What traditional knife brands use carbon steel?

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Sep 29, 2012
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Hello, I'm looking at purchasing my first traditional knife because I want to start a new hobby (whittling). After reading several threads the general consensus is carbon steel is the best because it takes a great edge and cleans up quickly/easily when whittling where a sharp blade is everything.

Problem is I have no idea which brands use carbon steel. Can bladeforums help me with this? From my reading I DO know GEC, Case CV (but what about all those old Case XX's I see?), and German Eye Brand all have carbon steel. I see a number of Schrade and Camillus but don't know what you would consider Schrade+.

A big part of my issue is even the brands that have carbon steel (for some reason) many of the blades or ads say stainless. Is there a way to tell by looking at photos? I see a number of Western brand, Tree brand, Rough Rider and Hen & Rooster popping up on ebay.

Also from my other reading it seems the best designs for whittling are a whittling knife or stockman (both 3 blade with different points), so those are the ones I am looking at. My first one will probably be a whittling though, it seems like a good idea to buy one that was designed for the purpose I want to use the knife primarily for.

Thank you in advance for any information!

(Updated as the thread progresses for future searchers)

Carbon Steel Brands/Knives
-----------------------------------
Case CV
German Eye Brand
GEC / Northfield / UN-X-LD

Stainless Steel Brands/Knives
-------------------------------------
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!!

Schrade + is stainless

Carbon Steel
============
Schrade USA
Boker Tree Brand
Hammer Brand
Bulldog
Fight'n Rooster
Camillus (older models)
Queen (D2)
Imperial
Kabar
Opinel

Stainless
===========
Case Tru-Sharp
Camillus (some models)
Schrade Uncle Henry
Schrade - Taylor Made
Queen - 440 and 420
GEC - 440c
Buck - 420
Opinel (Inox)
Victorinox

A quick list off the top of my head...

Ed J
 
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Most of the old Case XX knives were carbon steel, the same steel that they now call CV. I do a lot of whittling with an old Case 6308 split back, although the handle is a bit small for my hands. Schrade+ is stainless, although that gets pretty muddled with the new Taylor Schrade out there. There isn't any way that I know of to tell whether a particular blade is carbon or stainless just by looking at pictures.
 
Case did produce a lot of stainless knives from at least 1960s and forward. BUT, they are all easy to identify (marked either 'STAINLESS' or 'SS'; make sure to see the tang marks on all blades). The old Case carbon-bladed knives weren't stamped as 'CV' until maybe 1980s/90s, but simply with the pattern# alone (post-1949, when they started using the pattern stamps). Case knives prior to 1949 had no pattern stamp, and so far as I know, none were in stainless either.

Many or most German brands, if stainless, will be marked as such; either 'STAINLESS' or 'ROSTFREI' (think 'rust free'). On multi-blade folders, sometimes only secondary blades will be marked as such (don't know why, but I've noticed it occasionally).

The D2 used by Queen (and other brands made by Queen, like some Canal Street knives) is so very nearly stainless, though technically not. In terms of rust-resistance and patina, and in terms of how it sharpens up (like high-alloy stainless), I tend to view it as stainless anyway. Queen-branded knives in D2 will have 'PH-D2' stamped on the main blade tang (with the primary tang stamp), and sometimes will also be etched as 'TOOL STEEL' on the blades, with boxes labelled similarly. Other Queen blades in 420/440-series stainless will sometimes be etched (and boxes labelled) as 'QUEEN STEEL'. The 'QUEEN CITY' branded knives are all in carbon steel (1095), so far as I know.

I think most/all Camillus traditionals from at least 1990s and forward, and maybe going back to '70s/'80s as well, were stainless (440A). Lots of much older Camillus knives in carbon steel, however. Camillus also produced 440A stainless knives for Buck (300-series), until Buck assumed production of most of those models (420HC).


David
 
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Mora uses carbon steel in some models, but others are stainless. I was carving a boat out of a really old 1/2" x 1" piece of wood (probably cedar) and my Scrade Uncle Henry stockman, which is Scrade+ and it was still shaving sharp afterwards. Make sure you post pics of your knife and projects!

Cheers,
Connor
 
To add:
some Schrade USA used the "Schrade +" stainless (marked as such), and most USA Schrade Old Timers were 1095 carbon steel. Also, I had one newer German made Bulldog brand with I believe stainless blades.
 
Cognet (Thiers, France, maker of the Douk Douk)
Robert Herder (Solingen, Germany, maker of the Windmill knives with the Solinger thin grind)

Just to name two from those places. Both in Thiers and Solingen there are a number of makers who produce carbon steel pocket knives.
 
stevomiller said:
To add:
some Schrade USA used the "Schrade +" stainless (marked as such), and most USA Schrade Old Timers were 1095 carbon steel.
Click to expand...

The Schrade Old Timers can sure be troublesome sometimes to figure out. All of the current Taylor-China Old Timers are stainless. Most of the pre-2004 Old Timers were carbon steel (great stuff, btw). But... Many of the Limited Edition and special run Old Timers were stainless. Some standard Old Timer models were specifically designated as stainless, some Old Timer models transitioned over time, and some Old Timer knives have been reported with mix-and-match combinations of carbon and stainless blades. These stainless Old Timers may or may not be stamped with the Schrade+ mark.

I hope that's all clear now. ;)


Back to your original search for a carbon steel whittling knife, I suggest you look at Boker. Bought my niece a carbon steel whittler from Boker in Apaloosa bone this year, and as usual the fit-and-finish was excellent. Want to spend more money in exchange for something less common, Great Eastern has multiple whittler patterns and stockman-style knives that would make good whittling choices.

Good Luck deciding!
 
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