Thoughts on Mora Steel

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harlycarly

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Been thinking about getting a Mora Bushcraft. Normally I'd go with the black coated carbon steel, but I'm wondering what others think about this one compared to the same knife in Orange with a Sandvik blade. Yeah, I know I can buy both, and just might ended up doing that. Just wondering what your experience has been? Do you favor one over the other?

Thoughts? Opinions? Likes and Dislikes?
 
In my experience, when it comes to budget knives the carbon version tends to be better than the stainless one. I guess because simple good quality carbon steels are more affordable than good quality stainless steels.

I've got a dozen or so Moras, the first ones I bought were stainless and work just fine, then I got some carbon steel ones and found them to be better. Edge holding is better.

I haven't tried any of the coated blades, though.
 
I'm pretty happy with their stainless. It sharpens up nice and holds a decent edge.
 
I personally find edge retention to be better with the stainless (by just a little) but the carbon touches up faster because it's less wear-resistant.
 
I micro-bevel both my SS and CS Moras, and with that I find the edge-holding to be comparable between the two.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I personally find edge retention to be better with the stainless (by just a little) but the carbon touches up faster because it's less wear-resistant.
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Hmmm, one advantage of carbon to me is that it responds to steeling for touching up like a kitchen knife since it's tougher and more malleable.

Now you have me wondering about Sandvik which I have come to prefer in an Opinel anyway. Thoughts?
 
The Sandvik 12C27 that Mora uses is also what they use in their culinary line, which responds to steeling. If you can get a file to bite on a knife a steel will work on it. If you can get a file to bit but a steel won't then the steel is of poor quality.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The Sandvik 12C27 that Mora uses is also what they use in their culinary line, which responds to steeling. If you can get a file to bite on a knife a steel will work on it. If you can get a file to bit but a steel won't then the steel is of poor quality.
Click to expand...

Hum, nice little rule. Thanks.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The Sandvik 12C27 that Mora uses is also what they use in their culinary line, which responds to steeling. If you can get a file to bite on a knife a steel will work on it. If you can get a file to bit but a steel won't then the steel is of poor quality.
Click to expand...
'

This is for a common metal file?

My experience is similar with the Mora stainless/carbon metals. One advantage I've seen to the carbon steel is I get slightly better results with the carbon blades off of a ferro rod. I think the carbon is 1-2 points higher RHc.
 
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I'm also looking at Moras, so this is relevant to my interests.

Mora uses 12c27 and an unlisted carbon steel - what is the carbon steel?

Anyway, from Mora's own website:

Stainless steel
  • Knife blades are made of hardenable stainless steel- Sandvik 12C27 (hardened to HRC 56-58), producing knives with extreme strength, long life as well as having high resistance to moisture without rusting. Stainless steel stays sharp much longer than carbon steel and is far less sensitive to rust.
Carbon steel
  • Knife blades of high carbon steel can be hardened to HRC 58-60 giving best possible sharpness to lowest price. Knives made from above mentioned steel grades will after some use achieve a dullish grey finish. However, this will not negatively affect the quality of the blade. On the contrary it will somewhat improve the resistance to corrosion. Carbon steel is easy to sharpen, but requires more maintenance when exposed to moist or corrosive environment. Keep the blade clean and dry. Common fruit acids leave for example immediately spots on the blade.

That seems to pretty much echo what has been said here. Carbon is easier to sharpen but will have to be maintained more often.
 
The carbon steel is a European equivalent of 1095.

In terms of the sort of files I was referring to, yes a standard metal file (of known quality--like USA-made Nicholsons, Grobet, Pferd, or Simonds) would be the sort used to gauge it. Dull or cheap Chinese no-name files will be just as bad as a low quality steel. A steel is basically the same thing as a file, but with the teeth wrapped around the rod like a gear instead of like a pinecone--it cuts with lateral strokes instead of pushing ones. The finer the cut of the teeth, the finer the edge produced and the less metal abraded during the process. A completely smooth uncut steel is also known as a slick, and are the only steels that do not have some degree of filing capacity, but are mirror polished and still hardened like a file is to prevent marring of their surface.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The carbon steel is a European equivalent of 1095.

In terms of the sort of files I was referring to, yes a standard metal file (of known quality--like USA-made Nicholsons, Grobet, Pferd, or Simonds) would be the sort used to gauge it. Dull or cheap Chinese no-name files will be just as bad as a low quality steel. A steel is basically the same thing as a file, but with the teeth wrapped around the rod like a gear instead of like a pinecone--it cuts with lateral strokes instead of pushing ones. The finer the cut of the teeth, the finer the edge produced and the less metal abraded during the process. A completely smooth uncut steel is also known as a slick, and are the only steels that do not have some degree of filing capacity, but are mirror polished and still hardened like a file is to prevent marring of their surface.
Click to expand...

I use smooth carbide rods from broken tooling at work as a steel sometimes too. If I screw up and they go along the blade not at the edge it will scratch it so smooth cuts to an extent too. Just from that one point of the rod hitting the metal I guess, I dunno.

But a steel's biggest use is to re-align the edge right? This is where I really have no clue at all but I *assumed* that some of the super stainlesses didn't steel well because they were too brittle to re-align that microscopic edge and had to be stropped instead.

I use a lot of carbon steel knives and am not that well versed on some of the stainlesseses(es). (I got a spelling error on stainlesses, but it shows as a scrabble word on scrabblefinder.com)

I know to check to see if a metal is hardened and machinable or not there is the "dull file test". See if a file on the dull side skates or bites. It makes sense that you could see if it was malleable enough to steel with a sharper file.
 
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