Thread: ats34 or Damascus

ATS-34 essentially equal to 154-CM but by different manufacturers. ATS-34 is a Hitachi product. Normally hardened to around 60 Rc, it holds an edge very well and is tough enough even at that high hardness. Not quite as rust resistant as the 400 series of stain resistant steels.

ATS-55 Similar to ATS-34, but with the molybdenum removed and some other elements added. Not much is known about this steel yet, but it looks like the intent was to get ATS-34 edge-holding with increased toughness. Since moly is an expensive element useful for high-speed steels, removing the moly hopefully drastically decreases the price of the steel while at least retaining ATS-34's performance.

For stainless steels, those two aren't that bad. They were the whole world for a while. Now that Crucible is making particle metallurgy steels (CPM) stuff, they are taking over. Look to something called S30V. There is no better modern material for edge holding.

Now that lecture over, I can rant a bit. I disagree that pattern welded steels are limited to Rc scale in the mid 50's. Given the right materials and the correct heat treatment for those materials, a PW steel can perform as an equal to any monosteel. Plus they have the advantage of the aesthetic difference.

I can routinely produce a PW steel that will hit 62 on the Rc scale. I don't normally want one that hard. But, if I stick to my normal mix of materials (1095/1075 w/2% nickel) high hardness is no problem. Now that means using good tool steels to begin with. Some folks still insist that PW steels have to be hard and soft and it just ain't so anymore. Time to let go of some myths.

I hope this helps more than it hurts.

You have the last word Mike... I'm flabbergasted... but convinced that ATS or Damascus won;t differ that much when it comes to shaving and maintaining an edge.
thanks,
michel