VG-10 Vs Carbon V

VG-10, because you can only get carbon V from Cold Steel
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But seriously, probably the VG-10, because I think, compared to carbon v, you can get 90%+ (gut feel) of the performance, plus stain resistance without a coating.

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It just a ****ing staple!!
Guess who...
St. Mary's County, Republik of Marilundt
 
One thing that's bugged my about Carbon V. A bunch of years ago my buddy and I both bought SRKs. We tried them both out of the box, both were razor sharp. Neither of us actually used our knives that year. The following year he calls me and asks why I let him buy a butterknife-dull knife. I tell him he's crazy, that SRK is razor sharp. So I go get mine, and it's dull too. The edge just micro-rusted away in storage. There was no other physical sign of rust, no orange patches anywhere on the edge, but the edge was just gone. I'm pretty sure I had at least Flitz'ed the edge before putting the knife away (my buddy likely put nothing on the edge).

VG-10 performs nicely for a stainless steel, though it doesn't seem quite up to Carbon V, which is to be expected. But VG-10 is stainless without a coating, as rockspyder points out, and does perform nicely. More importantly, I know when I take my VG-10 knife out, it will be just as sharp as when I put it away, whereas the Carbon V knife might be much duller. That may not bother you at all if you're using it for planned camping trips, where a couple days beforehand you might pull the knife out, check it, and re-sharpen. But if your usage is sporadic and you just suddenly need your knife right now, being able to rely on it still being sharp is nice.

On thing about rusting though, is that it's fickle. Some people have terrible rusting problems with Carbon V. I have not seen any rusting problems, but have had the edge micro-rust away on me. Others have not seen even that. Maybe it depends on the humidity in your area, etc. Tuff Cloth did not exist back then, or at least I didn't know about it; perhaps that would completely take care of the edge problem I saw.

I guess I really didn't answer the question directly, which do I prefer. That's because, as usual, there's no definitive answer. I don't always prefer one steel over the other. I prefer Carbon V when it works better for me, and I prefer VG-10 when it works better for me. I've outlined what I think are the positives and negatives, everything else is situation-dependent.

Joe
jat@cup.hp.com

[This message has been edited by Joe Talmadge (edited 08 December 1999).]
 
So Joe, I'd be interested to know if you tried just stropping or steeling your micro-rusted edge and what the results were like. I would think you might get an interesting microserration effect with uneven corrosion of different alloy components.
 
you always give the most thorough (sp?) reviews and thoughts. Nice job Joe.

 
Jeff: At the time, I didn't think to try stropping or steeling it, unfortunately. If it happens again, I'll give that a go.

tuff: thanks!

Joe
 
Joe, I find your post very interesting as I had a similar experience and thought I was losing my mind. My carbon V Trailmaster not only went dull, but a medium "chip" formed at one section of the blade. The knife was extremely sharp when I purchased it in '93. I stored the knife in my safe in its sheath (I know not good, but it was the nylon sheath) after applying a liberal coating of RIG protective grease. Over the next couple of years I often took it out of the safe and inspected for any signs of rust or pitting - there were none. I never cut or used the knife at all and always refreshed the grease on the blade before returning to the safe. I use a dessicant in the safe also. Well after finding blade forums and reading some of the reviews I decided I was crazy for not using it on my frequent camping and hunting trips. Out of the safe it came and for the first time in years I checked the edge - it was DULL and had a chip in the blade. I couldn't believe it and never understood how it could have happened until this post. The carbon V did sharpen up very nicely using an Apex Edge Pro system and I am no longer storing it in the sheath. Now that I am a little more "in touch" with the edge on my knife I will keep a closer eye on this, thank you for sharing your experience.
 
Wow, I wasn't aware Carbon V did that.

So, in say 200 yrs, it'll disintergrate? lol
 
The dulling I understand. The chip is downright bizarre
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Any non-stainless steel can micro-rust its edge away on you. My suspicion is that a coating of tuff-cloth would prevent this completely, but I don't know. This also happens in use. In the Razor Edge Book of Sharpening, Juranitch claims that stainless steels keep their edge longer than non-stainless steels, based on some meat-cutting tests he did. A lot of us have been speculating that in high-acid tests, carbon steels do micro-rust away quickly. That's why Juranitch might see better edge holding from stainless steels in a butcher shop, and someone might see better edge holding from stainless steels in the kitchen. But those of us using knives doing woodwork might see much edge holding from carbon steel.

Joe
 
Yea it is bizarre. I am wondering if the edge might have made slight contact with sheath at the point the chip formed. I think there is leather inside the sheath along this edge. Maybe the grease was getting removed somewhat... One thing for sure - I won't leave it in the sheath for 5 years again! I even wondered if maybe I was not using the Dri-Z-Air dessicant correctly, as I don't like the idea of a bowl of corrosive liquid at the bottom of the safe. I have never noticed a problem with any of the other knives in there or the guns for that matter. My AUS8 Tanto has been in there longer than the Trailmaster and is as sharp as the day I bought it. Anyone else use any Dri-Z-Air products?
 
Steel gage blocks are typically 52100 and are commonly available in different grades with calibration down to millionths of an inch, for instance each block noted as +6 millionths, -3 millionths, and so forth. With reasonable care the blocks will last for decades, depending upon wear and tear. If the blocks aren't properly cleaned and oiled prior to storage they will rust or corrode and may need to be replaced if they can't be reworked.

I don't think that anyone will say that your knives didn't get dull with storage, but some of my carbon steel single edge razors, X-Acto blades and such in my tool box are well over ten years old and seem to be just fine.
 
Something that may be getting overlooked in some of the steel vs steel questions is that even if one steel is tougher than another one can often just use a thicker blade or such to offset the difference. As far as edge holding goes differences in grind and hardness obviously can also make a big difference, and even if one steel doesn't hold up quite as well as another all it means is that one may need to take a minute and often less to touch up an edge, or seconds if one is using a steel or ceramic stick as one is cutting. What is harder to make up for is a large price difference, especially when one knife costs about half as much as another but is tougher and has better edge holding too.
 
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