knife blade steel

[IaSpanky]

Other than stainless does not rust( or not easily) why would one choice stainless over carbon steel? Which is better?
:confused1:

[RangerXanatos]

Which one is better? Depends on your location and what you are using it for.

About the only reason I'd prefer stainless over a carbon steel is for the rust protection or using it for food preparation.

[Rick]

Not just rust resistant but corrosion resistant so it works well on or near salt water. Remember there are two types of stainless steel with regard to carbon. High carbon and low carbon with the high carbon being the better of the two. High carbon stainless steel requires less maintenance, has a very sharp edge and doesn't require as frequent sharpening as a carbon blade would. Which is better depends on your needs and your preference.

[IaSpanky]

okay say I am looking at a blade to carry with me kaykaing on the mississippi will be a week long trip.

[Camp10]

Man are you asking a loaded question! I'll start off by saying I make way more than half my knives out of carbon steel (as in non-stainless). All blade steel is carbon steel, so it makes answering this a bit of a pain...

The real advantage of carbon steel is that it can be differentially heat treated. With stainless, the edge is the same as the spine is the same as the tang but a good maker can get the edge of a carbon knife super hard, the spine to a spring temper and the tang in a normalized state . A knife like that can be both tough and still hold an edge for a long time.

To ask which is best really cant be answered. I'd say a hard use knife is better to be make out of carbon steel and a fillet knife is better to be made from stainless and nearly anything in between can do just fine with either...

[RangerXanatos]

Stainless. Easier to take care of.

[Camp10]

okay say I am looking at a blade to carry with me kaykaing on the mississippi will be a week long trip.


Stainless. Easier to take care of.

I'm with RX on this. If your knife is going to be getting wet for a week, it should be stainless.

[RangerXanatos]

I'd also say a couple of them, because you will be likely to lose one. I'd opt for something from the Mora line of stainless.

[IaSpanky]

I was going the mora line I was under the line of thouoght that stainless blades don't hold an edge well

[crashdive123]

I was going the mora line I was under the line of thouoght that stainless blades don't hold an edge well

Some of the cheaper stainless does not. You won't have that problem with the Mora line and the stainless that they use.

[panch0]

It is not that stainless does not hold an edge, its that usually store bought knives are not heat treated to hold an edge, I think they target easier to sharpen hardness. Maybe I am wrong.
A properly heat treated ats34, 154cm, or cpm154cm stainless steel knife will hold a great edge. A well heat treated carbon steel blade will perform well as well. It would all depend on what the other guys here suggested.

[oldtrap59]

I have carried the same carbon steel knife for several years now. Used it for everything from skinning deer, hogs, beaver, coon to cleaning fish and of coarse butchering and cutting up all of the fore mentioned. It seldom takes more then a couple passes on the steel to keep a good edge. I understand that carbon steel has some drawbacks but it gets my vote. As I have said before I'm not an expert but this works for me.

Oldtrap

[kyratshooter]

okay say I am looking at a blade to carry with me kaykaing on the mississippi will be a week long trip.

Did you realize that after you hit the navigatable channel of the Mississippi the Coast Guard requires a motor on the boat?

We even have to include motors on our historic reproduction boats for history work. Last one we built was a reproduction keel boat with an inboard V6. They must have a motor to get themselves out of trouble and stay away from the barges.

[IaSpanky]

we stick way off the channel. We have done several one day runs down river no problems have even paddle through the locks here in Davenport area with no problems but thanks for the heads up

[finallyME]

Most knives you buy for cheap are 440 stainless. The steal is cheap and easy to make into a knife. It also doesn't rust much. The stainless that Mora uses is sandvik. It is far superior to 440. Anytime you get away from 440, your blade quality generally goes up.

[Rick]

I know a lot of guys that have kayaked and canoed the Mississippi without motors. Perhaps it's a Kentucky requirement but the Coast Guard never gave them any trouble. Google a guy by the name of Kristian Gustavson or his organization Below the Surface. They did from Ft. Defiance in Illiniois to the Gulf in 2008 during the height of the floods to raise awareness of the condition of the river. They used cargo canoes (the big ones) and regular canoes.

You can also google canoe the Mississippi and get a ton of links, too.

[Winter]

I live on the ocean and most of my users are high carbon steels.

Best reason for HC is sharpen-ability.

[Camp10]

Most knives you buy for cheap are 440 stainless. The steal is cheap and easy to make into a knife. It also doesn't rust much. The stainless that Mora uses is sandvik. It is far superior to 440. Anytime you get away from 440, your blade quality generally goes up.

There are 3 grades of 440 stainless. There are 440A, 440B and 440C. 440C is a very good knife steel. It has lost its newness and many makers have gone on to CPM metals but to call it cheap, thinking cheap means bad is a mistake.

The properties of 440C are: Carbon-1.04%, silicon-0.74%, Manganese-0.36, Phosphorus/sulfur-0.003, Chromium-16.92%, Moly-0.46%

12C27's properties are: Carbon .60%, Chromium 13.5%, Manganese .40%, Phosphorous .025%, Silicon .40% and Sulfur .010%.

Mora's steel is a lower carbon, lower chromium, lower silicon steel than 440C. 12C27 makes a decent knife blade and I might play with it a little at some point but if I was only given the choice of the two, I'd rather use 440C.

[canid]

440C can be hardened up to around 59 HR C if i'm not mistaken, and this is comperable to a lot of knife steels. commercial production knives made from it however are often tempered very (i would say inexcusably) soft, and this has done a lot to detract from it's reputation as a knife steel.

There is a tendency in a lot of circles i've read in to say that 440C and some other stainless steels are more brittle at a given temper than some popular carbon steels, and i don't know how true it is. I seem to have read some things along that line from Jim Hrisoulas.

[finallyME]

There are 3 grades of 440 stainless. There are 440A, 440B and 440C. 440C is a very good knife steel. It has lost its newness and many makers have gone on to CPM metals but to call it cheap, thinking cheap means bad is a mistake.



What no 440D? :) I meant cheap as in not expensive.

[canid]

no 440D or 440E AFAIK, but there is a 440F formulated for machining. it's a high carbon stainless.

[Winter]

440B is good for large choppers. 440C is a great all purpose knife steel.

440B is very hard to get a good edge on and the edge is soft.

440C will hold an edge well for quite some time but is tough to get a durable edge on.


Non stainless steels like1095 or 5160 at 54 rc is easy to sharpen and will get super sharp.

I also love that HC knives stain and gain a history and character.