Longevity & Preservation vs "Soul"

Stephen F

Stephen F

Joined
Sep 28, 2003
Messages
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An interesting discussion for you:

I am in the process of working on a high end piece with a top class maker. The discussion has come around to the choice of materials and finish. I can go with gun blued/french greyed finish on Carbon steel fittings (which takes the finish more permanently than "painting" stainless). Or I can go for Stainless with different finishes (mirror, rubbed, blasted) to accent the areas rather than blueing/greying.

What would you do? Anyone else concerned about the use of Carbon Steel as the base or am I concerned about nothing as the bluing will protect it. I know the theory, but any empirical evidence out there?

As a side discussion we touched upon who some collectors will choose stainless in preference to a forged blade on high end pieces for the sake of ease of storage and longevity. I can see this argument, but how do you feel? Is the trade off between the perceived romance of a forged blade (providin you feel that way, this is not a Stock removal vs Forged debate) and longevity one you would consider when a major outlay is involved?

Cheers,

Stephen
 
The more I "mature"(age:D) as a collector, the more I become about the stainless.

Love the carbon steels and the magical things that can be done with heat and chemicals...but the bottom line is that rust never sleeps. Using special compounds on the metal DELAYS the inevitable, but does not stop it. Little rust pits reveal themselves over time...if you think they are not there, you are not looking right.

Stainless steel does NOT guarantee no rusting....but it is the closest thing to low maintainance material out there, outside of titanium, which can also be considered.

Your choices need not automatically be limited to stainless steel(harsh, cold, icky, heavy....choose your insulting moniker, I like the stuff)there is also damascus, both carbon and stainless, shakudo, shibuichi and bronze....all except the stainless damascus can be made black, without painting.

I am moving towards damascus a lot more, just because of the stain resistance brought about by the etching process, and the fact that even if/when pits reveals themselves in the blade, you won't be able to notice. Not getting OFF of hand-satin rubbed carbon steels, just moving towards damascus for the above reasons.

Hope this helped.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson



Stephen F said:
An interesting discussion for you:

I am in the process of working on a high end piece with a top class maker. The discussion has come around to the choice of materials and finish. I can go with gun blued/french greyed finish on Carbon steel fittings (which takes the finish more permanently than "painting" stainless). Or I can go for Stainless with different finishes (mirror, rubbed, blasted) to accent the areas rather than blueing/greying.

What would you do? Anyone else concerned about the use of Carbon Steel as the base or am I concerned about nothing as the bluing will protect it. I know the theory, but any empirical evidence out there?

As a side discussion we touched upon who some collectors will choose stainless in preference to a forged blade on high end pieces for the sake of ease of storage and longevity. I can see this argument, but how do you feel? Is the trade off between the perceived romance of a forged blade (providin you feel that way, this is not a Stock removal vs Forged debate) and longevity one you would consider when a major outlay is involved?

Cheers,

Stephen
Click to expand...
 
Stephen, your carbon steel fittings will be fine as long as they are hot blued and not just heat colored. The heat coloring doesn't wear very well.

Steven makes a good point about damascus fittings and this is my choice for 95% of the knives I make.

The older I get, the more I dislike stainless steel :)
 
I like the durability and visual clean-ness of stainless, and have also come
to like the variety and artistic appeal of pattern welded damascus fittings.

In the end, I think it really depends on what the piece seems to want.
 
I have never had a problem with blued carbon steel or non-stainless pattern welded steel hardware rusting. On working grade knives I prefer stainless. On higher end knives I tend to go with non-stainless pattern welded hardware.
 
Most importantly, avoid a fragile finish, go with a durable finish. If the finish becomes compromised, the rest of the materials won't matter much.
 
A blued finish is fragile.

Rust, scratches, wear, are part of the liability. I just photographed a wonderful piece by Buster Warenski, and the blued finish was *just* about to degrade. I was sure happy I got to it with a little oil and a chamois to fix things. It came clean, but another few months left uncared for and it would be permanent.

That said, prefering only an industrial/durable finish (brushed or polished stainless) for the long term, would be quite boring, indeed.

Coop
 
For folders at least, if I want high end, I spring for Stellite 6K. It is virtually corrosion-proof, and it works real well if you end up deciding to use the knife.
 
I like bluing on some pieces, however will never buy a knife with it.

Damascus fittings are beautiful and durable.
 
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