Steel: Good Slice Cutting, but decent for wood whittling too!

B

Buck268

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Nov 5, 2006
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What type of steel would you guys say would be amoung the top contenders for a blade that needs to slice cut quite well and still will take a good push cutting edge?
 
How about a 12C27 or a 12c27M in a knife made by Mora? It's dirt cheap too. Check it out at Ragweed forge.

It has good steel with a thin blade and a Scandi grind. Thats pretty much made for slicing and woodcutting.

//Jay
 
D2 could fit that bill. It's a semi-stainless, tool steel. I'd look at Queen Cutlery's lineup. Another good steel would be a regular carbon steel, such as 1084 or 1095.
 
Almost any commonly used steel will do. It's more a matter of geiometry and heat treat than steel composition. Just avoid the really low-end steels like AUS-4 or 420J2.

Like JayAndersson, my first thought was a Scandi. I like the Finnish puukko, of which Ragnar has several lines, but the Swedish Mora is an excellent pattern, and anything by Helle of Norway would do well, also.
 
I use Case CV or 1095 for wood carving, and sometimes D2. I have a small wood carving Mora I got for about $11 from Ragnar, and it's the best whittling knife I have. It's 1095 but is run a little harder than the American-made knives I have in the same steel.

Just as important as the steel is the finish you put on the edge. I've found a stropped, polished edge works best for me for wood carving, while a toothier edge works best for slicing. I'm not sure you can have one knife that's optimised for both kinds of cutting at the same time.
 
I think this is more of a sharpening question than a steel question. A 1000-1200 grit will produce such and edge.
 
I agree with db. There is a compromise beetween mirror polished edge for push cutting and toothy edge for slicing. This compromise depends of the stuff to cut and the way the knife is used. What is possible too is to polish the edge near the handle ( the part of the blade used to push cut) and get somes teeths on the other part of the blade for slicing tasks.

dantzk.
 
Buck268 said:
What type of steel would you guys say would be amoung the top contenders for a blade that needs to slice cut quite well and still will take a good push cutting edge?
Click to expand...

Are you getting a custom knife made or looking to pick a current production knife?

-Cliff
 
Wow, excellent suggestions. I did forget to mention I'm looking at EDC folders. Just can't decide which one I like, there are so many good ones out there (and this damned internet doesnt help, just shows me more and more that I like!).
 
I got a Queen Stockman with D2 to try some whittling. Then I thought I heard D2 had large carbides and won't take as fine of an edge as some other steels, like carbon steels (non-stainless), etc. I have a couple Case slipjoints with the CV steel coming that I'm excited to try.
 
If you are picking out folders then the first thing you need is to check the geometry. Unless you are willing to reshape the blade extensively yourself then this will have much more of an impact on the cutting ability of the blade than the steel. Look for a knife with thin stock, a high grind, and an acute edge. The A. G. Russell Deerhunter, Fallkniven U2, Spyderco Calypso Jr., etc. .

-Cliff
 
Yeah, but on the other hand, the knife must be able to take some abuse too. I got plenty of slip joints to use if I want to only whittle.
 
If you are talking about prying and general other heavier work then you will need a thicker spine, so knives like the Manix and similar. If you want to cut metals and thick bones they you will need to adjust the edge angle accordingly, usually just a small micro-bevel is enough aside from really heavy cutting at which point it starts to be come questionable if a folder is sensible.

-Cliff
 
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