Is Case damascus carbon or stainless?

E

eKretz

Joined
Aug 30, 2009
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I have been eyeing a whittler in damascus, but no matter where I have looked, I can't seem to find a positive identification of whether the damascus is of the carbon or stainless steel variety. Case's own site just says it's Devin Thomas raindrop pattern, but not whether it's carbon steels or stainless steels used in the makeup. Devin's site says he makes raindrop pattern in both types. Anyone know?
 
Carbon.

See my correspondence (below) with Rob Thomas:

Elliott, yes the raindrop that we have provided for Case the last 3 years is a carbon steel. It is 1075/nickel mix. 1075 is a spring steel. The nickel content is only to add color to the blade and is about 5% of the total weight. Case has decided to use this because it is easy to blank and the cost is reasonable. Devin and I will be upgrading our carbon steel for 2009 to 19C5va. It is a carbon steel made specifically for cutlery, it has vanadium in it which will be a better blade steel. Thanks, Rob Thomas
 
Thanks very much Elliott. So does that mean then that the 2009 Case knives are made with the new steel type, do you know? How old is that correspondence from Rob? Again, thanks for the help!

--Eric
 
Blues said:
Devin and I will be upgrading our carbon steel for 2009 to 19C5va. It is a carbon steel made specifically for cutlery, it has vanadium in it which will be a better blade steel. Thanks, Rob Thomas
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Does that apply solely to Case's Damascus? Or does it apply to Case's CV as well?
 
Well the quote said Devin, whom I am assuming means Devin Thomas, thus it should be just the damascus.
 
eKretz said:
Thanks very much Elliott. So does that mean then that the 2009 Case knives are made with the new steel type, do you know? How old is that correspondence from Rob? Again, thanks for the help!

--Eric
Click to expand...

You're welcome. The correspondence was from April, 2008.

I have not followed up on this since then so I can't provide any information as to if or when the "newer" damascus has been put into Case's production.

I'll send a link to this thread to a friend of mine at Case to see what he has to say. Perhaps you can follow up by contacting the Thomas brothers through their website.
 
rifon2 said:
Does that apply solely to Case's Damascus? Or does it apply to Case's CV as well?
Click to expand...

The CV is an in-house product, not from the Thomas brothers.

Case still uses their old heat treating ovens and formula (from old notebooks) that they've had for many a year.
 
Got a message from my contact at Case this morning. He's checking a couple of departments within the company to get a definitive answer for us on the damascus question.
 
Awesome Blues, thanks! I've had my eye on Case damascus for some time now, but didn't want to purchase until they upgraded to a better steel. Thanks for inquiring.
 
Folks, I've gotten the word from on high and it appears that Rob Thomas' thoughts notwithstanding, the damascus has not changed and the blades are still the same 1075/nickel formula as in past years. There may or may not be changes in future years.
 
That's too bad for the user market--people like me who may be looking for a bit more performance in a knife that costs more. On the other hand, I can understand that with the current economy and recent layoffs, Case may not be in a position to make many changes in materials and/or tooling.
 
The performance is going to be essentially equivalent to Boker's carbon steel which is generally 1075. If the heat treat is good, the steel should perform well.

Sorry I couldn't bring better news. I tried.
 
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