Case stainless steel

R

Reynolds357

Joined
Jun 11, 2024
Messages
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What has Case done to their SS steel in the last several years? I used to think it was a good steel. Sharpened easily and retained edge well. Recently bought a new stainless Sodbuster. Blade came out of box with terrible edge on it. Went to my belt sharpener and couldn't believe how soft blade was compared to their older stainless knives.
 
ShaiHulud said:
Stick with their CV then
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In fairness, they don’t use CV any longer from my understanding. They use 1095, something to do with CV availability. CV was supposedly some sort of “special” 1095 blend, if I’m remembering correctly. I’ve not tried their 1095 but do love the CV.

Pretty sure Ka-Bar has also stopped labeling knives as “1095 cro-van”.
 
Jdottinger said:
In fairness, they don’t use CV any longer from my understanding. They use 1095, something to do with CV availability. CV was supposedly some sort of “special” 1095 blend, if I’m remembering correctly. I’ve not tried their 1095 but do love the CV.

Pretty sure Ka-Bar has also stopped labeling knives as “1095 cro-van”.
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IMO the 1095 is better. They’ve seemingly modernized a bit in the transition to a little bit better heat treat on the new carbon steel models.
 
Jdottinger said:
In fairness, they don’t use CV any longer from my understanding. They use 1095, something to do with CV availability. CV was supposedly some sort of “special” 1095 blend, if I’m remembering correctly. I’ve not tried their 1095 but do love the CV.

Pretty sure Ka-Bar has also stopped labeling knives as “1095 cro-van”.
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CV is 1095 with .2% vanadium and .5% chromium.
TruSharp is 420HC at 56Rc.
 
Arathol said:
CV is 1095 with .2% vanadium and .5% chromium.
TruSharp is 420HC at 56Rc.
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My point was that they no longer use CV. CV seems to have gone the way of the dodo.
caseknives.com

The Case Edge – Past, Present & Future

Throughout more than one hundred years of history, the Case name has become synonymous with reliable blades which are individually honed by the hands of skilled artisans. During that time, Case has principally used two types of steel to make our blades. These include our original Chrome Vanadium...
caseknives.com caseknives.com
 
Their reach into 20CV has been great, in my experience. Try to pick up one of those, if possible.
 
Jdottinger said:
My point was that they no longer use CV. CV seems to have gone the way of the dodo.
caseknives.com

The Case Edge – Past, Present & Future

Throughout more than one hundred years of history, the Case name has become synonymous with reliable blades which are individually honed by the hands of skilled artisans. During that time, Case has principally used two types of steel to make our blades. These include our original Chrome Vanadium...
caseknives.com caseknives.com
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All they have done is gone from their proprietary blend of 1095 to regular 1095. Its not really a big difference. Now if they would harden it properly that would make a bigger difference. The Case spec for CV I believe has been something around 56Rc. Maybe if the Case CS steel is a couple points higher it might be better than the CV.
 
Arathol said:
All they have done is gone from their proprietary blend of 1095 to regular 1095.
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I've heard that, too, but it never made much sense to me. 1095 is a simple steel -- it's just got 95 points of C and, according to AISI, zero Cr or V. Cr-V steels are typically 6000 series steels, for example, 6150.

So was Case lying when they called their old "proprietary blend of 1095" a "chrome-vanadium steel"...or are they lying now when they try to blur the distinction?

For the record, I'm a big Case fan and own close to a dozen Sodbusters and IMO there's no comparison between the old CV and the newer 1095 version. The former is far superior in edge-taking and edge-holding.

I also recently bought a new Sodbuster, Jr. because the etching on my 1973-vintage specimen is wearing off...and Case, in their infinite wisdom, decided to ENGRAVE the picture of the plow into the blade, instead of etching it with nitric acid. So now there's a nice big area of plowed-up steel to hold dirt, trash, blood, bacteria and corrosion. Brilliant!
 
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Alot of people will not agree with this, but in my opinion 56 HRC is a good hardness for an everyday use pocket knife. That is what Case heat treats theirs to, that is what Victorinox heat treats theirs to (55-57). People get hung up on hardness numbers and edge retention, but a knife blade has to be balanced. If you push those steels higher, you start get chipping and blades breaking. They have been making knives a long time and try to strike a good balance between edge retention and toughness. If you want or need higher hardness and extreme edge retention, then you need to be looking at a higher grade (and higher price) steel.
 
chevyrulez1 said:
Alot of people will not agree with this, but in my opinion 56 HRC is a good hardness for an everyday use pocket knife. That is what Case heat treats theirs to, that is what Victorinox heat treats theirs to (55-57). People get hung up on hardness numbers and edge retention, but a knife blade has to be balanced. If you push those steels higher, you start get chipping and blades breaking. They have been making knives a long time and try to strike a good balance between edge retention and toughness. If you want or need higher hardness and extreme edge retention, then you need to be looking at a higher grade (and higher price) steel.
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⬆️ This ⬆️
 
chevyrulez1 said:
That is what Case heat treats theirs to, that is what Victorinox heat treats theirs to (55-57). People get hung up on hardness numbers and edge retention, but a knife blade has to be balanced. If you push those steels higher, you start get chipping and blades breaking.
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I can't agree on that. Check the hardness of my Opinel No9 Carbone (XC90 plain carbon steel) ..... no chipping and blade breaking.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1704m8XpGX8yA45pyR3IhWQiOAkavkh0f/view?usp=drivesdk
 
TheOne45 said:
I can't agree on that. Check the hardness of my Opinel No9 Carbone (XC90 plain carbon steel) ..... no chipping and blade breaking.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1704m8XpGX8yA45pyR3IhWQiOAkavkh0f/view?usp=drivesdk
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I get it, just saying that I have carried and used Victorinox and Case knives for years and they have all performed well in my use, and they are advertised at approximately 56. All of my knives eventually get dull if I use them and need to be resharpened, but I don't mind as I find sharpening relaxing anyway. I am good with 56 Rockwell. I guess if someone doesn't like sharpening, or is doing alot of cutting and doesn't have access to sharpening implements, then there are certainly better options available.
 
I have had good luck with the stainless on new Case knives, ans sharpening them quickly out of the box.

Generally I just take the knife and run it back and forth on a ceramic hone @ 20 degrees, about 7-10 times on each side, alternating. It works about 100% of the time getting new Case knives razor sharp in no time. No need to grind or reprofile, just ceramic hone it for 30 seconds until shaving sharp.
 
I'm not sure anything's changed- I think the case stainless is still the same as it's always been.
My experience dates back to ~'93.
 
EngrSorenson said:
Could be. Maybe they annealed the edge when they ground it on.
Either way, I think using a belt sander on case SS is overkill.
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That's How I sharpen all my knives; kitchen, fillet, hunting, pocket, utility, all of them. Puts a razor edge on all but the crappiest of steels. 400, 800, 1200, leather. Usually after initial sharpening, I start at 800 unless I have really dulled the knife up.
This belt was a worn out 400. It was probably near equivalent to a new 800. It cut the Case SS like butter. IMO, $12 Rough Rider knives are better steel than this Case.
I got the case sharp, but the edge still rolled over slightly on the 1200 belt. Did not completely deburr until leather with green compound on it. The knife is now a razor, but no way it is going to hold an edge worth anything.
 
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