I was watching a video of Ray Ennis making his knives. He used 440C that is provided with a heat treat and subzero quench. He said that without subzero quench, 440C would chip out easily. He uses stock removal after the blanks are heat treated. He said that he has to be careful not to overheat the blades when grinding (<400F). He grinds really fast with 40 grit and lots of water quenches. I could not believe how fast he made that knife with perfect grinds. Because of the heat treat and subzero quench, his 440C blades perform about as well as those made with the newer steels.