ATS-55: A Brief but Interesting Era in Spyder History

[JD Spydo]

Probably one of the more interesting times in Spyder history is when they elected to use ATS-55 as their main blade steel for all their high end Japan made blades. It was a brief but interesting era needless to say and some of the blades made with ATS-55 are getting quite desirable for collecting.

Some of the better known icons of that era are the C-44 Dyad, C-39 Dyad Jr., The G-10 Harpy, The original G-10 Police, The Rookie, ect, ect,. It also took place in what I personally refer to as the Golden Era of Spyders (1998-2003). What was very interesting to me about ATS-55 is that I don't recall any other production knife company ever using the blade steel here in the USA. It was probably the shortest of all the blade steel tenures during Spyderco's growth as a company but still produced some of the more interesting classics.

Personally I always liked the steel myself however not quite as good as I do VG-10. But it was still a much better blade steel than a lot of production knife companies use today. It sure had a wicked edge on thinner blades like the plain edged blade on the big C-44 Dyad for instance and it also seemed like it held up extremely well on Spyderedged blades as well.

Let's talk about the ATS-55 era, it's models that came forth and why it was so obscure in the production knife world.

[gbelleh]

I have an original Lum Tanto folder in ATS-55. I can't say I've really put the steel to the test though. Also used to have an ATS-55 Merlin and Civilian, but ended up selling them.

[rg02]

I have a Clip it Endura fully serrated in ATS-55. It was my first spydie. My brother in law gave it to me for video taping him and my sisters wedding.

[ChapmanPreferred]

I have a couple of CF Cricket's with ATS-55, I owned a Toad PE in the same steel. I still really like that steel and it goes everywhere my keys go.

[Jay_Ev]

I would be interested to learn how it differs and in what ways from ATS-34. And if they are similar, why Spyderco made the change.

[zunedog31]

I have an ATS-55 Fully serrated Police. Love that knife. Holds a really sharp edge and it really easy to sharpen too.

[gbelleh]

I have a couple of CF Cricket's with ATS-55, I owned a Toad PE in the same steel. I still really like that steel and it goes everywhere my keys go.

The Toad had ATS-55? My Toad is unmarked, and I always thought it was AUS-8.

[moeman]

I just recently got a Lum Tanto Folder in ATS-55. Haven't used it much but I love the knife. It was one of my most wanted.

[bh49]

I would be interested to learn how it differs and in what ways from ATS-34. And if they are similar, why Spyderco made the change.

it looks like chemical composition is somehow similar, except that ATS-34 has 3.4% more of Molybdenum, which would make ATS55 less expensive and ATS34 stronger, tougher, increase Rc after H/T and improve corrosion resistance.

[Benny90]

The composition of Carbon and Chromium as well as Manganese and Silicon is very close. The Molybdenum as mentioned as well as ATS-55 used some Cobalt and Copper while ATS-34 instead used a bit of Phosphorus and Sulfer.

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable on the subject to say what exactly those are used for. From the Spyderco website:

ATS-34:

Carbon (C) 1.05 Chromium (Cr) 14.00
Cobalt (Co) -- Niobium (Nb) --
Copper (Cu) -- Manganese (Mn) 0.40
Molybdenum (Mo) 4.00 Nickel (Ni) --
Nitrogen (N) -- Phosphorus (P) 0.03
Silicon (Si) 0.35 Sulphur (S) 0.02
Tungsten (W) -- Vanadium (V) --

ATS-55:

Carbon (C) 1.00 Chromium (Cr) 14.00
Cobalt (Co) 0.40 Niobium (Nb) --
Copper (Cu) 0.20 Manganese (Mn) 0.50
Molybdenum (Mo) 0.60 Nickel (Ni) --
Nitrogen (N) -- Phosphorus (P) --
Silicon (Si) 0.40 Sulphur (S) --
Tungsten (W) -- Vanadium (V) --

[GCG199]

I also had an Endura from this time period with the ATS-55 blade steel.

It worked very well, But I have to say that VG-10 is a great steel too. It is a shame that most other knife companies haven't used it as much as Spyderco has.

[sharpguitarist]

hey guys,
i have a g10 se harpy with ats-55.
it was one of my grail knives and i finally bought one used.
i put it to work immediately, and now it's one of my favorite edc's.
it takes an incredible edge and keeps it quite well. i've only had to touch it up a few times in the year i've been carrying it.
it's cut lots of cardboard, and tape, as well as zip ties and nylon packing straps.
i've never been disappointed with it's performance.
the only issue i've ever had was once after cutting open some tape on a box containing tips we use on our exhaust systems, delivered from china.
something in the adhesive, or some other contaminate, etched the surface of the blade near the tip. after removing the greyish material from the blade, it left spots on the metal where it had been.
the g10 se harpy should make a comback as a sprint, as it's a great classic knife with a solid reputation.
later,
don

[RLR]

Dyad Jr - much carry, much love
Rookie - light carry

Love the steel, and I think it would make a great 'comeback' steel.

[SpyderNut]

Off the top of my head, I have the G-10 Police (PE) and Ti Lum Tanto Folder both in ATS-55. I'll have to do some digging to see if I have any others.

Interestingly enough, I happened to see a NIB G-10 Police in ATS-55 going for about $279 on the 'Bay not too long ago, if I recall correctly. I would have to assume that this is because there probably weren't too many made with this type of steel (much like some of the early Millies in ATS-34). Either that, or somebody had some wishful thinking. LOL.

[JD Spydo]

I have an original Lum Tanto folder in ATS-55. I can't say I've really put the steel to the test though. Also used to have an ATS-55 Merlin and Civilian, but ended up selling them.

Brother I've had all those knives you just mentioned as well. I've heard that there are a few Merlins around with VG-10 but I've yet to own one. I use my G-10 Lum Tanto, black blade, CE folder for a user on special occasions and love it. To me it was more of a "model loving" era that it was a love of the blade steel ATS-55.

I still do find it strange that Spyderco was the only company to use ATS-55 that I've been able to learn of. I also wonder what the original purpose of ATS-55 was. Being that we know that VG-10 was primarily an agricultural steel and ATS-34 originally had aircraft uses>> it would be interesting to know what they made ATS-55 primarily for.

There were several models during that era that are only found with ATS-55 which I think adds to the collectibility of those models.

[Donut]

I've heard great things about ATS-55, and had been looking for something in it. I just got last week a Rookie with it, but haven't gotten a chance to use it yet. I do love that I got my hands on such a nice model with it, though.

Steel info, FYI:

[Seelow123]

I remember many moons ago i had a fully serrated ss dragonfly in ats-55 and absolutely loved it. Wel when i first got into trading over the forums i got an offer to trade it for a brk 1st gen native(440a) I felt so ashamed after i found out that i pretty much gave the guy a very nice spyderco

[Sithus1966]

I have two of his model, one stainless and one FRN in ATS-55

[Nemonomicon]

Lets not forget about the second generation C53 Peter Herbst in ATS-55.

[JD Spydo]

I have two of his model, one stainless and one FRN in ATS-55

Brother that is one model I almost overlooked. And as far as I know the Stainless version of the Rescue model ( C-45 & C-14 models) were only ever made with ATS-55 as far as I know anyway.

I still have a couple of those and just absolutely love them. I truly believe that the STainless Rescue may indeed be the most ridgid built Spyder ever. I think you could drop one them out of an airplane on hard pavement and the knife would be mostly unharmed

The Stainless Rescue is truly one of the most overlooked and under-rated Spyders ever. But on the other hand truly one of the best built folding knives in the entire production knife world.

There were quite a few models that were only made with ATS-55 blade steel which is why we need to do Sprint runs with many of them in one of the newer supersteels or VG-10 at least. Again these came from the GOLDEN ERA Of Spyders ( 1998-2003).

Thank you so much for bringing those to the table Sithus