New Knife Ideas - Queries Stainless Steels
- Thread starter ranger
- Start date
but surely it's the younger people on here that will live long enough to make best use of them. Not some guy with his own WS not to mention the wife that enjoys the same things as him
Adi007 said:
Lot of whinges about the QC with WS recently, go and get yourself an Ingram or an OSF you won't regret it and you get a choice of steels with Gene as well as input on the design and it will still be cheaper :biggthump
Hoodoo said:I don't know why but people are always making that offer to me. :?:
You as well?
):
Hoodoo said:I don't know why but people are always making that offer to me. :?:
Really? Cant think why. :roll:
:rolmao:Thanks for such helpful replies everyone. Ive certainly been given a few things to think of and will investigate further Crucible S30v. My knowledge of steels is rudimentary at best and my brain soon gets to the information overload stage, the science of it gets quite complicated.
From the replies youve all given I can see it might be helpful to have a section of the spine stippled or chequered (as on a gun stock) to aid with using a fire steel.
Also, out of interest, how do 01 tool steel and A2 carbon steel differ (non technical replies greatly appreciated).
ranger
From the replies youve all given I can see it might be helpful to have a section of the spine stippled or chequered (as on a gun stock) to aid with using a fire steel.
Also, out of interest, how do 01 tool steel and A2 carbon steel differ (non technical replies greatly appreciated).
ranger
D
dataphage
Guest
The difference is in the chemical composition. See link below:
http://www.bladegallery.com/information/info_steel.asp
A2 has more carbon and so more carbides, which are the seriously hard bits of the alloy are involved with the majority of the edge holding properties.
A2 also has more chromium in and so will be moderatly more resistant to rust. It also has more vanadium which will help in the carbide forming process in the alloy and help attain & keep a fine edge. In practise the only difference you will probably see between the 2 is the rusting. With care & attention that won't happen.
http://www.bladegallery.com/information/info_steel.asp
A2 has more carbon and so more carbides, which are the seriously hard bits of the alloy are involved with the majority of the edge holding properties.
A2 also has more chromium in and so will be moderatly more resistant to rust. It also has more vanadium which will help in the carbide forming process in the alloy and help attain & keep a fine edge. In practise the only difference you will probably see between the 2 is the rusting. With care & attention that won't happen.
ranger said:
The question I would be asking is, given that carbon steel is so suitable for all sorts of reasons, why do you want one made from stainless? Rather than as "whats so good about carbon?", I'd be asking "whats so good about stainless?".
The only factors with firesteels is hard and sharp. So long as the spine is well hardened and it has good square (not rounded) corners, that's all that matters.
bushwacker bob said:
Nonsense! The only requirements to produce sparks from a Firesteel are:
1) that the material you strike it with is hard enough (and any cutlery steel is more than hard enough).
2) the 'edge' or surface roughness is sufficient to produce the friction required and to throw off very fine shavings of the Firesteel material.
Also, of course,
3) one's technique must be up to the job!
The main advantage of plain carbon cutlery steels over their stainless counterparts is that they seem to be easier to sharpen.
Burnt Ash
:rolmao: I did say bushy purists!
I'll happily use any knife that is sharp.
Like good antiques, a carbon blade will develop a pleasing patina with use and part of the pleasure of owning a knife over a long period is enjoying the aestetics of your purchase as well as its durability and usefulness.IMHO
my own current knife is made from 440c :yikes: Many knife buffs wouldn't buy a tool made from such steel.It suits me tho' and I'm quite happy to use it(until my North Star arrives)
I'll happily use any knife that is sharp.
Like good antiques, a carbon blade will develop a pleasing patina with use and part of the pleasure of owning a knife over a long period is enjoying the aestetics of your purchase as well as its durability and usefulness.IMHO
my own current knife is made from 440c :yikes: Many knife buffs wouldn't buy a tool made from such steel.It suits me tho' and I'm quite happy to use it(until my North Star arrives)
Burnt Ash said:
I'm not sure I agree Burnt Ash. I use my leatherman wave with an army model firesteel but the straight edge blade hardly throws a spark whereas the serrated blade works a treat. They have the same edge profile on the back of the blade but they are different steels or at least have a different finish on them.
Bill
Not so on mine - both blades have the same finish, but the spine profile is different. The straight edge blade on my Wave has a secondary grind on the spine (not sharp, and delivered like that from the factory), and are therefore not square.tenbears10 said:
The serated blade throws a good shower of sparks, better than the straight edge blade, but only because it has good square (not rounded) corners - like Martyn said, that's all that matters.
440C isn't a bad tool steel ...... now 420, or AUS6bushwacker bob said:
... I wouldn't use it for a sword, but for a small knife, 440C is fine, a little more work to sharpen, but that balances with less work to maintain as it doesn't need washing and oiling and rubbing as much as a non stainless carbon steel
M
Mike Stewart
Guest
I have to agree about 440C.
It is underrated. I have made lots of knives with a lot of different steels in the last 27 years and 440C is my second favorite in all the Stainless Steel Alloys that are avalible right now. With proper Heat Treat , Temper , and Cryo you can get all the performance out of it that you would expect from a Stainless Alloy. I think that 440C has been overshadowed by all of the Supersteels that are very popular right now. Folks touted AUS-8 when it came avalible, then the ATS/CPM stuff came out. This somehow religated all the 440's being lumped together as just production steels. This falling by the wayside of 440C was because it didn't have the exotic appeal of steels that had more prefix's and suffix's with the numbers.
The mark of a good blade is in the hands of the maker not the steel mill.
Just my two cents,
Mike.........
It is underrated. I have made lots of knives with a lot of different steels in the last 27 years and 440C is my second favorite in all the Stainless Steel Alloys that are avalible right now. With proper Heat Treat , Temper , and Cryo you can get all the performance out of it that you would expect from a Stainless Alloy. I think that 440C has been overshadowed by all of the Supersteels that are very popular right now. Folks touted AUS-8 when it came avalible, then the ATS/CPM stuff came out. This somehow religated all the 440's being lumped together as just production steels. This falling by the wayside of 440C was because it didn't have the exotic appeal of steels that had more prefix's and suffix's with the numbers.
The mark of a good blade is in the hands of the maker not the steel mill.
Just my two cents,
Mike.........
Tvividr said:
Have had another look and I stand corrected. There is much more of a square edge on the serrated blade.
Does this mean that when people talk about filing a knife to use a fire steel all they mean is to create a square edge to the spine? I suppose so.
Ok you learn something everyday. Sorry for doubting you Burnt Ash.
Bill
Bill are you talking about the back edge of the scalloped blade or the back edge of the saw blade, because the back edge of the saw blade can throw some awesome sparks :wave:tenbears10 said:
leon-1 said:
The back of the saw, file and serrated blade all work well Leon but the straight knife doesn't have a square spine and so is'nt as good. I thought it was due to it being different steel but that's not the case.
All in all there are several ways of getting good sparks with it and I got a case which should hold the wave and a maglite AAA but the fire steel fits really well instead of the torch (mine was killed by some leaky duracells).
Bill
