Traditional Knife Steel Preference and Quality

pinnah said:
In terms of the issue of country of origin as it relates to traditional knives, I prefer to buy knives from manufacturers in the same country or region that the pattern/style of knife is traditionally associated with. A Barlow should come from England or the US. A Puukko should come from Finland (or maybe Sweden, depending on how you think of it). A lock-back hunter, I associated with the US. When "traditional" objects are made in non-traditional countries, they are at best homages to the original which, occasionally can rise to level of art with their own tradition (rare, but possible, as in the case of the Barlow taken from England and redone in the US) and are, at worse a reduction of tradition to the level of trinket. This is how I think of Chinese made Schrades or Bucks, regardless of quality issues. I would think the same of US made mass produced Puukkos sold as imports in Finland. That would just be wrong in the sense of being a violation of the tradition. My 2 cents on that front.
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I feel the same way.

- Christian
 
black mamba said:
Pinnah, I haven't had my Vic inox for very long yet, but already it seems more like Buck's 420HC than Case's gummy Tru-Sharp.
Time will tell how good it is, but first impression is pretty good.
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Maybe they've changed their heat treatment. That would be nice. Published numbers I've been able to find put it in the 54-56Rc range. I believe Tru-Sharp is 56RC +/- and of course, both Buck's 420HC and Opinel's Sanvik 12C27 are in the 58Rc range.
 
pinnah said:
Maybe they've changed their heat treatment. That would be nice. Published numbers I've been able to find put it in the 54-56Rc range. I believe Tru-Sharp is 56RC +/- and of course, both Buck's 420HC and Opinel's Sanvik 12C27 are in the 58Rc range.
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This link was in a previous discussion of SAK steel.

"For both blades we use chrome molydenum stainless steel with 0.52% carbon, 15% chromium, 0.5% molydenum, 0.45% manganese and 0.6% silicium. After a sophisticated hardening process at 1040°C and an annealing temperature of 160°C the blades achieve a hardness of RC 56.

The woodsaw, scissors and nail files have a hardness of RC 53, the screwdriver, tin opener and awl a hardness of RC 52, and the corkscrew and springs RC 49.

The metal saw and file, in addition to the special case hardening, are also subjected to a hard chromium plating process so that iron and steel can also be filed und cut."

http://www.pizzini.at/info_sak_engl.htm#Steelinfo

Discussion:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...e-of-steel-does-victorinox-use-on-their-sak-s
 
Ah. Found the link I was thinking of. Range is 55-56Rc based on Victorinox's current web site.
http://www.victorinox.com/us/content/customerSupportVictorinoxSwissArmyKnives

About the same as Case SS. Frank's testing of Tru-Sharp here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/595750-Case-Tru-Sharp-vs-Case-CV

I've used Victorinox Inox (similar to Sanvik 12C27 hardened to 55-56) and Opinel's Sanvik hardened to 58Rc.
I've used Case's Tru-Sharp (reportedly 42oHC at 55-56) and Buck's 420HC at 58Rc.

With both steels, at the higher Rc of 58, I notice much better edge hold, less burring/wire edge when honing, less edge folding and just as easy sharpening (if not easier, due to less burring).
 
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