← Steels
Stainless steel
1.4116 Stainless
German cutlery stainless, common on Solingen hunting knives and kitchen blades.
- Typical hardness
- 55-57 HRC
- Edge retention
- 1/5
- Toughness
- 4/5
- Corrosion resistance
- 4/5
- Ease of sharpening
- 5/5
1-5 is a relative ranking drawn from published composition and hardness, not a lab measurement. Higher is better on every axis, and no steel is a 5 across the board — edge retention and toughness pull against each other.