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Stag handled Solingen Knives

A

ALLOBO

Joined
Jan 13, 2006
Messages
18
I have a penchant for Solingen carbon steel knives with stag handles.
However I see very little to no mention made of them. Over the years I have collected quite a number of them and have used many of them extensively. I really like the way the carbon steels sharpen and hold the edge in my experiences.
I would like to hear any experiences or other input on these points, including opinions of the various quality of steel you folks have run accross on the Older Solingen knives.
I do believe most of the newer production knives such as the Ontario RAT-7 (my current favorite) and the newer K-Bar short heavy Bowie (my 2nd current favorite) are better user knives.
 
This question is actually better suited for the traditiional forum.

However, I can comment some on this. As far as older solingen blades, most of the them were carbon steel, the stainless which began to be used in the early years was relatively junk. Usually too much chrome content and poor heat treat made them almost useless. Of course that's the way it was with many early stainless knives (no matter who made them). They were hard to sharpen and did not hold a good edge! But they were "shiny"!!! :eek:

The older carbon blades had a lower rockwell (of course there was no RC scale then in which to measure hardness), but they sharpened easily and worked well for their intended purposes.

Now things are much different though. The German carbon is mostly 1075, like other parts of europe (use). The stainless, much of it is 420, but there has been a move by some solingen manufacturers to go to 440B (and some using 44A and 440C also) in the last few years.
 
Thank you for your reply. Yes, I avoid any of the Solingen stainless, as I much prefer carbon steel. Have you noticed much difference in the carbon steels between manufacturers such as..PIC, Sbvoda, three arrows and such, or do you believe they pretty much used the same basic steels. I appreciate your information.
 
I've had a Solingen stag-handled integral boot knife for a while. The carbon steel blade takes a razor edge and holds it. It has a mirror polish, and is one of my prettier knives.

TheSurvivalist
 
This one was made by Alex Coppel of Solingen early to mid part of the 20th century. It was a WWII trophy from Europe. It has a carbon steel blade and is balanced nicely. Had it for about 40 years or so. The blade at at the guard is 3/8" thick pretty stout !!!

SSknife.jpg
 
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