Carbon V vs ATS-34

As kind of a followup to the SRK II thread I was wondering if anyone had compared the Cold Steel Carbon V with some vintage of ATS-34. In the 7in knife tests the Recon Scout seemed to do quite a bit better than the VG-10 used in the A1 in slicing, edge holding and durability, and Falkniven (speling?) had switched from ATS-34 to VG-10, I'd assume for an improvement in perfromance. From what I gather Carbon V seems to be 50100B.
 
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Outlaw_Dogboy

Joined
Feb 11, 1999
Messages
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I am beginning to wonder if the only thing you gain by going to one of todays wunder-steels from basic 1095 is just a little extra corrosion resistance. Not that corrosion resistance is a bad thing....
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Outlaw_Dogboy, Pax River NAS, Republik of Marilundt

 
that's a very interesting thought Dogboy. I understand that the still enduring bad rep that SS has in some quarters is due to the very bad SS used in early production factory knives years ago. But still, there are a'plenty blade smiths that detest SS. Maybe some one could combine an old proven steel(like O1) with some sort of surface treatment to deter corrosion(maybe chrome)? Oh, my gad, what have I said!!! Shades of nutpuppy! Hmmm..it is nice to contemplate a change in the, I hate to say it, "fashion" or "market trend" to old "straight" carbon steels that require maintenance? Sort of a status thing. "My steel rusts easier than yours, so obviously, I am a more sophisticated cognoscenti!"???
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I've done no tests, but my experience is Carbon V holds an edge similiar to my Benchmade ATS34 blades. But Carbon V is vastly easier to sharpen. But that's hardly scientific.
 
"nutpuppy"?

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I love this place!

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It's just a ****ing staple!
Maybe we should make knife blades out of staples!
Outlaw_Dogboy, Pax River NAS, Republik of Marilundt


 
I don't think that whatever happened long ago has any bearing on the comparison of a steel like ATS-34 with Carbon V as the question developed from a recent comparison between VG-10 and Carbon V, among others. I also don't see anything fashionable in using carbon steel, in fact it seems to be just the opposite as some seem to be interested in performance and/or performance vs cost and are willing to ignore any differences in corrosion resistance. Corrosion resistance is a good thing but it's certainly not the only important attribute of a steel and for some, me included, certainly not the most important.
 
My personal bias is for carbon steels.

Two of the more (most?) desireable traits
in knives are "toughness" and "sharpness".
Carbon steels (taken as a whole) are
tougher at a given thickness than stainless.
To me this means if I want a thin edge
(for performance) and toughness, by default
I am looking at a carbon steel.

As the included angle of the edge gets larger
the stainless alloys come into their own.
The chromium content increases the wear-
resistance and you see good edgeholding.
Since the edge is relatively thick, there is
less edge failure due to chipping/deforming.

Personally, I am willing to trade increased
maintenence for increased performance.


Mark
 
I too don't mind a little more maintanence in the name of better cutting. Carbon V, though really an orange compared to ATS, is in my opinion a better all around cutting steel because of it's edgeholding and resharpening-ease qualities. There is a lot to be said about edge geometry however; the SRK has too thick an edge for the Carbon V to shine the way only it can (IMO), yet the Master Hunter has amazing geometry and can be devastatingly sharp. Probably sharper than any knife I own.
 
From experience, with using two knifes as similar as possible, the knife with the ATS-34 blade seems to hold an edge longer than the Carbon V.

Dark Nemesis

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All the knives in the world go round and round, round and round, round and round...DAMN, one of them took my wallet !!! :)
 
This is an iteresting thread!
As a full time machinist and part time knifemaker I see carbon tool steels performing every day. A good example would be the D2 shear blades. They cut 1/4" S.S. diamond plate, 24/7!! No, they are not exactly knives but they are performing under a lot of shock and abrasion. To me, this is what makes a great knife steel! This makes me partial to the carbon steels, A2, D2 and M2 I have never seen ANYONE using ANY of the stainless knife steels as a tool to cut other steels!!
I am sure that if any of these "wonder" steels had any superior properties to the above mentioned carbon steels they would be used for this type of tooling. I like properly heat treated ATS-34 for it's corrosion resistance and have many knives made of it. I live in FL and spend time salt water fishing, for this I prefer ATS-34!
As far as a knife that I had to "pit" against another knife in a match of edge holding and shock resistance, I would pick one to the TOOL steels!
Neil

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