What is the best material for making blade tools

Blade tools are mostly used in the industry of machine production. Most of them are suitable for machines. They are used to cutting metal material frequently to improve production efficiency. They are used in different areas, such as the geological prospecting, dig the well, etc. So different demand cause different blade tools with different properties, technology, material, etc. And the material paly a inportant role for the blade tools. As below, I will show you guys what material are good for it and its impact. Then you can choose the right one for you according to your condition.

154CM steel

154CM is a 440C high molybdenum modified steel grade. The addition of 440C to the wear resistance of the material (especially the anti-rolling performance) improves the corrosion resistance of the material and has better machinability. The chromium content is 15% and the molybdenum content is 4%; so the name is 154CM. R.W.Loverless, one of the masters of modern hand-made knives, took the lead for it.

It has excellent processability, corrosion resistance, blade resistance and toughness. However, the price is higher, so it is only used in hand-made tools. The carbon content is about 1.05%. And after heat treatment, its hardness can up to HRc60~61 .
It is only a medium level in the four indicators of grinding, retention, rust and toughness. For example, comparing VG10, as a traditional steel of the same grade, VG10 has better grinding, hardness and sharpness. Although the toughness is easy to collapse, but the characteristics are clear.

ZDP-189 steel

ZDP-189 steel is a powder-based new steel developed by Hitachi Metals in Japan in 1996. It is a super-hard alloy steel with excellent processing properties. Its carbon content is 3% and a chromium content of up to 20%. After heat treatment, the high hardness can reach HRc67, and the processability is excellent. The metal structure particles are more uniform and finer than ATS-34 and 440-C. The resulting tool has a high hardness, excellent retention and a slightly higher grinding difficulty.

Representative companies currently using them for the production of tools are Spyderco and ROCKSTEAD. Among them, Spyderco produces more popular and cost-effective folding knives. However, ROCKSTEAD is more inclined to high-priced tools at the boutique collection level. Spyderco officially said that its hardness after heat treatment can be 62-64HRC, while ROCKSTEAD is 66-67HRC.

It has an extremely high hardness of 67HRC. It also has a high degree of retention, sharpness and easy to polish. In some high-end sushi knives in Japan, ZDP-189 is often used. Although it is easy to rust and has a low toughness, it is a high-end steel with no doubt on the folding knife.

M2 steel

M2 steel is one of the high speed steel (HSS). It has great wearing resistance. And Its toughness is not better than high level steel, but it is better than stailess steel. The wearing resistance is the same situation.

52100 steel

S7 steel is a alloy steel with chromium and molybdenum. It is a good choice for the machine of hot work mold steel cutting and etc.