AISI Steel Grading System

The first digit of the designation indicates the steel group (1 meaning unalloyed steel,
2 nickel steel, 3 nickel-chromium steel and so on). The second digit indicates the
approximate percentage of the average carbon content multiplied by 100.
10xx
11xx
13xx
20xx
23xx
25xx
30xx
31xx
33xx
40xx
41xx
43xx
46xx
47xx
48xx
50xx
51xx
5xxxx
60xx
61xx
70xx
80xx
86xx
87xx
90xx
92xx
93xx
94xx
97xx
98xx

Non-resulfurized carbon steel grades (plain carbon steel)

Resulfurized carbon steel grades (free cutting carbon steel)
Manganese (1.75%)
Nickel steels
Nickel (3.50%)
Nickel (5.00%)
Nickel-chromium steels
Nickel (1.25%); Chromium (0.65 or 0.80%)
Nickel (3.5%); Chromium(1.55%)
Molybdenum (0.25%)
Chromium (0.50-0.95%);Molybdenum (0.12 or 0.20%)
Nickel (1.80%); Chromium (0.50 or 0.80%); Molybdenum (0.25%)
Nickel (1.55 or 1.80%); molybdenum (0.20 or 0.25%)
Nickel (1.05%); Chromium (0.45%);Molybdenum (0.25%)
Nickel (3.50%); Molybdenum (0.25%)
Chromium (0.28 or 0.40%)
Chromium (0.80, 0.90, 0.95, 1.00 or 1.05%) Spring Steel
Carbon (1.00%); Chromium (0.50, 1.00, or 1.45%)
Chromium-vanadium steels
Chromium (0.80 or 0.95%); Vanadium(0.10 or 0.15% min)
Heat resisting casting alloy
Nickel-chromium-molybdenum steels
Nickel (0.55%); Chromium (0.50 or 0.65%); Molybdenum (0.20%)
Nickel (0.55%); Chromium (0.50%); Molybdenum (0.25%)
Silicon-manganese steels
Manganese (0.85%); Silicon (2.00%) Spring Steel
Nickel (3.25%); Chromium (1.20%); Molybdenum (0.12%)
Manganese (1.00%); Nickel (0.45%); Chromium (0.40%); Molybdenum (0.12%)
Nickel (0.55%); Chromium (0.17%); Molybdenum(0.20%)
Nickel (1.00%); Chromium (0.80%); Molybdenum(0.25%)

Tool and Special Purpose Steels

WX
SX
OX

Water-Hardening Steels
Shock-Resisting Steels
Oil-Hardening Steels

AX
DX
HXX
TX
MX
LX
FX
2XX
3XX
4XX
5XX

Air-Hardening Steels
High Carbon-High Chromium Tool Steels
Hot Work Tool Steels
High Speed Tungsten Based Tool Steels
High Speed Molybdenum Based Tool Steels
Special Purpose Tool Steels
Carbon-Tungsten Tool Steels
Chromium-Nickel-Manganese Stainless Steels
Chromium-Nickel Stainless Steels
Chromium-Stainless Steels
Low Chromium Heat Resisting Stainless Steels

What steel is best for swords?

Selecting the best steel for a sword is a question of trading durability, and edge
retention. The answer is all about personal preference and what the sword will be
subjected to. Heavy dojo use focusing on tatami is going to call for good edge
retention. Occasional cutting with a lot of different target materials is going to call for
durability. Proper forging and heat treatment can affect the performance much more
that which steel is used, so only use swords from forges you can trust.
Durability
High Carbon Steel 1055 Case Hardened
*****
High Carbon Steel Differentially Tempered ***
K120C Powdered Steel Differentially
****
Tempered
L6 Differentially Tempered
*****
T10 Differentially Tempered
***
Spring Steel Case Hardended
*****
Stainless Steel

Edge Retention
**
*****
*****
***
*****
**
****

High Carbon Steel

High Carbon Steel (1055, 1065, 1080)
High-carbon steels are extremely strong but more brittle than medium-carbon steels.
This composition allows better responses to heat treatment and longer service life
than medium-carbon steels. High-carbon steels have superior surface hardness
resulting in high wear resistance. The AISI designations for High-carbon steel are:
AISI 1055-1095, 1137-1151, and 1561-1572.
The first digit of the designation indicates the steel group (1 meaning unalloyed steel,
2 nickel steel, 3 nickel-chromium steel and so on). The second digit indicates the
approximate percentage of the mean carbon content multiplied by 100.

Examples:
AISI 1055 = Unalloyed Steel with 0.55% Carbon
AISI 1065 = Unalloyed Steel with 0.65% Carbon
AISI 1080 = Unalloyed Steel with 0.80% Carbon

1055 CARBON (From the Cold Steel Catalog)

1055 steel is right on the border between a medium and a high carbon steel, with a
carbon content between 0.50%-0.60% and with manganese between 0.60%-0.90%
as the only other component. The carbon content and lean alloy make this a shallow
hardening steel with a quenched hardness between Rc 60-64 depending on exact
carbon content. These combination of factors make this one of the toughest steels
available because, when quenched, it produces a near saturated lathe martensite
with no excess carbides, avoiding the brittleness of higher carbon materials. This
steel is particularly suited to applications where strength and impact resistance is
valued above all other considerations and will produce blades of almost legendary
toughness.

Powdered Steel
K120C Swedish powdered steel
Wrought powder metallurgy tool steels offer improved wear resistance, higher
hardness, greater heat resistance, increased toughness, and better dimensional
stability than conventional tool steels. It has a more refined and more homogeneous
microstructure and have smaller, more uniformly distributed carbide particles and a
uniform fine grain size. The most significant benefits of P/M technology are
manifested in high-speed steels for tooling. Compared with cast/wrought steel, P/M
tool steels provide:

Improved machinability in the final annealed condition

Improved grindability in the hardened and tempered condition, with no
reduction in the abrasion resistance of the finished tool or part
Increased toughness of the finished tool
Less out-of-round distortion after going through heat treatment
Use of higher alloy-content steels possessing higher wear resistance and
improved cutting performance

Wrought high-speed steels made by powder metallurgy are primarily for metalcutting and metal-forming operations.

Tool Steel
L6 Tool Steel
L6 is a lightly alloyed medium carbon steel which allows oil hardening and has a
slight improvement in wear resistance over the plain carbon steels and gives deeper

hardening. It has very low corrosion resistance. It can readily reach full martensite
hardness of 65/66 HRC.

Principal Features: This is one of the Special Purpose, low alloy tool steel
grades, similar to the W group of low alloy tool steels. L6 contains nickel,
chromium and molybdenum for a good combination of toughness and
hardenability.
Applications: Typically used in machine tool applications such as bearings,
springs, rollers or chuck parts.
Heat slowly to 1500 F and hold at temperature for 10 to 30 minutes. Oil or
water quench.
Forging: Forge at 1975 F down to 1600 F. Do Not forge below 1550 F.
Anneal at 1450 F and slow cool at a maximum of 40 F per hour.
Tempering is done in the range of 350 F to 1000 F for Rockwell C 62 to 45
range.

L6 / Bainite Steel (From CAS/Hanwei)

Bainite is a structure of high-carbon steel that combines great strength with excellent
flexibility and shock absorption characteristics. It has been known as an exemplary
Katana blade component for a number of years but its use has been restricted to a
few top-class master smiths, due to the difficulties involved in performing the
exacting heat treatment procedures necessary for the production of a Bainite blade
body in combination with the very hard Martensite Yakiba (edge section) required for
Katana blades.
Hanwei has now mastered this difficult process, using billets of L-6 tool steel (a very
tough high-carbon low-alloy steel) as a starting point. Blades are forged and shaped
in the normal way, then carefully heat treated to achieve the required Bainite and
Martensite structures before final polishing.

T10 Tool Steel

T10 is a Chinese designation for a water hardening high carbon tool steel with about
1% carbon content. The US designation of this steel is W1. The W series of tool
steels are a very simple alloy group, low cost, and responsive to simple heating and
water quenching for hardening. The alloy does undergo considerable distortion
during quenching. This alloy is one of the common Water Hardening tool steel
grades available. W1 is basically a simple high carbon steel and is easily hardened
by heating and quenching in water, just as with plain carbon steel alloys.

Applications: W1 is commonly used for hand operated metal cutting tools,

cold heading, embossing taps and reamers as well as cutlery.
Heat treatment is somewhat dependent upon section size, or intricacy of the
part. For large sections, or intricate shapes, slowly preheat to 1100 F and then
slowly increase temperature to 1500 F. Hold for 10 to 30 minutes and then
quench in water or brine.
Forge at 1900 F down to 1550 F. Do not forge below 1500 F.
Anneal at 1400 F and slow cool in the furnace at 40 F per hour or less.

Temper at 350 to 650 F for Rockwell C of 64 to 50.

SK-5 High Carbon (From the Cold Steel Catalog)

SK-5 is the Japanese equivalent of American 1080, a high carbon steel with carbon
between 0.75%-0.85% and 0.60%-0.90% manganese. As quenched, it has a
hardness near Rc 65 and produces a mixture of carbon rich martensite with some
small un-dissolved carbides. The excess carbide increases abrasion resistance and
allows the steel to achieve an ideal balance of very good blade toughness with
superior edge holding ability. Due to these characteristics, this grade of steel has
been used traditionally for making a variety of hand tools, including chisels and
woodcutting saws, and has stood the test of time and use over many years in many
countries.

Spring Steel
5160 Spring Steel
5160 is a carbon-chromium spring steel. It exhibits excellent toughness and high
ductility, with a high tensile-yield ratio.

Applications: Commonly employed in heavy spring applications primarily in

the automotive field for leaf springs.
Heat Treatment: 5160 is normally hardened in oil. Recommended quenching
temperature is 1525 F, with a wide range of mechanical available by
tempering between 800 and 1300 F.
Forge this grade between 2100 and 2200 F.
Annealing: Heat to 1450 F and air cool.

Stainless steel
Stainless steel is an alloy of iron, chromium, nickel, carbon, and other materials. The
principal benefit of this product is its resistance to corrosion and/or oxidation. Series
300 stainless steels are chrome-nickel, non-hardening, and austenitic
(nonmagnetic). Series 400 steels can be chrome, hardenable martensitic or nonhardenable ferritic (both magnetic).

VG-1 (From the Cold Steel Catalog)

When considering a new material for a performance upgrade for the Cold Steel
Tanto, we tested seven different grades of steel including Shiro 2, V-SP-2, 10A,
440C, VG-10, ATS 34, and VG-1. Physical testing for sharpness, edge retention,
point strength, shock, and ultimate blade strength showed that while many of the
steels had increased performance in one or two testing categories, only one, VG-1,
showed the greatest performance increases in the most critical categories. With an
outstanding ability to retain an edge and proven strength in point and blade tests,

VG-1 will provide Cold Steel customers with superior performance previously
unavailable in a stainless steel blade.

4116 KRUPP STAINLESS (From the Cold Steel Catalog)

4116 is a fine grained, stainless steel made by ThyssenKrupp in Germany and is
used for hygienic applications (medical devices and the pharmaceutical industry) and
food processing which make it a superb material for kitchen cutlery. The balance of
carbon and chromium content give it a high degree of corrosion resistance and also
impressive physical characteristics of strength and edge holding. Edge retention in
actual cutting tests exceeded blades made of the 420 and 440 series of stainless
steels. Other alloying elements contribute to grain refinement which increase blade
strength and edge toughness and also allow for a finer, sharper edge.

AUS 8A STAINLESS (From the Cold Steel Catalog)

The words "stainless steel" are misleading, because, in fact, all steel will stain or
show discoloration if left in adverse conditions for a sufficient time. Steel is made
"stainless" by adding Chromium and reducing its Carbon content during the smelting
process. There is a serious performance trade-off with stainless steel. As the
Chromium increases and the Carbon decreases, the steel becomes more
"stainless". But, it also becomes more and more difficult to sharpen, and the edgeholding potential is seriously impaired. This is usually why most stainless knives are
rarely razor-sharp and quickly lose what little edge they have. In contrast, at Cold
Steel we use AUS 8A Stainless, a high carbon, low chromium steel that has
proven itself to be the ultimate compromise between toughness and strength, edge
holding, and resistance to corrosion.

Other Materials
GRIVORY
Grivory is the trade name for an advanced polyphthalamide reinforced with
fiberglass. It is used in the automotive industry to replace metal parts. Cold Steel
uses this reinforced plastic for various knife components including the blades in their
Nightshade series. Grivory is UV/heat stabilized, making it impervious to the
elements.

KRATON
Kraton is the trade name given to a number of high performance elastomers
manufactured by Kraton Polymers, and used as synthetic replacements for rubber.
Kraton offers many of the properties of natural rubber, such as flexibility, high
traction, and sealing abilities, but with increased resistance to heat, weathering, and
chemicals. It was first made by the chemical division of the Shell Oil Company in the
1960s. The use of Kraton in knife handles provides a superior, slightly tacky, gripping
surface that is unaffected by heat, cold, or moisture. It never rusts, warps, cracks or
splits even in the most extreme environments.

ZYTEL
Zytel is a trademark owned by DuPont and used for a number of different high
strength, abrasion and impact resistant thermoplastic polyamide formulations of the
family more commonly known as nylon, often with varying degrees of fiberglass,
from 13% to 60%, added in for additional stiffness. Zytel is a tough, stiff nylon and
fiberglass composite that contains no metal and is impervious to the elements.

Steel Composition Comparison Chart

1055

1065

1080

440A /
AUS 6

440B /
AUS 8

440C /
AUS 10

5160

L6

W1 /
T10

Type

Hi
Carbon
Steel

Hi
Carbon
Steel

Hi
Carbon
Steel

Stainless
Steel

Stainless
Steel

Stainless
Steel

Spring
Steel

Tool
Steel

Tool
Steel

General Attributes

Carbon

0.5 - 0.6

0.54 0.7

0.74 0.88

0.60 0.75

0. 75- 0.
95

0.95
1.2

0.56 0.64

0.65 0.75

0.7 - 1.5

Hardness /
Strength

Manganese

0.6 - 0.9 0.6 - 0.9 0.6 - 0.9

1 max

1 max

1 max

0.75 - 1

0.25 0.8

0.1 - 0.4

Strength

Phosphorus

0.04
max

0.04
max

0.04 max 0.04 max

0.04 max

0.04 max

0.035
max

0.03 max

0.025
max

More Brittle

Sulphur

0.05
max

0.05
max

0.05 max 0.03 max

0.03 max

0.03 max

0.04
max

0.03 max

0.025
max

More Brittle

1 max

1 max

0.15 0.35

0.5 max

0.1 - 0.4

Spring

Nickel

1.25 - 2

0.2 max

Strength

Molybdenum

0.5 max

0.1 max

Hardness

0.6 - 1.2

0.15 max

Hardness /
Corrosion

Vanadium

0.1 max

Hardness /
Fatigue

Tungsten

0.15 max

Abrasion
resistance

Copper

0.2 max

Silicon

Chromium

1 max

16 - 18

16 - 18

16 - 18

0.7 - 0.9