beginners questions. high carbon steel for kitchen knives

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phillcheung

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Mar 29, 2014
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Hi all.

i am pretty newb, and i am sorry this came up already but i could help any old threads on this.

so i like working with high carbon steel for small knives, camping knives, can heat treat yourself without too much trouble, reasonable price, easy to source.

i would like start making some kitchen knives and considering to give as present to the extended family.

know i stainless steel would be best, but as i dont have heat treat oven and i dont plan to invest in it, also forging stainless would be way to hard for me. i know i can get the heat treat it done externally but would rather not.

also from a pure performance view i think high carbon is better, but.. but most people it would be too much maintenance.

from cost perspective i also think it is better value, steel is generally better priced, and i dont have the extra cost to heat treat it.

so i was thinking. would plating not be a solution. like chrome or hard chorme, even silver plating? i know the edge would be exposed but that is a lot easier to maintain.

i have seen the kits and they are quite a lot, but i have also looked into some cheaper DIY for plating and it seem reasonable.

this this thought completely ridiculous?
 
Get some 1084 or 15n20 and make knives for your self. You will quickly learn what you like and what you don't. Stainless is not better or worse the carbon, its stainless. You pick the steel depending on the cutting task the knife will be asked to do. Steel cost is a very minor part of the overall knife. If your forging then carbon steel is where your at. You can forge stainless but if your asking this question then stick to carbon. Plating is ghetto in my personal opinion unless it is for something beside passing carbon off as a stain-less steel.

Get some experance under your belt and most of these questions will answer then selves.
 
you can parkerize a high carbon steel knife, I've done it on W1 and it works pretty good, better if you have a sandblasted finish first.
 
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when you start making kitchen knives worry far more about edge geometry and grind than steel. if you think its thin enough, go thinner. then half that and your getting close
 
1084, 1095, 15N20, W2, Hitachi white and blue ... all can make superb knives. They won't make a good knife by themselves, that is up to you.

Kitchen knives are all about geometry, thinness, balance, and ergonomics.
 
Only you know which members of your family will have the patience to take care of carbon steel properly. For those who won't, either don't make for them or send out stainless for HT.

My time is valuable and once it's spent, I can't get it back. Only a couple times have I made and gifted a knife to somebody who didn't appreciate it or take care of it, and never say never, but that's not something I plan to do again.
 
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