CV Steel In Folders. WHY?

[yobbos1]

I don't work in an office. I don't have any air conditioning in my house and I generally don't use it in my truck. I carry my cv blades in the pocket of a pair of Carharts and work in a factory that reaches 120 degrees F in the summer in a very humid area. Sorry, but I have to go by my own experience. I have had rust form on one knife and I will admit that was a Cv knife but that is one out of about 25 carbon slippies. Never had any rust form on a good stainless blade.

 

[Will Power]

mnblade, interesting what you wrote about your kitchen knife.

On thinking about it, I have an old Sheffield carving knife that also imparts no flavours(at least on meats)I think the patina is one reason. The other reason maybe that folding pocket knives often have brass liners and this I suppose, could react with carbon steel. The joints on carbon knives tend to have more oil in them too....As an avid fruit eater I can certainly taste those fruits cut with carbon pocket knives. I sometimes visit friends who have a very tame pet rabbit, he enjoys being hand fed but he won't touch apples cut with a CASE cv knife or similar, only stainless!

 

[knarfeng]

As so many others have said, I find that CV has a good combination of properties for a pocket knife. EASY to sharpen to a very very find edge. Holds that fine edge a reasonable amount of time.

 

[Don Hanson III]

If you have to ask, you wont understand

I grew up in North Florida and spent a whole lot of time on the Gulf coast, had a carbon steel knife in my pocket all the time. Never had one rust, just get darker with age. Good stuff...

 

[Voltron]

I think the rust issue is a bit over dramatized, and a bit misunderstood.
I have CV blades.
I work/live in Florida.
I have sweat so acidic, it "patinas" SS steel. Well, not really, but it does stain the tops of them.
My CV blades are good to go.
Surface rust is not really going to do anything to your blades, and that is what it is, surface rust. Sure, I got that on my CV blades.
What did I do?
Wiped them down with a bandana.
No biggie.
These knives are not going to whither away, rust away, or disappear.
Now, it IS a personal choice. If you like SS over Carbon, it's all good. To each his own.
However, NOTHING is going to happen to your carbon/cv blade in your pocket.
When you get home, wipe it down with a bandana, and that's it.
Sailors used them for thousands of years, and they were fine.
Just a little misunderstood is all.

 

[Rick]

Funny how steel discussions tend to get so many...passionate responses.

I definitely prefer CV over Tru-Sharp on Case knives. Seems to take a finer edge with less effort, and hold it longer as well. Subjectively, it seems more "lively" in use somehow, and the visual character as it ages suits a factory slipjoint to a tee.

Strangely, I've never had a CV or 1095 blade rust on me, but I've had several bead-blasted blades in various types of stainless that developed fine rust freckles. Bead-blast finishes are a real moisture trap. Good thing no one uses that finish on good ol' carbon steel, as it would probably disintegrate overnight!

 

[knarfeng]

Funny how steel discussions tend to get so many...passionate responses.

I definitely prefer CV over Tru-Sharp on Case knives. Seems to take a finer edge with less effort, and hold it longer as well. Subjectively, it seems more "lively" in use somehow, and the visual character as it ages suits a factory slipjoint to a tee.

Strangely, I've never had a CV or 1095 blade rust on me, but I've had several bead-blasted blades in various types of stainless that developed fine rust freckles. Bead-blast finishes are a real moisture trap. Good thing no one uses that finish on good ol' carbon steel, as it would probably disintegrate overnight!

Yes sir. I measured it. It does.

 

[mnblade]

mnblade, interesting what you wrote about your kitchen knife.

On thinking about it, I have an old Sheffield carving knife that also imparts no flavours(at least on meats)I think the patina is one reason. The other reason maybe that folding pocket knives often have brass liners and this I suppose, could react with carbon steel. The joints on carbon knives tend to have more oil in them too....As an avid fruit eater I can certainly taste those fruits cut with carbon pocket knives.

I also get a funky taste on fruit with my Case cv trapper. I think in time it will definitely go away, though. Probably when the Dexter was new, it had a funky taste too, but it's been sooo heavily patinaed that it's not longer the case.

BTW, here is a shot of the Dexter:

And here's a closer shot of the blade:

 

[Don Hanson III]

I also get a funky taste on fruit with my Case cv trapper. I think in time it will definitely go away, though. Probably when the Dexter was new, it had a funky taste too, but it's been sooo heavily patinaed that it's not longer the case.

You are right, the patina kills the funky taste, but I kind of like that taste

We use only carbon steel in the kitchen and eat a lot of fruit. All our knives are well patinaed and I rarely notice the taste.

There have been a couple replies of folks wanting to keep their CV blades shinny and new lookin. This just makes no sense at all to me

 

[artmichalek]

With most stainless, as the RC goes up, the abrasion resistance seems to go up as well. Most people seem to having enough of a problem getting a dull knife sharp again without adding this in on them.

This is compounded by the fact that a lot of high end stainless steels can't be ground as thinly at the edge prior to heat treating as carbon steel. The cost of making a knife out of super stainless steel is high. The cost of grinding one after heat treat to get the same geometry that can easily be gotten with CV is downright catastrophic.

I have Case knives in both CV and 154CM, and while the stainless does have very impressive edge holding ability, it's a thick edge, and it takes a lot of work to sharpen. Due to the extra costs of material and processing, the 154CM ended up retailing for about four times more than the same knife in CV. I guess it's a cool thing to have, but it doesn't really make economic sense for most users.

 

[Absintheur]

Why do most folks here love CV, (chrome vanadium), steel?

Well.....why not?

I don't have rust problems with CV but then I have great hands, I can leave prints all over carbon steel and come back a week later and wipe them off. My CV knives don't develop patina however because they get wiped down with oil every night and I have designated knives for food prep including a folding Hocho for when I am away from home. Almost all of my kitchen knives are carbon steel but again they get wiped down immediately after use, when doing a lot of prep I keep a glass of soapy water handy and the blades get dipped and rinsed between different food items.

 

[Peter Parker]

It's not for everyone. All the positives and negatives have been thoroughly covered. If you like the positives and the tradition of getting a good natural patina it's just wonderful! If you live close to salt water, sweat a lot or find yourself loosing you knife in bad ways a good SS is more the way to go. I like them both but here lately I have been getting back more into carbon.

 

[keithcarter]

The "patina" on my carbon knives has gotten there during storage, not from use. Stainless doesn't change in storage.
For Patina vs Shiny, I'll take shiny.

 

[Gene]

Perhaps if you ask your question a little more gently, then we don't have flames.

So sorry neeman if it seems I came across crass but the flames mention was actually tongue-in-cheek as my smiley face, (I hope!), indicated.

I brought this whole thing up for discussion purposes and have no issue with anyone liking whatever they like. I was just wondering why a lot of folks prefer CV over SS.

I like SS but I have a few knives in CV and it's fine steel but I really don't care THAT much for patina on my EDC knives and like I say, in my hands, it really does rust!

I have a little Schrade 30T that I've had for over 20 years and do EDC it now and then and I like the little guy. When it rusts on me, I just put it on my fine wire wheel and gently brush it away.

Heck, I've worn an old Spyderco Police Necklace Knife around my neck for years and the blade is ATS-34 and you wouldn't believe all the pits in it. I really do have toxic sweat!

1095 and such really do sharpen super easy and take a razor's edge but so does SS's like AUS-8, 440C, etc...and to me they seem to hold an edge equally well as CV but that's just me.

Well Gene, I'll tell ya. A lot of the problems you describe with CV can be avoided with simple care of your knife. You know, wipe it off daily with an oily rag, oil the joints, etc..

I agree Ed and good advice but I really do take care of my knives and sharpen and lube them and I actually enjoy cleaning them as well as putting on a coat of Flitz now and then and it's very relaxing to me.

As for where I live, I live in Dunsmuir, (actually in the mountains above it), which is not too far from you Ed. I really like the Alturas area and love the Pitt River. I say "The REAL Northern Calif." as I consider anything South of Redding as "Central Calif."

Thanks for all the replies and opinions folks. I don't post much like I used to but I do like ALL knives no matter what their steel! Also like a lot of folks, I've come to greatly appreciate simple slip joints in the last few years.

Let's all continue to enjoy our CV knives!

 

[yobbos1]

Well said sir!

 

[jpvjr]

You can get down to less than 10° compound w/ carbon steel (good for a castrating blade) the best you can do is around 25° for stainless. It also can give a friction free surface on the blade itself so you can produce paper thin slivers of meat. Lastly I have yet to see a stainless blade you can strop in the palm of your hand, the older Case knives, the 1095 Schrade's etc could be.
That's my thinking.