whats the deal with carbon steel?

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Messages
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Seems likealot of the blades that are popular among the oudoor community are made of carbon steel...or tool steel....It may seem naieve of me but isn't corrosion asn issue....Is there a way to treat or preserve these steels?? what makes 'em so popular? Thanks.
 
I choose carbon steel basicly because it's easier to sharpen in the field. But also I think it takes a better edge. As far as treatment goes just keep them dry and your fine. Oil them with a damp cloth when you put them away and again your good to go.
 
The only knives I have that show rust are stainless knives that I didn't worry about because they were stainless. Just a little care and carbon steel won't rust, it may take on a patina that works to prevent rust. Some of us do things like parkerize blades that see a lot of outdoor use (my old Randall 14) so that rust is less of a concern. Easier than parkerizing is adding a patina by wrapping the blade in a vinegar soaked paper towel. Stainless is good for many applications, but I prefer carbon for blades than need more toughness. Nowdays I keep my stainless blades clean and dry too.
 
ras said:
The only knives I have that show rust are stainless knives that I didn't worry about because they were stainless. Just a little care and carbon steel won't rust, it may take on a patina that works to prevent rust. Some of us do things like parkerize blades that see a lot of outdoor use (my old Randall 14) so that rust is less of a concern. Easier than parkerizing is adding a patina by wrapping the blade in a vinegar soaked paper towel. Stainless is good for many applications, but I prefer carbon for blades than need more toughness. Nowdays I keep my stainless blades clean and dry too.
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How long do I need to keep the paper towel on the blade? How do I do this? I want to patina a few blades but I am a bit worried I'll muck it up. :confused:
 
Feel free to experiment - a patina is easily removed with a bit of steel wool.

There's a lot of ways to create a patina - a search of the traditional or maintenance forums here will yield a number of threads that report different techniques.
 
The buzz is because carbon steel is infinitely better. (IMHO) Stainless steel is soulless and dead. It doesn't hold an edge as well, its harder to sharpen, and to heat treat it (mostly) you've got to send it off to a lab.

Carbon steel is the way to go for knives IMO. I can count my stainless knives on one hand. And they get used VERY rarely. Just saying.
 
What are yall talking about???? They actually make knives out of something besides 1095???:D :D

I pretty much only use carbon steel and have no problems at all, once your knives develope a nice deep patina there is not much worry of rust, with minimal care. I do have a couple of knives made from ATS-34 but if I could get the same knives in carbon I would rather have it. IMO carbon steel is easier to get sharp and I mean hair popping sharp, is easier to maintain the edge. The only trade off is it doesn't hold an edge as long but if you never let it get very dull in the first place that is no problem. I EDCed a BM AFCK for a long time but have went back to a Queen in 1095 and I am not looking back at all. Chris
 
Your great-grandma's kitchen knives were all carbon steel. Good stainless steel is fairly new. Carbon steel is easier to sharper and will hold an edge better than most stainless steel. Carbon steel can rust. I had a Cold Steel Carbon V knife in a leather sheath and it got wet on a hike. There was rust on the blade when I got home. A little steel wool and it was good-to-go.

I can finally get a good edge on 154CM with a diamond plate. My stones don't work because the steel is so hard.
 
I don't understand why people worry so much about corrosion. It won't destroy your blade. Don't panic when you see patina, rusting, or even pitting on your blade. It will make it look "ugly" to some but if it's a user blade, it's got to loose it's new shine anyway. Just clean it off, oil it and your blade is good to go.
 
Brother Aproy speaks to the Congregation of what he declares to be the lack of soul caused by too much Chromium in the "blood" of the steel.

I have carefully considered the writings of St. Sal, St. Jerry, St. Michael, and, above all, St. Mora.

I commend these thoughts to your hearts. Brothers and sisters, do not cast out the stainless from our midst over a couple of points of chromium. If D2 is without sin, while being hard to shape to The Work, can 12C27 be soulless, dead, and wholly beyond salvation? Do not deny stainless the communion of the edgy.
 
runningboar said:
What are yall talking about???? They actually make knives out of something besides 1095???:D :D
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that was a good one...:D :thumbup:

i too prefer carbon steel over stainless.... they are much easier to sharpen in the field.....i have never had much of a problem with rust, as long as you clean your knives after useing them i think you should be good....

one of the only things that bugs me about carbon, is that it doesn't throw as good of sparks, from a firesteel, as stainless does.......
 
Thomas Linton said:
Brother Aproy speaks to the Congregation of what he declares to be the lack of soul caused by too much Chromium in the "blood" of the steel.

I have carefully considered the writings of St. Sal, St. Jerry, St. Michael, and, above all, St. Mora.

I commend these thoughts to your hearts. Brothers and sisters, do not cast out the stainless from our midst over a couple of points of chromium. If D2 is without sin, while being hard to shape to The Work, can 12C27 be soulless, dead, and wholly beyond salvation? Do not deny stainless the communion of the edgy.
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Thus Spake Saint Thomas of Kopis:thumbup: :D
 
Thomas Linton said:
Brother Aproy speaks to the Congregation of what he declares to be the lack of soul caused by too much Chromium in the "blood" of the steel.

I have carefully considered the writings of St. Sal, St. Jerry, St. Michael, and, above all, St. Mora.

I commend these thoughts to your hearts. Brothers and sisters, do not cast out the stainless from our midst over a couple of points of chromium. If D2 is without sin, while being hard to shape to The Work, can 12C27 be soulless, dead, and wholly beyond salvation? Do not deny stainless the communion of the edgy.
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That was fantastic Brother Thomas;) :thumbup:

I too use/carry carbon steel blades over SS the majority of the time. I have had very good luck with 12C27 and Fallkniven's VG-10. I have room in my "soul" for both when needed;)
 
Thomas Linton said:
Brother Aproy speaks to the Congregation of what he declares to be the lack of soul caused by too much Chromium in the "blood" of the steel.

I have carefully considered the writings of St. Sal, St. Jerry, St. Michael, and, above all, St. Mora.

I commend these thoughts to your hearts. Brothers and sisters, do not cast out the stainless from our midst over a couple of points of chromium. If D2 is without sin, while being hard to shape to The Work, can 12C27 be soulless, dead, and wholly beyond salvation? Do not deny stainless the communion of the edgy.
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Too good Brother Thomas!! Too good. Thank you for the belly laugh. :p

I do respect the 12C27, and I love my Fallkniven F1. But I edc carbon steel. Recently I was learned up that 12C27 is not one of the "good" SS's. I was suprised. Most of what BRKT does I like, and my Laguioles are all 12C27. They seem to hold an edge real good. Not as good as my Douk Douk though. Oh DD, how do I love thee???
 
IMO stainless is good for knives you display they look good polished. carbon are the workers and users one you pamper the other you give little thought to but both have pros and cons over the other.

For myself I have more display knives than working knives and I like for those to shine and really stand out.
 
mike, in my experience stainless throws very little sparks and carbon is much better for striking.
 
minipyro23 said:
mike, in my experience stainless throws very little sparks and carbon is much better for striking.
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We've been down this road before. Any hard, sharp edge will "strike" sparks off a "fire steel" ("firesteel, ferrocerrium). If you can't get sparks, try sharpening the edge or moving to a sharped-edged tool. I have used rock and glass as well as carbon steel and stainless steel knives. My current favorite (like brother Skunk IIRC) is a piece of hacksaw blade.

Brother Aproy, as you doubtless know bein' a knifenut, 12C27 has been used for decades in knives made in Sweden, Norway, and Finland -- more recently by Bark River. The same or close was used for Jerry Hossum's 2006 Italian-made folder (Retribution I and II), and it does just fine. A guy named Moran had a hard time keeping up with orders and bought some Hackman-made knives in 12C27 to edge, get up in a Moran sheath, and sell to his demanding customers -- who where quite satisfied. So if it ain't "good," it seems to pass for good on a functional level.
 
according to the story book, carbon steel is easier to sharpen, holds an edge longer, and is tougher.

My input is to try it all yourself. You may be surprised. I recently did a side by side comparison with one of my Mora Tri-Flexx blades and one of my Moras in 12C27. After both knives cutting the exact same materials, the exact same number of times I was very surprised to learn that that 12C27 had held it's edge BETTER than the Tri-Flexx. I believe it took an extra two to four hits on my crock stick to bring the stainless edge back though....

On a different note, I have a 1095 carbon steel Puukko that laughs and kicks sand in the face of even my finest S30V knives. in all, I'm becoming much less of a steel geek these days and much more of a pragmatist.


As a sidenote, I've kinda started thinking that 12C27 isn't an undesirable steel, but merely an older one that's been eclipsed by all the newer ones. AUS6,AUS8,420HC,440-C,ATS34/154CM,VG-10,ATS-55,440V,S30V,ZDP-189, etc. I don't know that there's much in the way of Stainless steels that has the proven track record of 12C27 when it comes right down to it.
 
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