420HC Stainless Steel for Knife Blades

Latrobe 420 HC Stainless Steel

Manufacturer: Latrobe Specialty Steel

420HC is a medium carbon stainless steel used extensively by Buck knives, and more specifically in the popular Buck 110. Paul Bos of Buck Knives does the heat treatment of 420HC and is considered to be one of the best, allowing the steel to take an extremely fine edge, rivaling even some of the premium steels in edge sharpness.

However, that sharp edge will not last as long with 420HC as with many other steels. It is only hardenable to RC55 and has fairly low wear resistance, so will require sharpening quite regularly. Compared with 440C, 420HC is much tougher and more corrosion resistant, even with its lower chromium content.

Latrobe 420 HC Stainless Steel Data Sheet PDF

Composition

C	Co	Cr	Mn	Mo	Si	S	Ni	V
0.46	-	13	0.4	-	0.4	-	-	0.3

Values are shown in percentages.