What grade of steel is 440?

Grade 440C stainless steel is a high carbon martensitic stainless steel. It has high strength, moderate corrosion resistance, and good hardness and wear resistance. Grade 440C is capable of attaining, after heat treatment, the highest strength, hardness and wear resistance of all the stainless alloys.

What does 440C stainless steel mean?

440C (UNS designation S44004) is a martensitic 400 series stainless steel, and is the highest carbon content from 400 stainless steel series. It is usually heat treated to reach hardness of 58–60 HRC. It is a bearing steel, and used in rolling contact stainless bearings, e.g. ball bearings and roller bearings.

Is 440 stainless steel a good metal?

440A Steel: This low-cost stainless steel has a carbon content range of . 440C Steel: This steel has a carbon content range between . 95% to 1.20% and is generally considered higher-end steel. It’s prevalent in knives because it provides a good mixture of hardness and corrosion resistance and isn’t terribly expensive.

Is 440 stainless steel good for Katana?

440C is generally regarded as the best stainless steel for a sword, although another stainless steel, ATS-34, is probably as good or better. You should also remember that if you are looking to sharpen your blade, stainless steel is not as good as standard high carbon steel.

Is stainless steel harder to sharpen?

Modern stainless steel is very hard and, when sharpened properly, will hold a good edge for a very long time. When sharpening a knife you must have a high quality sharpener that features a rough stock removal surface (preferably diamond abrasive) and a finishing surface of hard stone or ceramic abrasive.

What makes 440C stainless steel the best stainless steel?

440c stainless steel is one of four 440 stainless steel types, including 440a, 440b, and 440f. It has the highest hardness, highest strength and greatest wear resistance of all of them after it has undergone hardening via heat treatment. It is magnetic both in its pre-hardened and post-hardened states.

What is the hardness of AISI 440C steel?

AISI 440C is a high-carbon chromium steel designed to provide stainless properties with maximum hardness. It has been used primarily as a bearing steel, and is used in the hardened plus tempered condition. When heat-treated, Type 440C attains the highest hardness of any stainless steel (about Rockwell C 60).

What is the goal of heat treatment of 440C stainless steel?

The general goal of the heat treatment of 440c stainless steel is to limit, as much as possible, the amount of austenite in the steel and promote the creation of martensite [3]. Heat treatment of 440c steel typically proceeds as follows:

Can a 440C steel be tempered at 200 °C?

SCT involves holding the steel at -80 °C for 5 hours and then allowed to return to room temperature. After cryogenic quenching, the steel can then be tempered at 200 °C. Both methods have shown increased hardness (up to 7% for DCT and 4% for SCT) of 440c steel [5].