"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

Back here after a while as well.
As some of you might have heard in the news, my country has faced quite a hard time for some very bad weather (and more earthquakes in central Italy), so things have been a bit more complicated. Fortunately things are way better now, and I'm away from home for my winter holidays: family, relax, a couple of knives, and much better weather conditions :)
A special thought for Bob, I'm really happy to hear you're back home, and back here as well (ain't this our second home though?).

Fausto
:cool:
 
quattromori said:
Back here after a while as well.
As some of you might have heard in the news, my country has faced quite a hard time for some very bad weather (and more earthquakes in central Italy), so things have been a bit more complicated. Fortunately things are way better now, and I'm away from home for my winter holidays: family, relax, a couple of knives, and much better weather conditions :)
A special thought for Bob, I'm really happy to hear you're back home, and back here as well (ain't this our second home though?).

Fausto
:cool:
Click to expand...
Yes. :p
Grand to see you here, Fausto! :thumbup:
Enjoy your holiday!
This is still a wonderful knife; thank you for the GAW 2 years ago! :D
5xIDZqa.jpg
 
32507584755_d4eab78df5_c.jpg


This new to me Griswold is well on its way to becoming my favorite pan. I have a couple of 12" Lodges, a 10", and my first piece of CI, a brutish made in China pan that I no longer use. Might as well give them away, I don't see myself reaching past this polished jewel to use any of the others. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration. I can relegate one of the 12 inchers to camp duty and keep the other one in the kitchen for those jobs too big for the Gris. The smaller Lodge I can keep on hand for dishes that might be detrimental to a well seasoned pan.

Did you know that some people actually collect vintage cast iron? They have folks who feel about cast iron the way we feel about knives. Crazy. According to them my pan is a No. 8, PN 704, small logo Griswold with grooved handle. Made sometime between 1944-1957.

SVTFreak said:
Nice find! I just got me a new lodge 12" skillet and 14 qt oven. The only old one I have is a 5" skillet that is too small to be any real use and was rusted pretty bad. I use my 6 qt oven religiously.
Click to expand...

Trout Hound said:
Those older cast iron pieces are the best! They used to use solid molds for the castings, whereas the new ones are cast in sand. That means the older ones will have a smoother surface, which, once seasoned, will be even more non-stick than a brand new pan. Great find!

I've been working on a new Lodge 10.5" in the oven lately, trying to build up a decent layer of seasoning. Looking forward to that first egg sliding off.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

SVTFreak said:
True true. The first thing I do when I get a newly cast one is bust out my grinder and flapper wheel to get it smooth. Then re-season it. Takes some time to get right but sure does get righter than not getting the casting smooth.
Click to expand...

kysteve said:
I had bacon from mine this morning,I have aother that we bake cornbread in,usually 4 days a week.i could not eat if I did not have my cast iron.
Click to expand...

Vinifera said:
Actually the old Griswold and Wagner cast iron was also made in sand molds but with a finer sand and thinner molds. The pans were then milled and polished which is not done with modern cast iron. The mill marks are visible in the pan in vintage pieces.
Click to expand...

Trout Hound said:
I have a new Lodge 6 quart camp Dutch oven, with all the accessories for it, sitting here in the house waiting for me to get my act together and season it and learn how to cook in it. My wife and I love to go camping, and we have a fire ring out back, so we really want to give it a try. I'll get to it soon.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:
 
5K Qs said:
Yes. :p
Grand to see you here, Fausto! :thumbup:
Enjoy your holiday!
This is still a wonderful knife; thank you for the GAW 2 years ago! :D
5xIDZqa.jpg
Click to expand...

You know, I wish more manufacturers would pick up on that wrangler pattern. That comes pretty darn close to being the perfect knife configuration for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Glad you are well and it's good to see you posting, Fausto.
 
Fausto,

I am glad you are doing ok, yeah - poor Old Italy has been rocked alright - one death is too much under these circumstances, I feel good that you are on Holifday relaxing.

I hate to think of the lovely old Buildings in Italy- hundreds of years old collapsing :(:thumbdn:
 
I have a question about stainless steels for traditionals. Maybe Frank can chime in here, I hope so. The stainless steels typically used in traditional knives are either 440A, 440C or 420HC (Tru-Sharp). While these are good, serviceable steels, they all have the propensity to form a wire edge.

Now with 1095, besides its ability to form a patina, most people like it because it is easy to sharpen and forms a very fine edge with hardly any wire formation. The stainless steel that is most like 1095, except for the patina, is AEB-L or 13C26, which is basically a razor blade stainless. Forms a very fine edge with little or no wire edge. It can be run hard, around 61-62 HRc, which will last a long time without sharpening, and doesn't form a lot of large carbides, which aren't really necessary, or even desirable, in a small pocket knife anyway.

Why don't more mfg. use this steel?
 
Jeff,
I asked myself the same question more than once, especially about Sandvik steels. In my opinion, these steels (12c27 and 13c26) should be the baseline of stainless traditionals: they're cheap (a stainless Opinel costs less than 10 usd), easy to process (same quote on Opinel knives), can be hardened in the sweet 58-59 HRC range, and so on.
The only answer I can think of, is that these steels are manifactured overseas (for US factories)...cause I'd take a properly HT 13c26 or 12c27 on any slipjoint and be happy ever after.

Fausto
:cool:
 
My two most used knives have turned out to be the Opinel in 12C27, and the Usai made resolza in the same. The blades do all the cutting I need, both in the kitchen and out. Easy to sharpen, good edge retention, good anti corrosion.

What more can I ask of a blade steel?

I guess I can go to some wonder steel of the month, but then I'd give up the ability to get shaving sharp on a coffee mug bottom and a strop on the back of my Dickies work belt. Maybe I could pay more and get better edge holding that I may not even notice. Is it worth it to me? Heck no.
 
Everybody except Jeff: skip this post.

The stainless steels typically used in traditional knives are either 440A, 440C or 420HC (Tru-Sharp). While these are good, serviceable steels, they all have the propensity to form a wire edge.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, the propensity to form a wire edge is has more to do with hardness than alloy composition..
I have knives in all of those alloys with which I do not have wire edge issues.
I've never had a wire edge on a Buck 420HC bladed knife. Buck runs their 420HC at 58. I've measured several of mine. They were 59.
I have several German Boker knives in 440C and they do not have wire edge problems. I have several Bucks and a GEC in 440C. No wire edge in those, either. The 440C in those knives was also in the 58-59 range.

I hear there are some other outfits which run their 440C and 420HC softer. coughCasecough
And I do occasionally get a wire edge on a knife made by one such company.

The reason most traditional knives currently use 420HC is that you can fine blank it using a press which is not a behemoth. That makes it less expensive to produce the knife. Not many knives today are made in 440A. It can't be fine blanked using a standard press, if you can form blank it at all. So 440A blades are more expensive to produce than 420HC.

The cost in a knife blade is forming the blade, not the raw material from which it is made.
440C is more expensive to process than either 13C26 or 12C27, both of which can be fine blanked. So a 13C26 blade is less expensive to produce than one in 440C.

I actually consider AUS8 (or 8Cr13MoV) at ~59HRC to perform closer to Carbon steel than any other stainless as far as taking and holding an edge. But that's opinion based on limited data.

In my WAG opinion, which has no hook to any data,
►makers use 420HC, because it is very stainless, holds an edge reasonably well for most uses, and is not expensive.
►makers use 440C because a lot of people have heard of the alloy. Outside of a few knife knuts, how many folks have heard of 13C26?
 
Frank,
I see your point, and I agree that properly treated (Buck's) 420HC is as good as Sandvik steels.
I have no data on costs (neither raw cost or manifacturing cost) but I assumed there can't be a huge difference among all the steels mentioned. It does surprise me, though, to hear that 440 can be even more expensive than the others. My (relatively poor) sharpening skills lead me to prefer 12c27, 13c26 and Buck's 420HC over 440 any day of the year (although my stainless GEC is the exception); I can get a more refined edge and less burrs/wire edges. This might be due to the HT as Frank suggests, I don't have enough experience or knowledge; also, I assume that some steels might be easier to heat treat and harden industrially, compared to others.
Thank you for sharing.

Fausto
:cool:
 
Last edited:
Went back to that antique store to pick these up.

32499100026_1500e4c946_c.jpg


Three more Griswolds, in the 6, 7, and 8 sizes. I paid more than a pretty penny for them, but I can't really complain. They were cheaper than similar pans on EBay, and that's without adding shipping costs. No need to worry about condition either as they all sit flat and are sound without pits or cracks. Perhaps best of all is that I got the set for less than one of those fancy artisanal pans like Finex or Butter Pat.

:rock:
 
Frank, thanks for the response. Yes, at one time, 440C was considered "super steel" and still has a considerable following among custom makers. Unfortunately, their aren't many (if any) traditionals made in AUS8 or 8Cr13MoV either. Plenty of low to mid priced OHO in those steels, though. Do you have any knowledge of how hard they run them in the Kershaw, Byrd, etc. class knives?
 
I just bought a "modern" knife.

pigs-flying.jpg :D

Serious. Not kidding. I had been looking at it for a while and a coupon pushed me over the edge. I've owned "modern" knives in the past but I currently own only traditional knives (aside from multi-tools). Don't know if I'll be disappointed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top