More folders in carbon steel!

K

KnifeTurtle

Joined
Jul 2, 2009
Messages
183
Why are so few "tactical" folders produced in carbon steel? Nothing takes an edge as easily or gets as sharp as my case's or my douk douk. Carbon steel seems to have fallen to the wayside, replaced by expensive "super-steels" which don't get as sharp, and take far too long to sharpen. Of course I understand the need for stainless steel in some circumstances, but for an edc, i really prefer carbon. I just wish there were locking one handed opening knives available in it. Here are some pros for carbon steel:

Awesome sharpness
You can resharpen it on ANYTHING
Develops a patina which I think looks beautiful
Cheaper to produce than many stainless steels
Will bend instead of snap

Only downside I can see is in edge retention, but with it being so easy to sharpen this is not really an issue. Also, some people are botherd by patina or increased risk of rust,, but with proper care this isn't an issue either.

Anyone care to weigh in on why this is?
 
well for a folder i like stainless. it is easier to maintain etc. for fixed blades i like carbon steel 1095 is a great one. and if i get carbon steel it would have to be coated.
 
I imagine the concern is rust under the pivot and bushings, where it could be difficult to keep clean.
 
My guess would be that most customers don't want carbon steel. I highly doubt the majority of knife sales are made by us knifenuts. The average Joe just wants a knife he can stick in his pocket and forget about until he needs it without worrying about rust. Even though I prefer carbon also some people don't like the taste it can impart when used on food. Others want better edge retention because they don't want to sharpen their knife all the time, even if it is easier. Knife companies have to make products that are going to sell.

All that said, I think it would be cool if they made a few to choose from. It would be interesting to see if someone could come up with a knife that blended carbon steel and traditional handle materials with modern opening and locking mechanisms while still having it look good.

I don't see rust being a problem in a "tactical" folder since many of them can be disassembled so easily and cleaned. It's never been a problem with any of my slippies that can't be taken apart.
 
I find S30V and VG10 to perform on par or better than most carbon steels and don't have any trouble sharpening them. I'll pass on carbon steel folders with the exception of M4 which outperforms just about all SS and carbon steels making it well worth the extra maintenance.
 
I too much prefer carbon steel, I find the basic steel on some of my Case knives holds a better edge and is 10000000x easier to sharpen than super steels like S30V. I would pay a hefty sum for a Spyderco Para with a coated 1095 blade, just typing that makes me drool.
 
Sniper Bladeworks and Burchtree both make some really nice knives in carbon steel. I don't know that Burchtree is taking orders at the moment, but I've got a Mini DH on order with Sniper Bladeworks in 1095 with a Hamon.

http://www.sniperbladeworks.com/
 
rusty edge said:
I too much prefer carbon steel, I find the basic steel on some of my Case knives holds a better edge and is 10000000x easier to sharpen than super steels like S30V. I would pay a hefty sum for a Spyderco Para with a coated 1095 blade, just typing that makes me drool.
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If you are finding S30V to be 10 million times harder to sharpen than you are doing something seriously wrong. Use proper equipment and practice, you'll find these "super steels" aren't any harder to sharpen than any other steel.
 
Benchmade and Spyderco are both coming out with folders in high speed carbon tool steel this year. CPM-M4 is a hell of a steel. I don't think there is a huge market for simpler carbon steels like the 1065-1095 series in folding knives.
 
tjsulli790 said:
If you are finding S30V to be 10 million times harder to sharpen than you are doing something seriously wrong. Use proper equipment and practice, you'll find these "super steels" aren't any harder to sharpen than any other steel.
Click to expand...

I disagree, I am a fan of vg-10 and s30v

But carbon knives are a different breed and a pleasure to work with
 
KnifeTurtle said:
Anyone care to weigh in on why this is?
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On the one hand I think that most folks find that the edge retention characteristics of high carbon stainless suits their needs better than the uber sharpness attainable with steels that do not form carbides.

On the other hand, I have to wonder how many people have used a high carbon non-stainless steel that does not contain a lot of Vanadium or other carbide formers.

Personally, I like and use both high carbon stainless and high carbon non-stainless.
 
KnifeTurtle said:
Why are so few "tactical" folders produced in carbon steel? Nothing takes an edge as easily or gets as sharp as my case's or my douk douk. Carbon steel seems to have fallen to the wayside, replaced by expensive "super-steels" which don't get as sharp, and take far too long to sharpen. Of course I understand the need for stainless steel in some circumstances, but for an edc, i really prefer carbon. I just wish there were locking one handed opening knives available in it. Here are some pros for carbon steel:

Awesome sharpness
You can resharpen it on ANYTHING
Develops a patina which I think looks beautiful
Cheaper to produce than many stainless steels
Will bend instead of snap

Only downside I can see is in edge retention, but with it being so easy to sharpen this is not really an issue. Also, some people are botherd by patina or increased risk of rust,, but with proper care this isn't an issue either.

Anyone care to weigh in on why this is?
Click to expand...


People these days are lazy and don't want to bother taking care of thier things. Add in the factor that the artificialy created tacticool market pushes the 'latest and greatest' steels, people are brainwashed into thinking they are getting something better if they buy the knife of the month being hyped by the knife magazines and the so called experts who write the articles in them.

You're right, if the knife is halfway taken care of, it's not going to rust. A few years ago, my grandson and I did an experiment with a couple of carbon steel pocket knives. We spent the summer using our Case CV peanuts as fishing knives. Gut and cleaned fish, cleaned the knives by swishing them around in the lake and shaking the water out. By the end of the summer the knives had a well developed patina, but no rust. A drop of 3-in-1 on the joints once in while worked wonders. I guess some people can't figure out how our grandfathers got by with carbon steel pocket knives, let alone the old mountain men who spent whole winters up in the Rockies with carbon steel butcher knives and Hawkin rifles that didn't rust away on them.
 
Back in the '60's and '70's I carried a Scrade Old Timer Stockman that was always laser sharp, and easy to keep that way. I seem to have trouble with the newer steels.
 
Kershaw has some of their folders out in a Carbon Steel damascus (pattern welded steel).

Have ya given'em a look-see yet?
 
KnifeTurtle said:
Why are so few "tactical" folders produced in carbon steel? Nothing takes an edge as easily or gets as sharp as my case's or my douk douk. Carbon steel seems to have fallen to the wayside, replaced by expensive "super-steels" which don't get as sharp, and take far too long to sharpen. Of course I understand the need for stainless steel in some circumstances, but for an edc, i really prefer carbon. I just wish there were locking one handed opening knives available in it. Here are some pros for carbon steel:

Awesome sharpness
You can resharpen it on ANYTHING
Develops a patina which I think looks beautiful
Cheaper to produce than many stainless steels
Will bend instead of snap

Only downside I can see is in edge retention, but with it being so easy to sharpen this is not really an issue. Also, some people are botherd by patina or increased risk of rust,, but with proper care this isn't an issue either.

Anyone care to weigh in on why this is?
Click to expand...

A BIG PLUS ONE to that:thumbup::cool:
 
knife turtle i'm with you since the gec 1095 is my favorite user. cut tons of dirty & gritty hay string this last weekend & my gec mdl 23 in 1095 still had a working edge. waiting for a spyder bradley in m4 now & hope to see more one handers in carbon soon.
 
i'd buy a quality produced carbon steel by one of the big 3 if it were offered. properly heat treated carbon steel would be my first choice over the so-called super steels.
 
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