Carbon vs Stainless Steel

Oh, yeah, so the top knife in the photo I posted was the stainless one. Took the pictures to use for the next test, but like I said, I'll start a separate thread for it with a poll so folks can cast votes for which they think is which. Good neutral overcast sky today so the lighting was good for it.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Oh, yeah, so the top knife in the photo I posted was the stainless one. Took the pictures to use for the next test, but like I said, I'll start a separate thread for it with a poll so folks can cast votes for which they think is which. Good neutral overcast sky today so the lighting was good for it.
Click to expand...
Hey I was right :)
 
hugofeynman said:
420J2, Ferrium S53 (almost Stainless, much tougher than S7), 17-4PH and 15-5PH.
Click to expand...

Ferrium S53? With .2% carbon, should hold an edge about as well as than 420J2 (420J2?!?)—do I have to compete with NASA and Gulfstream to get me some of this promising knife steel? I admit I should have asked what stainless steels as tough as s7 with at least as much carbon, making them suitable for making knives.
 
Last edited:
OK, I admit I'm "strange" and/or "weird".
Carbon vs Stainless?
I buy a knife if I like it and can afford it.
I don't care if it has carbon or stainless blades, or what version of carbon or stainless it is, for that matter.
With a name brand knife (excluding Frost, of course) I know the knife will do what I need it to.
 
Revolverrodger said:
So where can Iget a large chopper in 420j2 to test out
Click to expand...
There’s a lot of cheap knives out there but probably with bad heat treatment, maybe MTech is made in that steel. I think an Mtech bowie was tested already and survived some pretty nasty treatment, cannot find the link right now.

To really test that steel (or any unusual steel), you’ll probably you have to go custom and buy yourself a piece of the steel (cut parallel to the steel rolling direction) and send to the maker. Heat treatment should be easy, but a custom maker will respect times and temperatures, wish can bring all the qualities of the steel. Forget about carbon content and about hardness. Test it and I’m sure you’ll be happy.
 
Yonose said:
Ferrium S53? With .2% carbon, should hold an edge about as well as than 420J2 (420J2?!?)—do I have to compete with NASA and Gulfstream to get me some of this promising knife steel? I admit I should have asked what stainless steels as tough as s7 with at least as much carbon, making them suitable for making knives.
Click to expand...
You asked the toughest.:D
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
You could easily run a double-blind test of this and I can just about guarantee you that even VERY experienced people would not be able to tell the difference by feel. There can be slight differences in luster with different steels, but it's highly unlikely that people would be able to tell which was which reliably by sight alone beyond saying "they look an almost imperceptibly tiny bit different".

Same knife, one carbon, one stainless. I'm not saying which is which. :)

41530395_10216687269962590_2071892721806606336_o.jpg
Click to expand...
The bottom one looks like it has a partial fingerprint on it to the left of the nick.

It would be better if we talked about stainless vs non-stainless steel rather than calling non-stainless "carbon."
 
Fanglekai said:
The bottom one looks like it has a partial fingerprint on it to the left of the nick.

It would be better if we talked about stainless vs non-stainless steel rather than calling non-stainless "carbon."
Click to expand...

Common industry/community vernacular is "carbon steel" for non-stainless. As such, while the term is less than ideal, it's kind of irrelevant since the purpose of language is to communicate meaning, and we all know what's meant by the term.

The fingerprint has nothing to do with the steel type. :)
 
Often people will refer to it as "plain carbon steel" also. In the manufacturing industry is where this term originated. It doesn't matter what us knife nuts want to call it, the term will stick because the guys who invented it and used it for a couple centuries called it that.
 
hugofeynman said:
You asked the toughest.:D
Click to expand...

Yes but the implication was that we were talking about knife steels, and the ferrium S53 you mention is not likely to be used except as the outer layers(bread) in a San mai sandwich. If they are affordable, which I doubt they are given their application is structural and heavy load-bearing equipment or structural design, this stuff would be amazing in bridges, high rises, transportation, etc. it is a wonderful substitute for 4340 for strenth lacking corrosion resistance for structure bearing elements, as also a substitute for 440c because it’s toughness is much higher, the amounts of alloys added are higher than any steel I’ve seen to date. I was wondering if nitrogen could be added, which would give y the steel some nitrides to successfully make a knife that cuts as well as a 1% carbon containing steel. One sheet said the steel had “nitridability.” I wonder what this means. If so, this would result in a nearly unbreakable kniVe. It would need to be available in sheets thin enough for the knifemaking community. If all of the above could be done, and the price of the steel isn’t exorbitant, then I think we’ve found what we need to start making everything from swords, folders, Bowie’s and tools that are nearly impossible to break, stainless yet hold an edge at least as long as well ht’d 154cm or even longer. .sharpen ability would depend on which nitrites the ht is designed to form, as I believe the steel contains the carbide(nitride?) formers—-vanadium, tungsten, chromium
 
Nitriding is a hardening method. It only hardens a very thin skin on the surface though, so...useful for wear resistance, not for structural strength.

Also, the thread didn't devolve at all. The subject was carbon steel vs. stainless steel. The subject has continued to be discussed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top