Question about AISI/SAE

MUAlum13

Active Member
This is probably a dumb question so I apologize in advance; Ive been apart of the knife community for about 2 months so Im still a noob with a lot to learn. This is a 3 part question;

1. Ive seen AISI before 440, D2, etc but not for 8CR or AUS8 & etc., so does that mean AISI ONLY names American steels or do they have a system for steels from other countries? I know AISI is American but just curious.

2. Do other countries have their own agency/their own AISI where they name their steels?

3. I know some steel manufacturers have steels they make thats THEIRS like Sandvick steels or steels made by CPM but is 8CR or the 440 series proprietary steel? Or is like 8cr just a generic Chinese steel/name and if it is just generic can an American steel manufacturer make 8cr13mov and call it 8cr13mov or would they have to call it something else (Just using 8cr as an example)? I was looking at a knife and it said 'German 8cr13mov' but 8cr is a Chinese steel and I thought it was proprietary to some manufacturer in China so it confused me. Im sorry this is probably super confusing Im just so overwhelmed with all these steels and then reading about equivalent steels between two steels from two different countries...its like ahhh!

Again sorry for such a confusing and probably a pretty noob question.
 
BTW, a company can, and they often do, name a steel anything they want, and that steel does not necessarily correlate to any of the grading systems.
This.

Don't forget about the European steel grades. I forgot what it's called and don't feel like searching for it right now. I think they're mostly just different names for the same ANSI stuff we have over here
 
There are charts/websites out there that attempt to decipher the different grading systems for knife steel.
 
If you can look up the alloy formula it will help you make sense of things. Also learn what the different elements do in the steel. By paying attention to the make up I learned that 9260 in the States is basically EN45 in the UK.

Doug
 
If you can look up the alloy formula it will help you make sense of things. Also learn what the different elements do in the steel. By paying attention to the make up I learned that 9260 in the States is basically EN45 in the UK.

Doug
Ya Im currently looking up the formula of each steel rather than just the name. It makes it a lot easier.
 
MUAlum13 - are you just looking at collecting or are you trying to get into knife making?

(I HIGHLY recommend getting into metalworking in general - a lot of fun and opens up a lot of opportunities)
 
MUAlum13 - are you just looking at collecting or are you trying to get into knife making?

(I HIGHLY recommend getting into metalworking in general - a lot of fun and opens up a lot of opportunities)
Collecting/using. I am genuinely having so much fun messing with knives/steels-metalworking sounds fantastic. Just to be able to handle various steel types and turn them into well something haha and to test them--sounds so much fun! I am 100% going to look into that. I just have a bit of ocd so anytime I begin a new hobby I HAVE to try and understand everything within the hobby; which is why I keep asking these type of questions..its a blessing and a curse.
 
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