that outperforms plain carbon steels like 1095.
A simple, forgiving high-carbon steel with a small vanadium addition for grain refinement, popular with bladesmiths for tough, hard-use forged blades and choppers.
Band-saw steel turned knife steel: ~0.70% carbon with a nickel addition that buys elite impact toughness at working hardness, a cheap price per bar, and one of the most forgiving heat treats in the shop. Low wear resistance is the honest tradeoff — this is a chopper's steel, not a slicer's.
Air-hardening tool steel with a toughness-first reputation: Bark River’s longtime hard-use steel and the classic plane-iron alloy, tougher than D2 and easy to grind, with moderate wear resistance and carbon-steel rust care.
A simple, fine-grained Swedish stainless steel prized for exceptional toughness and edge stability relative to its modest alloy content, and for being one of the easiest stainless steels to grind and finish.
The forger's super steel: developed openly by Larrin Thomas, Tobias Hangler and Marco Guldimann (released 2023) - ~1.25% C, 2.6% W, 1.5% Cr engineered to hold real toughness at 64-67 HRC with edge retention far beyond classic carbon steels, while still forging and quenching like one. Boutique priced, kitchen-blade focused, the most interesting carbon steel in decades.
The powder-metallurgy remake of 154CM: a well-rounded stainless steel known for easy grinding and finishing, solid edge retention, and dependable toughness for a stainless tool steel.
A top-tier powder-metallurgy stainless steel, chemically near-identical to M390, prized for exceptional edge retention and excellent corrosion resistance in premium EDC and outdoor knives.
A non-stainless powder-metallurgy tool steel prized above nearly everything else for maximum toughness, ideal for hard-use, high-impact blades like choppers and camp knives.
A non-stainless powder-metallurgy tool steel balancing toughness noticeably better than D2 with wear resistance that approaches it, popular for hard-use folders and fixed blades that need to sharpen easily.
A high-speed tool steel with extreme edge retention thanks to a heavy vanadium and tungsten carbide load, popular for hard-use fixed blades where long edge life matters more than rust resistance.
A landmark premium stainless steel developed for knifemaking, prized for top-tier edge retention and good corrosion resistance, though tougher to grind and slightly less tough than its successor, S35VN.
A refined, well-balanced powder-metallurgy stainless steel from Crucible, offering dependable all-around performance across toughness, edge retention, and corrosion resistance.
A premium powder-metallurgy stainless steel from Crucible, built on S35VN with more chromium and nitrogen for stronger edge retention and corrosion resistance at only a small toughness cost.
Crucible's edge-retention extreme: 2.3% carbon and 9% vanadium in a PM stainless that out-cuts essentially everything mainstream, paid for in toughness, grindability and sharpening effort (diamond stones effectively required). Crucible's data sheet aims at 56-59 HRC; stock removal only. A specialist slicer's steel that is honest about its tradeoffs.
A high-carbide, semi-stainless tool steel known for excellent wear resistance and low heat-treat distortion, at the cost of toughness and ease of sharpening.
A premium powder-metallurgy stainless steel from Bohler-Uddeholm, balancing strong edge retention with good stainless corrosion resistance and easier sharpening than most steels in its performance class.
Zapp's nitrogen steel (Z-Finit / Cronidur 30 / N360): part of carbon's job handed to nitrogen so chromium stays in solution - virtually rustproof in salt service, genuinely tough, fine keen low-carbide edge, ceiling around 58-60 HRC and modest wear resistance. The boat, dive and fillet steel.
Bohler's benchmark powder-metallurgy super stainless: ~1.9% carbon and 4% vanadium for elite edge retention, 20% chromium for true stainless service, at the cost of toughness, sharpening effort and price. Near-identical to CPM 20CV and CTS 204P. Stock removal only, 60-62 HRC with proper soak, plate quench and cold treatment.
A powder-metallurgy stainless steel balancing high toughness, strong edge retention, and excellent corrosion resistance, widely regarded as one of the most well-rounded modern knife steels.
A modern stainless steel built from AEB-L with added nitrogen and vanadium, combining high toughness, solid edge retention, and strong corrosion resistance.
The classic oil-hardening tool steel and the original precision ground flat stock: fine-grained, keen-edged and forgiving to grind, with genuinely good edge retention for a low-alloy steel — bought at the price of moderate toughness and full carbon-steel rust care.
A Japanese stainless steel famous for high-end kitchen cutlery, using a cobalt addition to reach high hardness and a fine, precise edge without giving up too much toughness.
The original water-hardening tool steel: ~1% clean simple carbon, shallowest hardening in common use, sold everywhere as cheap drill rod. Forge-friendly, file-friendly, one of the best hamon steels, 60-64 HRC working range - and it demands a committed fast quench and honest rust care. W2 without the vanadium.
The hamon steel: 1095's chemistry plus a pinch of vanadium for fine grain, in a deliberately shallow-hardening package. Clay the spine, quench fast, and W2 draws the most vivid temper line of any commonly available steel — with a keen high-carbon edge and a soft spring of a spine.
Head to head
The two-steel question, settled one pairing at a time: toughness, edge retention, corrosion, heat treat, grinding, and which one I would put on the bench.
Keep reading
Why the numbers behave the way they do, and what to do about it on your own grinder.
Every knife steel is iron plus a specific recipe of other elements, and each of those elements pulls the steel’s behavior in a particular direction…
Two steels with similar hardness numbers can feel completely different under a sharpening stone, one glides along smoothly, another feels like it’s…
Powder metallurgy (PM) comes up constantly as a selling point for modern steels, but the actual manufacturing process behind the label rarely gets…
Same bench
Every steel in here has to meet a belt eventually. I machine the parts, hand-assemble, track and test Torus grinders in Sterling, Illinois.
Current dual-axis platform with a fiber-laser-cut 6061 chassis and single-knob tracking.
Current dual-axis platform with a steel chassis, more mass and less vibration.
Prior-design aluminum chassis, 90-degree tilt and 1.5-inch tooling arms.
One-man shop
Tell me what the blade is for and what your heat treat setup looks like. I will tell you what I would use, and I will tell you when the cheaper steel is the right answer.
