Anolon Advanced Cutlery - steel composition here.

[bladerunner]

I decided to start a new thread to help anyone who uses searches.

I contacted Anolon about their Advanced Cutlery line and it's specific makeup. The following is the reply I received from a representative of their company, Gary Green. My thanks to Gary Green for the information and I hope this helps anyone else who is interested in this info. According to the chart at the bottom this steel is X45 or X50 CrMo V15 steel. I feel it's probably X50 as even the Norpro is X50.

Response (Gary Green)02/12/2009 02:09 PM Dear ****,

Our Anolon Advanced Cutlery uses German CrMo V 1.4116 steel with a hardness of 56.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Gary G.
Consumer Relations




I found that 1.4116 refers to this type of steel...


Material number 1.4116 - X45CrMoV15 / X50CrMoV15

Composition in % :

C - 0,45 - 0,55
Si - max. 1,00
Mn - max. 1,00
P - max. 0,040
S - max. 0,030
Cr - 14,00 - 15,00
Mo - 0,50 - 0,80
Ni


V - 0,10 - 0,20
W
Ti
Cu
Al
Nb
B
N

Range of application and heat treatment :

Stainless steel : high quality cutting tools , surgical instruments
Hardening : 980 - 1030 °C (oil or air) Soft annealing : 750 - 850 °C

[Rob Babcock]

Pretty standard German-type, very close to my old Wusthof IIRC. It's cool that they were forthcoming with the data.

[Lewi]

Yeah it's the same makeup as other German knives. Hardness of 56... So pretty easy to sharpen. I've had this line of cutlery before. Metal is softer so it is easily sharpened and more forgiving if you drop it or something. You can get it pretty sharp but getting it to stay sharp is different than lets say a Japanese knife. Using one of these knives at work "sharpened" lasted me about roughly half week before it needed to be resharpened with a stone. Then again I am using the knife roughly 9-10 hours a day.....

[ishootfilm]

Just in case anyone refers to this thread about the formula of steel used in Anolon cutlery, the old formula might have been the .4116 / X50CrMoV15, but not anymore. I called the manufacturer because the description of one of their cutlery items stated german steel and then said japanese a line or two later. I asked what their actual steel formula used was and they said it's now 420, but still ice hardened. That's not 420J or 420HC, just plain 420. 420 steel only gets to about 50 Rockwell hardness. That's not terrible, but not what 4116 is by any means. Even budget cutlery of the 4116 formula hardens to 55-56 RCH with cryo treatment. 420 is a bit softer. It is soft enough that you are less likely to chip the cutting edge, but you might be able to ding or dent the edge if you are trying to say cut poultry at the joint, miss the cartilage, and hit the bone. Now don't take it that 420 would be less sharp; it takes a scary edge. It just won't hold it as long as 4116 that's properly heat treated. Henckels customer service explained to me that the difference would mean 30% - 40% less edge holding ability with the softer 420 material. Most home cooks would never notice the difference, but if you are really into your kitchen and do a lot of slicing and chopping, you will have to hit the honing steel a lot more.
By the way, I purchased one of the Anolon 5" santoku knives for a friend because it was the closest match to the handles of his discontinued Henckels 5 Star set. He uses it all the time against the rest of his Henckels set. Henckels uses 4116 in their classic series, but deny using that steel in their upper end lines. They claim they use "special steel" in their premium lines. Every german kitchen cutlery manufacturer uses some variation of 4116. It's the same steel, it's just not ice hardened in the classic line to keep production costs down. He loves the blade and it does everything he needs it to do. He just uses the hone steel a little more on it. I hope this helps anyone with the steel formula questions. Be safe and watch out for your finger tips.

Thanks,