What happened to good 'ole carbon steel?

R

red96ta

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Jun 15, 2008
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When I was a kid in the '70's...my dad always had one of two knives, a Buck and a Schrade Old Timer. My first knife was the Old Timer Minuteman with a carbon steel blade that was so sharp you would cut your eyeball if you looked at it funny. I remember cutting open a bag of sulfer to spread on the field and having the blade instantly oxidize from the sulfer....

I've been to some sites looking for some Old Timer's and noticed that they are all made with stainless these days:grumpy:

What happened to all the good knives made from carbon steel? Not to mention that it seems like Schrade as a company seems to have faded into obscurity...
 
Schrade has collapsed and are now under Chinese management. Their current blades are generally considered terrible.

Good, high-quality blades made in the US or Europe can still be found from Case (in 420HC stainless and 50100 "Chrome Vanadium" carbon), Buck (420HC), Schatt & Morgan (ATS34), Boker (1095, 440C), and Queen (D2 and 1095).

And remember, these are no longer the days when stainless didn't hold an edge and broke if you looked at it funny. Well heat-treated stainless is every bit as good as carbon, if not better. Don't buy exclusively into the latest stainless supersteel fad, but also don't hold a dogmatic grudge against stainless either. Try everything.
 
Carbon steel is still avaliable by makers such as Case, Boker, Moore Maker, ect. The reason Schrade both faded into nothing and uses only stainless is the same...they sold the company to Taylor Cutlery (S&W knives) and he imports them from China, they are no longer made in the U.S.A. They are no where near the same quality they used to be yet they are the same price or more expensive.
 
Many knives are still made from carbon steel, but most I know of are fixed blades.

Schrade went out of business a few years ago and was bought by Taylor Cutlery and now made overseas. Camillus also recently went under.

Most people who use knives don't want to bother with cleaning them, so stainless is more popular.

I just went to an online knife store and ran a search for "carbon" and "folder" and came up with knives from Boker, Opinel, Case, and Queen.
 
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Not to mention that it seems like Schrade as a company seems to have faded into obscurity...
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The Imperial-Schrade company went bankrupt and was dissolved in 2004. Even so, many/most of their Old Timer models had transitioned to stainless by then. The "Schrade" and "Old Timer" brand names now belong to Taylor Brands, who have the knives contract made for them.

What happened to all the good knives made from carbon steel?
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Selection is certainly limited, but many companies still make carbon steel knives. KaBar, Case, Boker, Mora, etc. And check out the new Great Eastern Cutlery - their Tidioute brand knives are all carbon steel.
 
Cumberlandknifeworks has some Queen and Shatt + Morgan pocketknives with plain 1095 carbon steel blades.
 
I still use 1095 quite a bit in my custom folder. In fact I try to whenever I can. Love the steel. I'm preparing to make a mild hawkbill Wharny model here soon using that plain carbon steel.

STR
 
Ontario brands (Queen, Spec Plus, S&M, Old Hickory, etc), RAT & TOPS (use the same manufacturer), Bear (makes MooreMaker), SK-5 & 1055 Cold Steel, 1085 Browning Competition Cutter, 1050 CRKT Sting, 1075 Douk Douks, some others

there's also ample tool steel, O1, 50100B, 52100, A2, W1 (hah, that's practically just 1095 :))
 
I know a few high-end chefs who swear by carbon steel knives in the kitchen, as a few swipes with a steel sharpens them right up and you don't usually have time to pull out the Sharpmaker in the middle of dinner shift.

That being said my own experience with 154CM, D2, A2 and other "new" steels is that their sharpness, hardness and edge retention are superior for applications where you'll have the time to sharpen between uses, e.g. pretty much anything besides cooking and surgery.
 
STR said:
I still use 1095 quite a bit in my custom folder. In fact I try to whenever I can. Love the steel. I'm preparing to make a mild hawkbill Wharny model here soon using that plain carbon steel.

STR
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keep us posted! :thumbup:
 
carbon steel has never left the world it has just been added in with chromuim finding a knife with no chromium and normal amounts of carbon would truly be a feet
 
STR said:
I still use 1095 quite a bit in my custom folder. In fact I try to whenever I can. Love the steel. I'm preparing to make a mild hawkbill Wharny model here soon using that plain carbon steel.

STR
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1095 rocks. And this is the S30V fan saying that.

Awesome steel, sharpens up easily and razor sharp, extremely durable, just requires a little more care than stainless.

Not to flip-flop, but for the OP looking for carbon steel properties--Have you tried out AUS 8? Sure, it's Stainless, but as far as I can tell it has some of properties that make 1095 a great using steel.
 
I'm a big fan of carbon steel.
In fact, just about all the knives I've bought recently have been carbon steel, and I'm really glad to see
increasing availability of it in slipjoints especially.

Just got in a 1095 knife today, a Great Eastern Tidioute #23 with African Wenge wood scales.

Bit too late at night for pics right now, but it's a beauty...
 
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JJ20198 said:
carbon steel has never left the world it has just been added in with chromuim finding a knife with no chromium and normal amounts of carbon would truly be a feet
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En Anglais s'il vous plait.
 
The average person doesn't maintain their knives.

Look at how the average person treats their kitchen knives, for example.

Without maintenance, carbon steel rusts, and with maintenance, patinas.

Rust and pitting are ugly, and appear unsanitary. The uninitiated have similar views of the patina.

Also, carbon steel knives can potentially transfer a metallic smell and taste to foods, or perhaps even discolor certain foods.

Also, it doesn't matter if a knife holds an excellent and easily obtained edge if one doesn't have the slightest interest, skill, and ability in sharpening it.

So, it basically comes down to this:
Does the average person want to use that gross, dull, rusty knife that makes the food taste, smell, and look funny, or is it easier to just chuck it and get some new sharp stainless steel knives from Walmart?
 
hardheart said:
Ontario brands (Queen, Spec Plus, S&M, Old Hickory, etc), RAT & TOPS (use the same manufacturer), Bear (makes MooreMaker), SK-5 & 1055 Cold Steel, 1085 Browning Competition Cutter, 1050 CRKT Sting, 1075 Douk Douks, some others

there's also ample tool steel, O1, 50100B, 52100, A2, W1 (hah, that's practically just 1095 :))
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Some others

Slippies:
Boker
Henkels
GEC

Fixed:
Kabar
 
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