Hultafors Heavy Duty Knife GK or OK1/OK4?

[sidpost]

How do the stainless Hultafor Heavy Duty and carbon steel Hultafor OK1/OK4 compare to each other?

I think the OK1 and OK4 differ just in their handles and I'm curious if anyone has a real preference or reason to prefer one over the other. And, how the stainless and carbon steel versions compare to each other for normal camp chores.

TIA,
Sid

 

[SoldierPalmer]

I haven’t used either but I do have a few mora companions in carbon and stainless. In basic the carbon looses its edge quicker but is quicker to sharpen and if neglected rusts.

Steels are always a compromise. Stainless will be more corrosion resistant and will have a tougher edge to the chromium content. This will also make it harder to sharpen in the field. The carbon steel will rust if you neglect it. Its edge retention will not be as good as the stainless but far easier to sharpen in the field. For example using a smooth river stone.

 

[Erbswurst]

I own only the OK4. It's a good knife for the price but I think the GK heavy duty is the better deal.

The finger guard is too long and the blade too short to serve well for food preparation on a board or table. Otherwise they are absolutely OK and the GK is in my opinion the secret tip No1 if we talk about low budget fix blade knives.
If you get additional an Opinel Carbone No8 or a SAK you are good to go.

We can get the GK in Europe for only 7 €.

I think that GK, OK1 and OK4 are made of one and the same carbon steel though.
Or is the stainless GK a new version?

 

[sidpost]

I own only the OK4. It's a good knife for the price but I think the GK heavy duty is the better deal.

The finger guard is too long and the blade too short to serve well for food preparation on a board or table. Otherwise they are absolutely OK and the GK is in my opinion the secret tip No1 if we talk about low budget fix blade knives.
If you get additional an Opinel Carbone No8 or a SAK you are good to go.

We can get the GK in Europe for only 7 €.

I think that GK, OK1 and OK4 are made of one and the same carbon steel though.
Or is the stainless GK a new version?

The GK is stainless and the OK1/OK4 are carbon (likely SK5).

 

[Erbswurst]

Where did you get the information from?

Their internet shop talks about carbon steel.

Heavy Duty Knife GK | Hultafors Tools

A powerful and durable ground knife suitable for tough tasks such as prizing, breaking and hacking. It features a unique function for attaching the holster around a button on your work clothes so that it does not come loose whilst still being easy to remove. The blade is made from Japanese knife...

www.hultafors.com

 

[demographic]

I have the GK non stainless one with green grip, generally I prefer stainless given the choice cos I just don't go for that tosh about metal having soul, I just want it to work. Maybe stay unused for months then get used a good bit then unused for ages again.
I've got handplane blades in all manner of steels and have a fairly good idea whats best for them (PMV11, in case you were wondering, with A2 quite a lot behind and O1 a bit behind that) but theyre used in the dry and dont cut food, wet wood even and the expectation of care is different.
The knife? Its OK, I've given it a go over with a fine cut file and made the point a bit pointier and thats an improvement in my eyes.
I sharpen knives on a diamond hone usually, followed by stropping on a green (chromium? charged) leather strop on a bit of wood, not my front step so I rate edge retention way above that ease of sharpening thing that some people go for.
Diamond hones are dead cheap nowadays, you can sharpen on yer grandmas front step if you want but really I think yer missing out if you do.

 

[sidpost]

Where did you get the information from?

Their internet shop talks about carbon steel.

Heavy Duty Knife GK | Hultafors Tools

A powerful and durable ground knife suitable for tough tasks such as prizing, breaking and hacking. It features a unique function for attaching the holster around a button on your work clothes so that it does not come loose whilst still being easy to remove. The blade is made from Japanese knife...

www.hultafors.com

If was on a vendor website when I looked but, looks like that was not correct based on the factory posting.

 

[Kav]

The whole steel debate is the greatest marketing campaign since CDs replaced LPs to force an entire consumer base to buy titles in a saturated market.
People brush their teeth and, ahem other toiletry functions daily without questioning the
effort , or results from not doing it.
All of a sudden, carbon steel is
helpless before a biblical moths and rust onslaught of corruption.
It makes me wonder by what divine intervention the Eiffel
Tower, San Francisco Golden Gate
Bridge and Rolls Royce Phantom IIs are still elegant testaments to
Steel.
I own several blades in different
Steels. Stainless is no less immune to indifference than anything else.

 

[demographic]

Err... point of order but the Eiffel tower is more of a testament to Puddle Iron, not steel, plus I suspect that edge retention in a moist country wasn't high up the list of requirements for the Golden Gate Bridge and Rolls Royce Phantoms either

 

[TLM]

Just some terminology; in engineering and material science steel is iron where the principal alloy element is carbon. Meaning it affects the critical properties most.

I know that is not quite the common usage but to people doing a lot of work around ferrous alloys it does make sense.

A bit like copper alloys are all bronzes with a add on of the main alloying element. Archaeologists mixed things by calling anything containing copper "bronze", damn the tin or zinc; admittedly their bronzes often contain quite a cocktail of additives. For some reason almost pure copper objects tend to be called copper, like Ötzi's axe.

 

[demographic]

Hmm, well anyway. The knife is good for what I use it for which is pretty much a rough knife for work.
Mostly cutting hemp insulation batts which is awful to cut with a handsaw, a stanley knife is too short and the very long serrated insulation knife that Hultafors make doesn't cut well, thats better for rockwool style insulation.

I usually sharpen the GK with a file as it doesn't need tomato slicing sharpness and a file is fast. As I'm often cutting against whatever bit of ply I can find or a scaffold board and thats often got a bit of grit and plaster on it no knife would hold an edge for long.

However, if I were using it in a more traditional knife setting and not sharpening it with a file to a normal degree of sharpness I'd far rather it was stainless and I'd just use a diamond hone.
The sheath is acceptable but for me the Mora sheaths fit onto the knife retaining button on my Blaklader work strides in a faster and simpler way.
It being simpler to fit and remove from my strides would be handy for when I want to saunter over to the butchers for a pie at bait time.
Fortunately I'm not often doing insulation as thats usually a labourers job.

 

[z_bumbi]

For the steel I have and uses HVK with Carbon and stainless blades and apart from some patina the carbon blade doesn't disingrate in rust. The patina came when I stod a whole Day and sold Cristmas trees and allthing, including my clotths, was wet.
For sharpering I use a Diamond "stone" so I can't say that I notice a difference.
For the heavy duty knives from Hultafors I feel that the blade is to thick for the blade lenght (For bushcraft).
For referens I uses HVK and Mora 511 for lighter things like carving and a Sissipukkoo 95 for the heavy duty stuff.


Disclaimer: We sell both Hultafors and Moras where I work. Sadly no Sissipukkos..

 

[John Fenna]

I like carbon ... no real reason except it looks and works better for me in what I do....
I am not a steel nerd, just a user....

 

[sidpost]

I have had very mixed results using carbon steel knives. My old New Livesay 1095 doesn't rust even when neglected for long periods of time. Other 1095 knives will literally rust as I put them down after I finish the cut.

The only thing I can think of to cover this drastic difference in the same steel is the heat treat.

For most of my uses, stainless steel has an edge that lasts as long as I need it to. Sure, I may need to sharpen it more often but, that is offset by the general ease of use without worrying about protecting it immediately after use.

 

[Erbswurst]

I don't know if the heat treat changes the likelihood to rust. But so far I understood it depends on polishing the blade.

They still have in Solingen the old technique of "blauspliessten". That means that they polish the carbon blade until it becomes a bit blue. That was done with expensive blades before the stainless steel was invented, and they still do it with their carbon steel kitchen knives.
If you get such a kitchen knife it's less likely to rust if new than after you sharpened it yourself in the full flat grind with your household stones.

 

[demographic]

For the steel I have and uses HVK with Carbon and stainless blades and apart from some patina the carbon blade doesn't disingrate in rust. The patina came when I stod a whole Day and sold Cristmas trees and allthing, including my clotths, was wet.
For sharpering I use a Diamond "stone" so I can't say that I notice a difference.
For the heavy duty knives from Hultafors I feel that the blade is to thick for the blade lenght (For bushcraft).
For referens I uses HVK and Mora 511 for lighter things like carving and a Sissipukkoo 95 for the heavy duty stuff.


Disclaimer: We sell both Hultafors and Moras where I work. Sadly no Sissipukkos..

K

I like carbon ... no real reason except it looks and works better for me in what I do....
I am not a steel nerd, just a user....

Aye, a user here but one aspect of plane blades (or plane irons if we want to be picky and confuse people without need) is that theyre usage is pretty repeatable.
Almost scientific, instead of braying a knife through a non homogeneous stick (or the worst I saw in about 1990, an oil drum ***) we get to do numbers and stuff.
Wood by Wright has done some excellent testing on plane blades (recent best being Magnacut by the way) but that Cedric and Ada bloke has put a decent effort into scientific testing of knife blades.


That doesn't make O1 bad, its on there and measurable. In my opinion the measuring and intelligent testing allows the buyer the chance to make a more informed decision.

 

[demographic]

Oh, bit of a quote fail above, I only meant to quote John Fenna but I nonhandled it.

 

[sidpost]

Oh, bit of a quote fail above, I only meant to quote John Fenna but I nonhandled it.

Happens to me occasionally too!

 

[Megatramp]

I have the GK, my son the OK4. Both work well, the OK4 being a case of you can't polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter!