Anyone on this forum may question me at any time, silly squirrel. I am not a steel expert at all. Dan and Jerry Busse are. But I did know that S7 was a shock resistant steel. Read it on the internet. Must be true, right? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

i've heard "shock resistant" and "spring steel" but not "shock steel."

SR77 is a modified S7?

interesting.

S7 is sometimes called shock steel. SR77 is S7 after the Busse heat treat. It is not a special formulation. SR101 is 52100 after the Busse heat treat. Spring steel is like 5160 and used a lot in choppers. Justin Gingrich of Ranger knives uses it, as does Ontario, who now manufacture the Ranger line. It's pretty tough stuff. INFI is a totally unique steel made exclusively for Busse Combat. Busse has used many steels in the past, including ATS-34.

thanks, thats great info HD <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

i have some INFI, SR101 and the Sandvik offering from the yard, but thats it as far as Busse goes. plenty of steel otherwise, but i'm always learning.

I'm pretty sure that what I posted about SR77 & SR101 is correct. If not, I hope Dan will correct me. Manufacturers often use their own trade name for steels. Chrome vanadium steel used by Kabar is called 1095 Cro-Van which is basically the same steel Cold Steel used to call Carbon V, which is 50100-B, which is 0170-6 steel. But INFI is Jerry Busse's own invention. It is a unique steel found in no other brands. It is likely better than I need and in my experience SR101 does just fine. I do like the corrosion resistance of INFI.

I can not even fathom how much I have learned at the Yard, and hopefully passed on to others. I do know that the Busskin heat treat is a magical dust and some JW Blue--well I am sure there is a few other secret ingredients that we are not privied to. I have used and owned a lot of steel and to be honest I have settled on the SR101 from Busse Bros for my favorite. I would love to have all Infi for the anti-Corsican but for the price over SR101 I can't justify it all the time. Here's to the Bussekin Bro's and their great blades/steel!

whats wrong with the corsicans? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

jokes aside, i need a bussekin chopper to really test their steel. i don't get to use my fixed blades as much as my folders.

any news/rumors on these upcoming re-releases?

Opps------spell check failed me. Corrosion. Nothing wrong with Corsican's LOL.

I ay look at the 911 here or wait for the BM Anniversary model but it will be a mighty penny.

In my internet wanderings I thought there was speculation that INFI was a modified "A" steel (A2?) with the addition of nitrogen and possibly fairy dust. While the steel is proprietary, it's the heat treat process that really gets it into a good knife. I've had super steel blades chip and break. I've had supposedly fabulous carbon steels warp and chip without hard use. Then there's S7--normally, it's designed to not really take an edge, but was designed for high-shock applications like jackhammer bits. Yet, Dan has figured out a good protocol to make his SR77 an incredible blade. If the heat treat sucks, it doesn't matter what the steel is, the blade will suck. If the heat treat is good enough (and appropriate to the steel in question), you can (within reason) turn just about ANY steel into a good blade.

The best is when you get a good steel AND a kick-butt heat treat. That makes for a FANTASTCI knife. That's what Busse does. Their regular stable of steels are not powder metalurgy. But they are good steels (for most applications carbon steels tend to be better than stainless for quality blades--possibly discounting the new super steels) AND they've figured out arguably some of the best protocols for treating them.

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.

i need to get a setup like his <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

It'd be interesting to see what is happening with his 440C at the molecular level compared to the powdered metalurgy steels.