Are there any premium Chinese steels? - BladeForums.com

I think Chinese steel, suffers from a quality problem 1st and a marketing problem 2nd. The keyissues is right now they have to overcome years being associated with cheap low quality product for knife applications.

They really need to step up smaller high quality specialty production( copying the chemistry is is only the 1st step). Second dump the idiotic alphabet soup monikers and and go to unique easily remember-able (albeit still probably still silly) names, and no China D2 dosn't cut it don't just use the current moniker. Partner with reputable Chinese OEMs( WE, Reate, Bestec, etc) to make 100% Chinese designed/manufactured/sourced blades to ease high quality Chinese made steel to the market.

It will take time but I think it's possible for specialty steel in china to do what Chinese production (using US and EU steels) have proven they can do if they want to. This thread reeks of barely-disguised xenophobia. Lots of usage of the word “they” like Chinese companies act as a collective, rather than being distinct businesses with varying goals, products, and quality levels.

The reasons you don't yet see ultra-premium knife alloys coming from China are likely numerous, but all entirely economic:

- Until recently, the knife manufacturing market in China has been exclusively inexpensive budget knives, some bespoke to a company (Spyderco, Kershaw, etc) and some made and sold to be rebranded under whatever company's name that decided to buy them. High-end alloys made in China were just not in demand locally or abroad.

- Companies in China that want to make high-quality knives now save a significant amount of money by not having to reinvent the wheel and develop / research new alloys - importing steel is just plainly more cost-effective.

- Similarly, Chinese metallurgy startups would find themselves in immediate competition with businesses that have been doing it for decades. They would be hard-pressed to turn a profit on premium steels given the startup and material costs involved - the established businesses can produce premium steels in bulk and sell them for less than any new manufacturer (regardless of location and labor costs) just due to the established supply networks and equipment.

TL,DR: It takes less to keep a wheel rolling than it does to research, manufacture, and push the wheel into a roll from an inert state.

So, it will likely be a while before we see exotic or premium alloys coming from China that are cost-competitive with the current supply lines available to them. This will also be delayed by a lack of demand, since people tend to want trusted materials in their high-end pocket knives and not some mystery alloy that has yet to see field testing - you see the effects of this demand already in both domestic and foreign companies using premium steels essentially as a marketing ploy and not because it is a fitting steel for the knife.

This thread reeks of barely-disguised xenophobia. Lots of usage of the word “they” like Chinese companies act as a collective, rather than being distinct businesses with varying goals, products, and quality levels.

The reasons you don't yet see ultra-premium knife alloys coming from China are likely numerous, but all entirely economic:

- Until recently, the knife manufacturing market in China has been exclusively inexpensive budget knives, some bespoke to a company (Spyderco, Kershaw, etc) and some made and sold to be rebranded under whatever company's name that decided to buy them. High-end alloys made in China were just not in demand locally or abroad.

- Companies in China that want to make high-quality knives now save a significant amount of money by not having to reinvent the wheel and develop / research new alloys - importing steel is just plainly more cost-effective.

- Similarly, Chinese metallurgy startups would find themselves in immediate competition with businesses that have been doing it for decades. They would be hard-pressed to turn a profit on premium steels given the startup and material costs involved - the established businesses can produce premium steels in bulk and sell them for less than any new manufacturer (regardless of location and labor costs) just due to the established supply networks and equipment.

TL,DR: It takes less to keep a wheel rolling than it does to research, manufacture, and push the wheel into a roll from an inert state.

So, it will likely be a while before we see exotic or premium alloys coming from China that are cost-competitive with the current supply lines available to them. This will also be delayed by a lack of demand, since people tend to want trusted materials in their high-end pocket knives and not some mystery alloy that has yet to see field testing - you see the effects of this demand already in both domestic and foreign companies using premium steels essentially as a marketing ploy and not because it is a fitting steel for the knife.

When speaking of an industry, it is normal to collectively refer to another countries manufacturers as "they" and to ours as "we".

I get the whole dedicated "blade steel" argument, but china has been a manufacturing powerhouse for decades one would think they would make their own tool steel for dies and the like.

Like I said, they do make D2. The company I work for has made replacement dies for the automotive manufacturers here because the Chinese dies don't last very long at all. I don't know if it's the steel or the HT, or both, but I was told that ours last 3 times longer.

I am an civil designer with two years of experience. I have a degree for the University of British Columbia in civil and structural engineering. UBC meets the academic standards in North America.

Now my client. a builder from Ontario, Canada is requesting a prefabricated house from China and have all their windows, doors, insulation, and electrical appliance approved by Canadian Standard Association. The house is made from light gauge steel. He want me to make sure that the whole house is CSA approved. So light gauge steel from China cannot be used. My recommendation is to ship the light gauge steel from Canada to China. After they have prefabricated the house, dismantled it in order, I would ask the manufacturer to ship it back to Canada for erection. What do you think of that. Would it be cheaper to hire a local manufacturer to do the job.

He want to know how much it would cost, how much would it cost to do the design. He wants me to do the architectural design and interior design also.

I need some advice on the cost of the job and on the design of light gauge steel.



disclaimer: all calculations and comments must be checked by senior engineers before they are taken to be acceptable. You need to consider everything your going to have to analyze: joists, studs, shearwalls, foundation, etc and estimate how long it will take to you to do the analysis plus any drawings you may have to do. Assuming it’s small (< sf) I would probably charge around 2k-3k USD if it’s a one off project. Defiantly wouldn’t agree to do architectural and interior design unless you have experience in it and know what your doing. Not sure what the regulations are there where I am you don’t need a registered architect for residences so you could get a house designer to draw it up for dirt cheap.