Ouch .

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
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Is it possible carbon steels or at least some of them sting more when they cut ?

All right I admit this is a weird one . Its been getting under my skin for a while .

It seems to me the little cuts I sometimes get from carbon blades sting or burn .

Hardly a scientific study and I don,t want to know if someone did some personal tests on this . (Oh what the heck , yes I do .)

It seems to me stainless doesn,t hurt as badly for relatively the same kind of cut .
 
Probably the best people to ask are those who have experience shaving with both kinds of straight razors. So how about it? Wasn't there a straight razor shaving thread a while back?

James
 
I don't remember the last time that I was cut by anything stainless. I don't own much high alloy stuff.

The things that cut me are generally khukuris and (very occasionally) low alloy razors. The pain involved seems to depend more on location and edge sharpness. Deepness does not seem to matter, at least for me...actually, it sometimes seems that the ones that are scary deep (as in oh my God what have I done deep) hurt least of all initially.
 
Now here is a theory and only a theory. Carbon steel rusts very fast compared to stainless steel, (make that stain resistant). Perhaps there is a wee bit of oxidation (rust) that has formed on the edge and that is just enough to cause irritation causing that sting.
 
Josh I agree with you on that . It just seems to me that there is an almost electric tingle/burn to carbon steel . Maybe I,m describing it like this because I have proabably gotten more shocks than on average here .
 
Arrh! cap'n, i be tellin yer ter stop testin yer cutlass on yer thumb, thets what we keeps them prisoners fer down in the guantanamo suite on the Black Ducky.

course it stings when yer on the quarterdeck with all thet salt spray 'n rum 'n all.

nex time jes slice up one of them alkyders down below, my favourite is thet skinny one wif the long white beard who sez his name is arse-mama bent-laden er summat. try him, he's still got mosta one leg and half an arm, yer welcomed ter slice them offn him afor the gangrene gets 'em. he'd probably thank ye anyhows after what one-eyed sally cut off last week. she REALLY don't like him much.....

TLAPD be acomin' nex toosday - Arrrh!
 
Twosday it be . I be keeping a weather eye out .

As fer testing me cutlass on yomamabentover . I would not sully my sword on such a man .
 
yep, cain't rightly blame yer. he's reeely pitiful, specially wif all thet bowing an' scrapin' and and arse kissin' he's been given to thet apprentice seaman moishe goldberg. convertin' to worshippin' cthulhu wuz a real surprize too! thet man will do anything ter get a bacon sammich an' some bilge-watered down rum!

them things he calls his old 'profit' Mo when he finks we ain't lissnen are real creative yer gotta admit, them ragheads thet renounce i'slam gets ter be purdy good cussers, tho he don't want enny one on the outside ter know he's a floaty frog worshipper and an apostate musselman.

anyways, he squeels so nice when yer pokes him with sommat sharp, an then tries ter trade yer 60 of his followers daughters ter let whuts left o' him go - i serspekt they's as uggy as he be tho, and got the super-pox ass well. besides, if'n them follerers of his ever find out what elder gods he really sucks up to, he'd hafta stop shaggin' ther little boys, not thet he's likely ter survive the Black Duck's horsepitality.

yer culd try slicin' thet aydolf shpitler feller what's been down there since before i wuz born, yew know, thet one wiff the funny little mustache & the yiddish accent, only trouble is he LIKES it.

ennyways, gotta go, puttin a final polish on me pirate klewang fer tuesday & scrapin some o' thet blood ofn' me shoes ter look presentable ter them lady pyrate groupies.
 
kronckew said:
...convertin' to worshippin' cthulhu wuz a real surprize too! thet man will do anything ter get a bacon sammich an' some bilge-watered down rum!

...tho he don't want enny one on the outside ter know he's a floaty frog worshipper...

...he'd probably thank ye anyhows after what one-eyed sally cut off last week. she REALLY don't like him much........
Click to expand...
Nice AM laugh, kronck- Wishing there was still some green rep booty to share with ye.


Mike
 
I wonder if you're oiling your carbon steel knives. It wouldn't surprise me if oil in a cut makes it burn. That hypothesis ought to be tested using oiled and unoiled stainless and carbon steel. Maybe we can get Cliff to do some experiments....
 
Cougar Allen said:
I wonder if you're oiling your carbon steel knives. It wouldn't surprise me if oil in a cut makes it burn. That hypothesis ought to be tested using oiled and unoiled stainless and carbon steel. Maybe we can get Cliff to do some experiments....
Click to expand...

There may be a solid basis for the theory . Often the blades I get are Church sale finds . They may have been oiled at one time .

I do not often oil my carbon steel knives . They are rarely used in the kitchen and so direct contact with moisture is limited .
I sometimes pick up a sour taste in some foods from carbon steel . It is not the fault of the knives . I am just not diligent enough .

The sting I seem to feel has been compared to an electric tingle/burn .
Have you ever been so fortunate as to touch a 9 volt battery to your tongue ? (Don,t do this with a fresh battery .)
Along with the shocking results and sour taste there is a slight burning sensation . That is the closest I can come to describing it .

The oil on the blade theory does deserve consideration .
 
Sigh....

There is more iron in carbon steel.

Hence, your magnetic personality exerts a stronger pull on the blade material, which affects the nerve endings. Thus, it seems to hurt more.

Pain is relative.

(an uncle, if I recall corrrectly)
 
Kismet said:
Sigh....

There is more iron in carbon steel.

Hence, your magnetic personality exerts a stronger pull on the blade material, which affects the nerve endings. Thus, it seems to hurt more.

Pain is relative.

(an uncle, if I recall corrrectly)
Click to expand...

That one wafted me around and planted me in one fell swoop .
 
In the absence of volunteers to do experiments (I don't think even Cliff is dedicated enough to take this one on) we need testimony from some people who cut themselves a lot. I haven't noticed that carbon steel feels any different than stainless, but I don't cut myself very often, and there are so many other factors that make one cut burn more than another ...

Are there any very clumsy members of the forum? Somebody who cuts himself very frequently ought to be able to distinguish even small differences....
 
I'd like to see all the variables we can think of listed first.
Do you think in general, carbon steel knives get sharpened more often than stainless? Are the knives made with carbon found with a different edge geopmetry than those with SS? For instance, there aren't many SS khuks.
Because we protect Carbon steel blades with oil, are they likely to be treated with something while SS is not?

If the Carbon steel pocket knife is the one you carry all the time, it may have more bacteria on it than the SS kept in a case. And, (wish Firkin was here) is the surface of carbon steel more conduscive (sic) to bacteria growth than SS? A patina holding more goodies.

How about Carbon steel looking 'dirty' and SS clean? Does that influence the subjective experience of pain?

And of course, there is always the possibiliity the CIA has been conducting experiments on Kevin the Grey's household.


munk
 
Here's another hypothesis for you: Maybe you were all sweaty and the salty sweat got in the wound and burned, and that happened a couple of times when you were using carbon steel knives and got you thinking. Probably not be a coincidence that you were using carbon steel knives; most of us favor carbon steel for the big knives that we're likely to work up a sweat with and if we use stainless at all it's for smaller knives that aren't for heavy work.

To test the hypothesis, work up a good sweat and then cut yourself with a stainless knife.
 
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