Old companies that are introducing newer (super)steels

[EngrSorenson]

I like seeing the option. I prefer stainless steel and offering the higher performance steels is a smart business decision.

I agree with this. I might not feel moved by it personally, but I can see that many knife guys consider knife steel as a deciding factor when they buy a knife.
Might as well get on board with it, even if you're making traditionals.

 

[EngrSorenson]

I don't think I have one Case knife that's in SS. I always go for the CS/CV or Damascus. Their stainless is just too soft for my preferences. The S35VN works well though.

If I recall correctly, both the SS and CV are in the 54-56 hardness range. Having owned both, I feel like they're basically interchangeable, and GECs generally seem like they are harder.

 

[Reconmarui]

"CV" was/is 1095 modified with a small amount of chromium; not enough chromium to make it stainless though.
"CS" is "normal" 1095.

CASE offers fewer patterns with CV/CS blades.
As far as I know, ALL of their patterns can be had with "True Sharp" 420HC blades. Only a limited number have a CV/CS option.
If not "in the vault" and is in production, is the "Copperhead", their 2 blade slipjoint folding hunter, and single blade clasp knife folding hunter, or the "Shark"(?) lock back, (their entry in the Buck 110/112 market), Moose, large or small Swell Center/Coke Bottle, available with carbon steel blades?
"When"/"IF" Case takes a pattern "out of the vault" such as the standard Barlow (how many decades has it been since Case produced a 5" closed Daddy Barlow? 4? 5? D'yah "think" Mr. Daddy Barlow will ever be produced by Case again?)
Is CV/CS an option?
A couple years ago when the mini/small swell center was "taken out of the vault" and produced for a year, "True Sharp" was the only blade option.
If/When the standard Barlow; single or twin blade is produced, are any not stainless?

When people say "I wish Case would use more CV/CS/carbon steel ..."
I take it as: "I wish Case would offer more patterns with not stainless carbon steel blades."

They did offer the swell center jack in Carbon options, same as the congress of this year. They did a dark red bone in CS and the grey pocketworn in CS. Not to mention the SMKW exclusive burlap micarta in 1095 they did on the swell center.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I'm not interested because I have no desire for any of those steels, I love patina and prefer easy sharpen steels.
I also don't like the fact that these are the other steels they're using, for Case it means another excuse for why they hardly offer 1095 anymore, and for Buck they keep offering monthly specials and such in these types of steels but never in the 5160 that they only offer once in a blue moon.
It means that there's not even a carbon steel option in the custom shop.


so to sum it up, they're using steels I have zero interest in and it's keeping them from using the carbon steels that I want.
I'd be happy for others who want these steels if it wasn't effecting my own knife buying happiness.

 

[Phil in Alabama]

I'm glad to see that options for other steels than the standard basics are being offered, more choices are always good. Queen's use of very hard D2 was one of the things that attracted me to their knives so much; I have their big Cattle Knife in BG42, Bokers in S30V and N690, AG Russell small fixed blades in ATS34, along with many older slipjoints in whatever carbon steels they were manufactured with. They're all interesting in their own ways and have different attributes and attractions. Whether I'm going to town, squirrel hunting or out mowing and cutting weeds and brush I can pick out something that I think will fit the need of the day.

 

[Tyson A Wright]

There is a tradeoff, the price difference is significant. Certainly a factor (to me at least!)

God save me if GEC starts using Magnacut, I'll be on the streets!

I'd be broke too, but only because my willingness to pay ridiculous prices for GEC would go way up! A GEC 86, single blade, clip point with long pull, OD green micarta, with a Magnacut blade? Yes, please!!!

 

[JohnDF]

I think the newer steels are good, I just don't like what it does to the price tag.

 

[Tyson A Wright]

I love modern steels, so I am delighted by my Buck 112 in Magnacut.

There are four main ways for a knife to get dull (and how they rate on each of these is quantifiable):
1. The edge can abrade away. This is countered by a steel with higher wear resistance.
2. The edge can chip. This is countered by a steel with higher toughness.
3. The edge can roll. This is countered by a steel with higher hardness.
4. The edge can corrode away. This is countered by a steel with higher corrosion resistance.

Normally, improving one or two of these means compromising the others, so part of the art of knife design is picking steels with the right balance and tradeoffs for what that knife is intended to do.

But Magnacut beats something like 1095 in every single one of those categories. There is no tradeoff for switching from 1095 to Magnacut. I prefer traditional knives for both functionality and aesthetic reasons, but they are still tools I use, and I vastly prefer better steels when I can get them.

I've been thinking more about this, and feel like I left some things out. I don't carry a traditional knife because I think all possible improvements ended, or as some sort of historical reenactment.

I just think slipjoints (and to a lesser extent friction folders and traditional lockbacks) are better designs for my purposes than modern tactical knives. I'm not hanging on to some obsolete design out of nostalgia or stubbornness - I think the benefits of these classic designs outweigh the benefits of modern folders.

The only downsides I see people give for modern steels are higher cost and sharpening difficulty.

Re: cost, I know some people like to have a large number of low-cost knives, and that's cool, and easily available for them. But I'd rather have a small number of really high-performing knives. We probably have about the same total knife investment, and they have 3 or or 5 or 18 times as many knives as me. That will always be possible for them, and I don't want to take it away from them. But I'm a little perplexed when they are mad that some manufacturers are using modern steels. Don't like it, don't buy it, but it's odd that they don't even want it available for someone like me to buy.

Sharpening difficulty is harder to address for me, because I've never found it hard to sharpen modern steels. But I don't use soft Alabama stones, or the bottom of coffee mugs, or things like that. You don't need anything very fancy - I've used a four-sided Harbor Freight diamond stone quite successfully on 20CV/M390 blades. That tool costs about 10 bucks.

 

[Tyson A Wright]

Can you imagine a discussion back in the 19th century wherein the higher-ups at the various renowned cutlery concerns worried that if they used the latest and greatest steel available, they would risk losing market share by angering loyal customers who preferred the older, inferior material?

(As I recall, a lot of the old traditional ads in my catalogs raved about their pushing the envelope with their secret steel and its heat treat.)

Gotta love us Luddites.

Get that copper knife outa here, this stone knife works good enough!

Bronze is too hard to sharpen, I'm sticking with copper!

Iron rusts, and anyway, bronze does everything I need from a knife!

Steel costs too much, and my Dad used iron and so will I!

 

[Jakeywax31]

I prefer my traditional pocket knives to be in traditional carbon steels. I don’t have a good explanation as to why though . If k390 ever made it into a traditionally made pocket knife it would be hard to resist.

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

Love me some simple carbon steels myself.

 

[Tyson A Wright]

I prefer my traditional pocket knives to be in traditional carbon steels. I don’t have a good explanation as to why though . If k390 ever made it into a traditionally made pocket knife it would be hard to resist.

I think Pena made a slipjoint I'm K390, but it didn't really stick to a traditional pattern.

 

[Jakeywax31]

I think Pena made a slipjoint I'm K390, but it didn't really stick to a traditional pattern.

I almost bought that knife but could not get over the screwed construction. I know I’m petty

 

[Tyson A Wright]

I almost bought that knife but could not get over the screwed construction. I know I’m petty

I have a few knives with screws, but vastly prefer pinned.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

I have a screw loose. Does that count?

 

[Phil in Alabama]

I have a screw loose. Does that count?

Soitenly!

 

[Jakeywax31]

PenisMightier I have to admit. Everytime I see your name pop up on an alert I have to double take the name

 

[RickHuf]

PenisMightier I have to admit. Everytime I see your name pop up on an alert I have to double take the name

Gussy it up however you want Trebek, the question is "Does it work"????

 

[lambertiana]

I like to have the option too. I have a case 6318 in 20CV, as well as a few Italian traditionals in M390. And for those who prefer non stainless, there is this Enigma with US2000MC, which is essentially cruwear. Equal to magnacut in hardenability and abrasion resistance, beats magnacut in toughness, but not as corrosion resistant (but more corrosion resistant than 1095).

 

[mrknife]

im not a steel snob so and as much as I enjoy my knives, i rarely need to use them enough to warrant serious sharpening. last thing I added with a modern steel were s45vn sebenzas and I am glad it came razor sharp because I do not look forward to the it needs to be sharpened