What makes carbon steel better than stainless for a fixed blade/chopper ?

Wolverine666

Wolverine666

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A lot of fixed blades I've been checking out designed for bushcraft and chopper duty seem to have carbon steel blades like 1095 instead of stainless blades. But why exactly ? What makes a carbon steel blade the preferred steel over a stainless steel blade ?
 
1095 has it's qualities for edge retention and sharpening. Myself I don't like it as it tends to rust. There are a lot of lower cost fixed blades that use carbon steel but once the price gets to a higher range you find a lot of stainless, so I imagine cost has a lot to do with the use of 1095. With that, steels like 420hc and 440c can be had for reasonable cost.
 
Most of the 1095 bladed knives I've seen have some sort of coating. I guess rust prevention is the main reason ?
 
Generally, a carbon steel blade is "tougher" than a stainless one. 1095 is less brittle than say, s30v, so it will not chip as much when sudden force is applied, like chopping.

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1095 carbon steel is softer than most stainless steels which makes it tougher. It can take a beating better and has more flex. The edge wont roll as easy or chip as easy as stainless.
 
The above posters are correct, in general, most carbon or tool steels are tougher and cheaper than most stainless steels. I have seen a few D2 choppers (Kershaw) which is right on the border between stainless and tool steel (considered a semi-stainless). But, in general, most are willing to sacrifice rust resistance for toughness in larger knives.
 
Gotcha. And a coated 1095 carbon steel blade should do fine against rust seeing that it's coated , correct ?
 
115Italian == well I have an Italian made kukri of 440B ,very appropriate for that purpose !! Some of the myths are from tha early days of stainless when they hadn't developed good blade steels from stainless. From the vast number of both stainless and carbon steel available today it's amater of some study to find the best one.
 
The Blade is coated but not the edge. The sharpened edge can form rust. But its easy to prevent. Clean and dry blade after after use. Store with a little oil on the blade. Say the the heck with it and bring on the rust and patina. It will be mostly surface anyway.
 
Wolverine666 said:
Gotcha. And a coated 1095 carbon steel blade should do fine against rust seeing that it's coated , correct ?
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The cutting edge isn't coated and if you're in a damp climate it can become dull overnight just sitting from the humidity in the air. Coating wears off so you have to keep touching that up. I wouldn't want to do any food processing with a coated knife myself.
 
One more thing. My grandfather was a butcher. Back then they only had carbon steel blades. He cursed the day they replaced his carbon steel with stainless. It drove him crazy trying to put a sharp edge on the stainless knives compared to the carbon steel he was using.
 
bt93 said:
The cutting edge isn't coated and if you're in a damp climate it can become dull overnight just sitting from the humidity in the air.
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It won't get dull overnight.
I have had carbon steel blades left wet overnight after the rain, in high humidity air (90%), and it did not get dull overnight.
Got a bit of rust, but it still cut things just fine.
 
bt93 said:
The cutting edge isn't coated and if you're in a damp climate it can become dull overnight just sitting from the humidity in the air. Coating wears off so you have to keep touching that up. I wouldn't want to do any food processing with a coated knife myself.
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The blade can actually become dull over night just from sitting in humid air ?
 
As it has been stated, it has a toughness associated with it. It also has an ease of sharpening that you might not get with certain stainless steels ( I prefer the properties of carbon steel, but people will always argue the miracles of modern stainless steels )
I think a blade should be uncoated because the handle , leather sheath, and blade should all age together and the patina allows it to do that.
IMHO patina is king and there's no reason we shouldn't be able to keep a carbon steel knife rust free in a caustic environment ( saltwater.. ect )
 
Tends to rust? Rust is ridiculously easy to prevent on a blade.

I have a bunch of 1095 in fixed and folders, I live on the coast and my blades show not one iota of rust.

Get dull just from sitting in humid air? Uhhh, no. And no again.

I'm a big fan of 1095 myself. Uncoated is fine by me... I know how to take care of a knife.
 
Wolverine666 said:
Haha ok good. I'm new to 1095 so I'm jus trying to get the lowdown since my newest knife has a coated 1095 blade.
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It'll be fine. :)
Any rust tends to be surface rust anyway, which can be easily removed.
A little oil every so often, and drying the blade when it gets wet is about all that is needed.
 
And the surface rust on the edge of coated 1095 will be removed by simply using the knife.
 
stabman said:
It won't get dull overnight.
I have had carbon steel blades left wet overnight after the rain, in high humidity air (90%), and it did not get dull overnight.
Got a bit of rust, but it still cut things just fine.
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I've had it happen, maybe my bad luck but the knife was a Case folder back in the 80's. For sure wherever the rust is on the edge, it won't be as sharp as it was before the rust.
 
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