Carbon steel: what's your favourite?

S

Samon

Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Messages
1,111
Yep, as the title asks, what's your favourite carbon steel?

what are the main differences between the readily available production carbon steels?

why do you favour particular carbon steels?

and what carbone steels are generally on the market!?

:) hope this fills up with all your expert info!

cheers
 
52100 for the scary edge it readily accepts.


The tool steels rule, but I think that's beyond what the OP asked.





Big Mike
 
52100.

I like any carbon steel, but the 52100 in my Rodent Solution gets creepy sharp. I really like it. Swamp Rat calls it SR101, but that's supposed to just be differentially heat treated 52100.
 
Last edited:
D2: it is not technically stainless after all. Then M4 is pretty cool I've heard! I have Nim Cub with M2HS - works great for me! I guess it is carbon steel: though can not see any corrosion so far with coating and all.... I also like O1: have got a couple of good blades made of it. I like carbon steel. I just let it oxidize. Some people try to keep it shiny: that would be a real bother!
 
I'll echo 52100, it cuts quite aggressively, is pretty tough, and has grand edge retention. My Swamp Rat Ratmadue is among my favorite fixed blades for general woodsbumming and hunting. Also Opinel puts out great "old school" (They call it XC90) carbon steel that isn't too terribly hard and very easy to sharpen. Though this may have more to do with the super thin blade profile. Either way I'm impressed a great deal by the Opinel.
 
not a big carbon steel fan, but it works okay. BTW, the only ones mentioned so far were 1095 and XC90
 
I also really like L6, I found my svord peasant took and held a great edge and was pretty stain resistant!

I've had a few 01 blades but only one 1095 that I didn't have long. What are the main differences between the two?
 
I'm with whetrock. I cut up a ton of card stock the other day ago just to try to kill the (very acute) edge on my Opi. After some degradation I stropped it up and it was just as sharp as when I started.

I'd do it with my Contego but it would probably take forever to dull the cpm m4.
 
I think Case's CV holds a little better edge than 1095. I like them both. 12 years or so ago I bought a Cold Steel SRK with a Carbon V blade. I'm not sure what Carbon V was but it might have been the best piece of blade steel I ever had. Not sure if they are still making it or not.
Jim
 
hardheart said:
not a big carbon steel fan, but it works okay. BTW, the only ones mentioned so far were 1095 and XC90
Click to expand...

Although it's technically incorrect to do so, I suspect that most people categorize steels as either stainless or "carbon", by which they really mean "non-stainless". My guess is that's what the OP did. So when I say my favorite carbon steel is 52100, I'm using what I believe he meant by "carbon steel" rather than the textbook definition. (Technically, 52100 is an alloy steel. Even more technically, it's a chromium steel. Source: http://www.qtstools.com/TechInfo/SAE steel grades.htm. And all other things being equal, I'd select it over 1095 in practically any application 1095 would ordinarily be used for.)
 
Last edited:
I'll put my two bits in and say that my favorite carbon steel is the 1075 in my Imacasa machetes. It is an appropriate steel for the tool, since it can exhibit the necessary toughness at an affordable price for a large chopper. For all of my smaller knives there are alloys that have improved properties like corrosion resistance or wear resistance that suit me better. I'm nostalgic about 1095 but I can't say that it is my favorite steel when it comes time to get some work done.
 
Brasso3 said:
5200.

I like any carbon steel, but the 5200 in my Rodent Solution gets creepy sharp. I really like it. Swamp Rat calls it SR101, but that's supposed to just be differentially heat treated 5200.
Click to expand...
I believe you're referring to 52100. And SR101 (Jerry Busse's trademark for 52100) can be either through-hardened or differentially-hardened. For example, my Swamp Rat RatManDu's are constructed of through-hardened SR101 while my Camp Tramp is differentially-hardened.
 
Last edited:
favorite? Probably O1. Well, maybe A2. Gee, 1095 works well too. Oh, and then there is 52100................ :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top