White -vs-Blue

[RETREVR]

I am not convinced that I like blue steel better than white.
Let me preface this by telling you that I have one knife in white and one in blue, so I am by no means an expert.
From my very limited experience, the white steel seems to take a more wicked edge than the blue. I judge this by how the edge feels and how it performs. The knives are very different types, but I am convinced that my cheap (it cost about 10% of what my blue knife cost) little white knife outperforms my blue knife.
Now, we can talk about the composition of the the steels and what not. But when the knife hits the board is when all that becomes irrelevent, and the true performance is determined.
I do know that part of the advantage that blue is supposed to have is wear resistance. In my case, I run my working knives over a fine stone almost nightly. Both steels will handle a full day, so the extra wear resistance may not be at all important to me. I have not noticed my blue knife to hold an edge any better than my white.
Of course some of this has to do with the producer of the knife.
I bring this up in the hopes that perhaps a few of you that have both steels and have used them for a while can give me your impresion on the edge quality and longevity of both steels.

[Fred]

Blue is also a little slower to discolor since it has some chromium in the alloy. I tend to agree with you. The differences between the two are subtle at best. I'm perfectly content with white steel.

[Sid Post]

Don't forget the effects of heat treatment. I have an ATS-34 knife which is brittle and gets surface rust. I have a 1095 field knife that is rust resistant and is an outstanding performer in the field.

While it is a hard marketing job for a custom knifemaker to sell a 1095 knife thanks to all the all the steel hype out there, there is often a world of difference in a factory 1095 knife and a custom knifemaker 1095 knife. The heat treatment put into the blade makes a huge difference in the performance of the steel.

Before I would make any definitive statements about Blue vs. White, I would consider testing two knives made by the same maker to eliminate heat treatment differences.

All that being said, a blue knife and white knife that have been ground and heat treated properly probably will not be different enough for most people to care about from a performance standpoint in normal everyday life.

[Andy777]

Fish from KF has told me it's pretty much accepted that white takes a better edge than blue. Blue is just supposed to hold it longer, and as everyone has said, it's debatable, and inconsequential if you're a home cook or stone your knives frequently. From what I've heard I think it's all a mental state of "I've heard it's better/more expensive so I have to have it", which by the way I'm a huge sucker for.

[Oded]

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Fish from KF has told me it's pretty much accepted that white takes a better edge than blue.

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This nis just as debateable. Watanabe for instance disagree with that. Other makers (Carter, Suisin) do agree.


Watanabe provide another useful insight:
According to him, the steel type is significantly less important then we tend to believe. The single most critical factor to a blade quality is the bladesmith’s skills/. Not just the heat treatment but the entire forging process plays a critical role.

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The steel of kinds are not important for blade. The forging is the most important for knives quality. Often white steel is better than blue with mis-forging and mis-hardend. Even lower quality of yellow and green steel is better than blue then.
It's very hard to bring out the hidden 100% talent of the steel. I think the forging and hardend skills are learned at least 20 years.


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