Woodcarving, does carbon steel outperform stainless?

R

Razorsharp244

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Feb 19, 2007
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I have heard from some carpenters that carbon steel seem to be much easier to carv wood with than stainless. They claimed that with the same sharpness, edge geometry etc. It's easier to carve wood with a carbon steel knife than a stainless one.

I came across this when I saw that all carpentry knives from Mora seems to be in carbon steel or laminated carbon steel. Not one model in this product-line is stainless.

Whats your impression guys? There are a lot of carbon steel supporters here so I guess here is the place to ask.

If you believe this to be true please try to explain why, if possible.
 
For me, it's not that carbon steel carves better than stainless if the sharpness, edge, etc... are all the same. The key for me is, when I whittle, I need my knife hair popping sharp. This means I sharpen my knife a LOT while I'm whittling. Carbon steel tends to be a lot easier to sharpen, and tends to take a keener edge with less work. So for me, carbon steel is the way to go.

You'll get a lot more answers over in Traditional Fixed Blade and Folders in the General area.
 
I've done some wood carving and all the top tools are carbon steel. For good clean details and easy carving, the tools need to be *sharp*; otherwise you just end up tearing the wood fibers rather than getting a clean cut.
 
I dont know, I know my BK7 has taken a beating, weather or not it would have held up in stainless I dont know, but I know I haven't had problems with stainless. As to actuall woodcarving tools I have little experience with them.
 
A lot of the whittlers I know REALLY like the CV steel that Case uses on a few of their knives. This stuff takes a laser edge very easily.

Here's the writeup from Case:
"Chrome Vanadium (CV) – a special formula of alloyed cutlery steel known for its ease of re-sharpening. A quick touch-up will bring back a chrome vanadium blade’s original sharp edge. (Extra care is needed with CV. Keep a thin film of oil on the blade to maintain the finish of the steel.)"
 
Too easy to generalize !! There are many carbon steels and many stainless steels. For a fine non-stainless A-2 would be a good choice [Hock makes high end hand plane blades of this ]. For stainless I think a CPM154 would work very well. Sharpening is not the problem it used to be with some excellent ceramic and diamond stones available.
 
I can get a hair popping edge on stainless and carbon steels. the problem with some stainless, like S-30V, need a sharpermaker to re-sharpen well. Carbon steels sharpen up much easier and tend to be my choice for the field.
 
Actually "professionnal" chisels for carving are generally very hard (over 60HRC) because hardness is important for edge holding but it is also important for sharpness since high hardness prevents thin edge from rolling (shocks are another problem).

Carbon steel generally gets harder at sufficient toughness. Many "Top tools" are made of high-speed steel which can get very hard without being too brittle.

Other reason as already mentionned is that carbon steel is generally easier to sharpen, and woodworking tools need to be kept sharp constantly.

Maybe ZDP189 would be a good steel for chisel but it is probably too complicated to sharpen and/or too brittle. Plus there are probably better alternatives at comparable price.
 
Ravaillac said:
Actually "professionnal" chisels for carving are generally very hard (over 60HRC) because hardness is important for edge holding but it is also important for sharpness since high hardness prevents thin edge from rolling (shocks are another problem).

Carbon steel generally gets harder at sufficient toughness. Many "Top tools" are made of high-speed steel which can get very hard without being too brittle.

Other reason as already mentionned is that carbon steel is generally easier to sharpen, and woodworking tools need to be kept sharp constantly.

Maybe ZDP189 would be a good steel for chisel but it is probably too complicated to sharpen and/or too brittle. Plus there are probably better alternatives at comparable price.
Click to expand...

I've also heard that it will rust if you breath on it.
 
I actually asked a guy from Mora of Sweden about this and he claimed that, "in the world of carpenters" carbon steel works better even if the sharpness are the same.

He had some theories about the surface friction of the chromium layer being higher than that of the carbon steel. My gut feeling tells me that the patina would decrease friction even more and maybe make the difference bigger.

I have no opinion of this matter since all my knives are stainless except my CS Master Hunter and that cant carve or whitt wood anyway because of my obtuse edge angle (not at all steel dependent).

But I found the reasoning interesting, if it's true.
 
I just got into woodcarving this past year, and I ordered two knives from Ragweed Forge: the 120 and 122, both come with basic plastic sheaths, both are rated 60-61 on the Rockwell C scale of hardness. Scary sharp carbon blades. I judge a blade's sharpness for woodcarving by how well it can shave across the end-grain of a pine board, not by slicing paper. These two blades do it excellently, but so does my SAK Tinker when it's been sharpened properly.
 
All of my wood carving chisels are carbon steel, and seem pretty hard. Carbon steel sharpens more easily than alloyed/stainless steel, in general, although S30V comes pretty close to carbon IMHO, at least on diamond hones. That being said, Case's CV is the same as Carbon V/50100, I believe, an excellent high carbon steel. A2 also takes a wicked edge for carving, and quite a few on this forum praise their D2 stockmen.
 
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