Cheap carbon steel knives

Atlas Knife Company

Atlas Knife Company

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Feb 16, 2010
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I need a half dozen cheap carbon steel knives. Really cheap that I can throw away after using once. Everything I find on eBay or the Dollar Tree that is cheap is also stainless. Does anybody know of a source for cheap knives that are not stainless?
 
I know a lot of people say Opinel and Mora knives are quality for the price. They can be had for $10-15 and they both have carbon steel.
 
For what kind of use??

Also if it's really a one use knife, why bother with the carbon steel requirement??

Edit: The cheapest method I could think of is to buy a bunch of Green River Knives blade blanks and create some quickly swapable handle scales.
 
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goodwill Salvation army, that kind of thrift stores sell those serrated stainless knives for thirty to fifty cents

They are stainless though, they throw away the carbon steel because they are " ugly rusted"



Ontario, Old Hickory paring knives if you have to have new carbon
 
Goodwill, DAV thrift store, Local Thrift center, flea market,etc.

Also check out the local grinding and sharpening companies. They usually have boxes of carbon steel kitchen type knives that have been pretty much used up. They sell them for $1 each here. Even less in quantity. My friend used to buy them by the case to put out along his fishing pier.

Restaurant suppliers sometimes have cheap carbon steak knives.
 
Go check your local asian supermarket, you know the one with fruits and vegetables you don't recognize. They always have a section with bowls and knives, you likely won't be able to read anything on the pckaging but you should be able to tell easily.


-X
 
I've got 9 different electrolytes to test my etchers with. It was easy finding stainless to etch, now I just need non-stainless. I'd rather use a cheap knife than a bar, just for presentation sake.

I'll hit Double Dragon. That's a good idea.
 
zaph1 said:
Really cheap that I can throw away after using once.
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I'm flummoxed by this part. Why not cheap stainless? If you or your clients only need to use it once and toss it, who cares what it's made of? :confused: Dollar store import paring or utility knives; buy 'em by the pound. Many pro taxidermists, commercial fishermen and guides do exactly that for their caping/gutting/fillet/general purpose "knife" needs. They use 'em up, wear 'em out, and don't give a hoot if they drop one into Davy Jones' locker or lose it in the woods.

For new, cheap carbon knives, it's been covered... Opinel, Mora, Old Hickory. Those are actually fairly decent (although soft) knives and I wouldn't throw 'em away, I'd sharpen 'em. It only takes a few seconds.

For old, cheap carbon butcher/chef's/boning knives... good freaking luck. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for years for that sort of thing. The ones that haven't been thrown out or sharpened down to a nub have been modded into nice bushcrafty-type knives by folks like us, or are commanding more $$$ than a new Old Hickory.

zaph1 said:
I've got 9 different electrolytes to test my etchers with.
Click to expand...

Oh. Well then, you're on the wrong track, anyhow. You've got at least 9 different variables, not including etchers, voltages, currents and times. For Pete's sake, don't make it worse/more complicated with mystery steel. Keep It Simple, Son... at least, as simple as possible.

Use a bar of the carbon steel you like best, ground and polished and HT'ed the way you normally do, to test your etchants. All that stuff can make a difference, and a great etch on a "who-knows-what" blade may work completely wrong on a "I put a lot of money and time into this" blade. Don't ask me how I know :grumpy:
 
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Zaph, please allow me to use this thread as an example.
This thread is a perfect example of not giving the needed information with the question.

The majority of the posts would have been needless if Charles had said,
"I am making a test set of knives to display how 9 different etchants look on carbon steel. I already did stainless blades. What would be the cheapest carbon steel knives I can find?"
.....thirty-six words that say it all !
 
Can I ask what etchants you're using? Are they homemade or bought from a dealer? I have been experimenting myself and would like to try something other than salt water without dishing out a lot of cash.
 
random idea that may work

Buy a bar of high carbon,
cut it into coupons with holes in the end for a pivot
heat treat, clean up and etch
put all on a pivot for presentation... like a set of feeler gauges


I think you need heat treated high carbon to really test the etchant. All pieces should be the same for control.
 
cbr900son said:
Use a bar of steel from home depot.
Click to expand...

Wrong. That is irresponsibly bad advice. I can absolutely guarantee you will not get the same results etching a piece of "welding steel" as you will from etching a piece of hardened cutlery steel with the same process. If by some odd chance you prove me wrong, it is pure luck, and you should immediately go buy a lottery ticket.

Daniel Fairly Knives said:
I think you need heat treated high carbon to really test the etchant. All pieces should be the same for control.
Click to expand...

Right :thumbup:
 
While sweeping out the garage I found a utility knife blade on the ground, all rusty. Don't know why, but I always thought they were stainless. I must have been thinking of safety razors, I'm pretty certain they're stainless. The snap-off type utility blades are often listed as stainless. A few tests should let me identify the steel, but I think they will work. They're big enough to etch and they're already heat treated.

21gXRUAwiwL.jpg


I'm not trying to do an all inclusive, thorough test of all etchants available. I'm just trying to find out what works best in the general ballpark of stainless and non-stainless, as well as claims of etching titanium, brass, and copper. I did learn that, at 12VAC, 110A will NOT darken stainless, which is exactly what the manufacturer claims. SC-44 does a great job of etching stainless, but will not darken it easily. 94 works like a sharpie marker and tells you that the others are the wrong stuff for stainless! I keep thinking to test saltwater, but it always slips my mind when I'm near the etcher. I'll have a full write-up on this sometime this week hopefully.
 
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