Material - Stainless Steel

The material of choice for almost all modern knives, the recipe for stainless steel replaces some of the carbon with chromium to increase the corrosion resistance. This makes the steel softer. The trade off is better corrosion resistance necessary for general blade use at the cost of more frequent sharpening. Generally, most blade quality stainless steels have higher carbon content than general purpose stainless steels (kitchen sinks, pots and pans, eating utensils, etc) to improve its edge retention. However, as the carbon content goes up the ?stain? resistance goes down. Typical stainless steel designations on blades include ?AUS?, ?440?, ?400 series?, and ?surgical stainless?. When using stainless steel alloys most blade manufacturers will attempt to one which balances the benefits of edge retention versus corrosion resistance.