Has GEC abandoned stainless steel?

Lesknife said:
As far as the argument about being traditional, stainless has been around for a century now and that seems to me to be traditional well enough. .
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You’d be hard pressed to find any stainless pocket knife made before 1970 other than a SAK. Victorinox started using it in the 60’s.

still that’s plenty old enough to be traditional enough. I agree stainless would be a nice option for those who want it.
 
eveled said:
You’d be hard pressed to find any stainless pocket knife made before 1970 other than a SAK. Victorinox started using it in the 60’s.

still that’s plenty old enough to be traditional enough. I agree stainless would be a nice option for those who want it.
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Well actually my grandparents had a small stainless penknife with mop handle scales that was made in the 1920s. I don’t know where it is now but last I knew one of my cousins received it in the estate will about 1981. The blades didn’t have a speck of rust or corrosion but the back spring had some rust pitting. The blade stamp was very light but it looked like an Imperial Crown emblem. Stainless was still legible and the shield had barely visible old company logo from days past. My grandmother remembered when she got it and the salesman who she had got it from. She had earned it from promoting a product and was very protective of it.
 
eveled said:
That date certainly is correct, but carbon steel was the norm for pocket knives other than SAK’s until at least the 70’s.

I think ease of manufacturing probably is the bigger reason.
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eveled said:
You’d be hard pressed to find any stainless pocket knife made before 1970 other than a SAK. Victorinox started using it in the 60’s.
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I think you are off by about a decade. I had both a Schrade stockman and I think a Colonial Barlow in the very early 60's with stainless blades. Schrade used 440A, which they labelled "Schrade+".

Unlike carbon steel, stainless blades require a sub-ambient quench in the heat treat cycle in order to have good cutlery properties. That was not known in the US until the early 1950's. (It was discovered by German metallurgists immediately before WW II, but the information remained in Germany until after the war.) So carbon blades were much more common in the US until the late 50's, when properly heat treated stainless blades then became reasonably common. But stainless pocket knives were available much earlier than that.
 
I like GECs 1095 and 440C. While I don't advocate all their knives have a stainless option, some patterns it makes more sense.

Case in point: The Beer Scout.

I like the pattern and carried it a few times to social gatherings with adult beverages. Actually used it a few times to open said adult beverages. Thought I'd done a good job of cleaning it, but must of missed something. Couple days later it had some rust spots. Easily taken care of, but I have to be hyper vigilant in keeping it clean if I use it that way. If the pattern had been offered in 440C I'd of chosen that instead.
 
If your gonna use it you have to let it patina. Once it has patina it won’t rust as easily. No different than a good well seasoned cast iron pan.

If you want it to stay new looking stainless is clearly the better option.
 
Both. Definitely both.

I don't have any stainless GEC. I've owned only their carbon. I use it, carry it, cur fruit and food with it. Wish I had grabbed a few stainless versions too.

I have had custom (J. Oeser) in CPM154. I've also got some Queen D2 that I enjoy, (though they certainly did not grind it thin enough. Had to put in some real work to regrind the blades).

Case stainless is not really an option for me. It is entirely too soft for my tastes. (As is their carbon steel).

There are other options for sort of traditional knives in higher performance steels.

I am, however, happy GEC is in business and pumping out knives. They certainly have made it a good time to buy and use traditionals.
 
I do prefer stainless, preferably hardened to 58 or better, but I wouldn't turn down a knife that I really liked because it wasn't. For reasons unknown to me, nobody that I'm aware of in the northern third of Alabama sells GEC, and I've only seen a few at gun/knife shows. They do make some excellent looking traditional style knives, carbon or stainless.
 
Stainless has been used quite a bit on traditional knives. I don't think it's a rare feature. Queen used their "Queen Steel" starting in the 1950's, and used it almost exclusively from the 60's onward.
 
I'm not interested in folders in carbon steel. Make some in Sandvik and I'll start buying.
 
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