whats the deal with carbon steel?

I'm not the church-going type. But that doesn't mean I don't do my share of worshiping in my own way. That said, I do prefer the carbon steels primarily for the ease of maintaining an edge in the field. However, I do have a number of SS knives, too, but mostly in folder form, and those don't get used all too often, except for the Leatherman tools.

The SS knives I use the most are of the Mora 12C27 variety. I must say that I have never had a problem scuffing any of these piece up to a decent edge. I do not place my sharpened knives under an electron microscope or anything like that. When they feel sharp, I say they're sharp, and that's it.

But they'll all knives, and they're my knives, so I love them all equally regardless of the steel they are born from. Except my first gen SOG Pentagon Elite. That one I do not love so much, and often wonder why I ever acquired it. Nevertheless, it is part of my knife family.

If I see a knife that looks like it makes sense for me, I will usually buy it (bank account/wife allowing) regardless of what steel. Well, I shouldn't say that... As long as the knife is made out of a decent steel. I tend to shy away from 420-whatevers and anything stamped "Surgical Stainless" or "Stainless China."
 
What about laminated SS, like what Fallkniven use? Does that come close to the best of both worlds?

Will
 
Will said:
What about laminated SS, like what Fallkniven use? Does that come close to the best of both worlds?

Will
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Laminated from two types of stainless, yea verily, it crosseth over not into the world of carbonness, but neither doeth it stray from the path of quality.
 
The Fallkniven F1 is so well designed that it'll burn itself into your edc rotation whether you like SS or not. Great Stuff.

Thanks for the lesson on 12C27 Thom. And that first post, man, I shot coke out of my nose.
 
i have just returned from a bladed pilgrimage to the City of Brotherly Love.
EDC'd both Carbon Steel (Becker Necker with new OD kydex sheath) and SS folder (oldschool Gerber Lockback).

[Congregation Please rise]

CAN I GET AN AMEN FROM THE CONGREGATION FOR EDC-ing a Carbon Steel NECKER on AMTRAK, yay, roundtrip, in my Zippered Sleeve Pocket???? :eek:
(Congregation answers with: "AMEN")

I said, CAN I GET ....... AN AMEN? ;)
(Congregation answers with: "AMEN!!!")

[You may be seated]

The heathen StainlessSteel Lockback's blade may lack a righteous Soul, but should not be condmened to Hell for it's sins. The Tinman had no heart, yet, he was shown compassion?
We must forgive Stainless Steel,
(Congregation answers with: "of high grade")
and deliver it from evil, for it's cause is a noble one, yay, it may fall short at times. :o
(Congregation answers with: "if it's cheap chit")

In the Church of Skunk, there is room, yay, but a wee bit o room, for Stainless,
(Congregation answers with: "of high grade")
to rest within a Vic SAK, yay, even a Wenger, and as well, in any quality Folder or upon a Mora or Falkniven, if of high quality Stainless Steel.
(Congregation answers again with: "of high grade")

[Please rise]

Have we come here to bury Stainless Steel??
(Congregation answers with: "NO")
To cast tarnish on it's lustrous finish?
(Congregation answers with: "NO")
I submit not.
Just as the righteous show pity on the feeble, so to, must we show a measured respect for the Stainless infidel, yay, if it is indeed purposeful.
(Congregation answers with: "of High Grade!")

Can I get a Hallelujah from the Congragation for high quality Stainless??
(Congregation answers with: "Hallelujah")

[You may be seated]
 
You guys have found my cider stash haven't you?

I am going to check the garage fridge right now, believe me, I know how many pints were out there.:D
 
Runs With Scissors said:
I recently did a side by side comparison with one of my Mora Tri-Flexx blades and one of my Moras in 12C27.
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Runs With Scissors-

I'm hoping to make the same test soon. I have the knives. I don't have the time...yet. Anyway, I've read that the Triflex blades need to be sharpened a couple of times before you get to good steel. Was your's a newer blade, or has it gone through a few sharpenings?

Scott
 
runningboar said:
You guys have found my cider stash haven't you?
I am going to check the garage fridge right now, believe me, I know how many pints were out there.:D
Click to expand...

That's what happens when you make a Home Brewing thread ...next thing ya know, near-strangers are sippin your cider and takin some fer themselves. :D

Man, I am dead tired, up this morning at 0430, plowed snow off driveway, train to Philly, all day meeting, and back home.
I'm delirious, with or without that good cider. :yawn:

signing off early tonight. fer sher.
 
had the day off spent it searcing for a new .22 rifle nothing i liked time for a glass of jamesons and a little survivor man
 
Runs With Scissors said:
...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.
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That is about as sage and concise a wrap-up as we're likely to see. Steels of both type can be downright excellent when treated right. It's a trade-off, but doesn't necessarily have to be a sacrifice either way. Having said that, I'm with the majority, my small stable of work-horses is about 3:1, carbon over stainless.

Fiddleback said:
Thanks for the lesson on 12C27 Thom. And that first post, man, I shot coke out of my nose.
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You, sir, have your coke etiquette all wrong.
 
I also prefer carbon steels, mainly tool steels. My favorites are D2, A2 and O1. In a survival situation, I'd bet my life on a knife made with O1. IMO, O1 is one of the best carbon steels out there.
Scott
 
12C27 is my overall favorite knife steel. I have a couple of scandinavian customs that I use a lot, not to mention my Frost Mora Clippers ( I have a bunch). I have never been a a fan of carbon steel.

12C27 have great toughness/corrosion resistance/edge retention and sharpens easily.
 
Carbon steel is generally tougher than tool steel which is tougher than stainless. If you are really dependent on your blade not breaking the carbon steel is a better bet inch for inch. Carbon and simple tool steels (O1, W1, W2, A2, M2) will take and hold finer edges than stainless.

Blade corrosion is not generally a practical issue, but edge corrosion is. If you are cutting citrus or tomatoes you will loose a nonstainless edge pretty fast. If you can avoid edge corrosion the nonstainless may hold an edge longer. This is less certain. There are now lots of premium stainless alloys that hold an edge well.
 
i agree with everyone in that the carbon blades are easier to sharpen, hold a nice edge, and you can get them sharper in the end too. theyre a bit tougher in my opinion as well. rust was never an issue with mine. theyve always had some sort of coating on them so im good. I do also agree, that stainless is souless lol. Though, never discount that crap that moras and swiss army knives are made out of. that stuff is scalpel sharp, easy to sharpen, and some pretty dam nice steel overall. My stainless spyderco military is also a dam good blade. Im still a carbon man though.
 
I have no gripes with quality stainless or high carbon. Have knives in both, and they do great. I also find the fine-grained, thin stainless SAK blades excellent. Still undecided on the spyderco native s30v as it hasnt seen much real use yet. Got a couple old slippies with some type of carbon steel, and of course the 1095 ka-bar, which is a great all around large knife IMHO, if weight and appearence arent an issue.
 
What kind of steel is in a sak anyway? I find they hold an edge forever.
I am the proud owner of 3 soon to be 5 moras, and I am quite pleased with the stainless. I was hoping to get some carbon ones to practice making patinas but I think only 1 is, if that.
I prefer the carbon for anything over mora sized, and I am very content with my smaller stainless blades.
I do have a larger stainless grohman #4, never used it very much but it seemed like a good knife.
 
Liam Ryan said:
What kind of steel is in a sak anyway? I find they hold an edge forever.
I am the proud owner of 3 soon to be 5 moras, and I am quite pleased with the stainless. I was hoping to get some carbon ones to practice making patinas but I think only 1 is, if that.
I prefer the carbon for anything over mora sized, and I am very content with my smaller stainless blades.
I do have a larger stainless grohman #4, never used it very much but it seemed like a good knife.
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SAKs have quite modest edge-holding abilities. You should find the MORA's to do much better in that regard.
 
I can't seem to get over the stainless thing I'm just invoved in too many activities that involve moisture, humidity and salt water...I have 1 stainless mora clipper and 1 on the way I like them but as a purely aesthetic thing I hate the mirror polished blade....I really like my seal pup but haven't taken it for any extended woods time yet I'm concerned the edge might not hold up.
 
Rescue,
You are worrying too much, this country was won using cheap carbon steel knives with the edge holding ability of a plastic spork. The knives I use most of the time are a carbon steel becker and one of my Old Timers, to include a whole lot of time on the water, I have zero problem with rust with minimum up keep.

Buy a used Old Timer 152 use it and if you don't like it you can get your money back, no problem.

Carbon steel is so far above most stainless they can barely be compared. Chris
 
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