Stainless steel knives?

Discussion in 'Blades' started by sludgefactory, Sep 24, 2012.


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  1. sludgefactory

    sludgefactory On Hiatus Banned

    So I've been looking at a lot of different knives, mostly out of boredom. The thing i was wondering are stainless steel knives even worth buying? I usually just pass them right by. I have a set of henkle pro s chefs knives that are high carbon and I've had then for over 10 years. Even being that old they are still razor sharp. So just based on my cooking knives alone i never even consider buying stainless steel knives.

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  2. VisuTrac

    VisuTrac Ваша мать носит военные ботинки Site Supporter+++

    Stainless steel does have it's advantages.
    Say for instance, you work on or near the ocean. The corrosion resistance of Stainless may be worth it alone.

    And being that there are no oceans near the mitten, I'll use high carbon.

    YMWV.
     
  3. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Very much depends on the alloy. IIRC there is a inverse relationship between corrosion resistance and "sharpenability" and edge retention.
     
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  4. sludgefactory

    sludgefactory On Hiatus Banned

    We went over some if that stuff in culinary school but darned if i remember any of it. That's was over 10 years ago. I do remember that stainless doesn't hold an edge near as well though. I don't live anywhere near saltwater either so i guess I'll stick with high carbon. I just saw a cold steel knife that was stainless and i was kind of surprised but i guess every company is going to have a budget level knife.

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  5. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    I carry a Spyderco Police or automatic every day and they are both stainless, and wickedly sharp and seem to hold an edge well. The Police model is serrated but the automatic is straight edged. I( have carried Spyderco stainless knives for years and, while they might not hold an edge as well as high-carbon, they touch right up with a little jewelers rouge and a quick swipe on the buffing wheel.
     
  6. Valkman

    Valkman Knifemaker Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Stainless is certainly worth buying and for instance I just got a Benchmade Griptilian in 154cm which is very good steel. I used that and CPM154CM a lot when I was making knives. I do agree though that carbon steel takes a better edge than stainless does, but in the real world where 99% of people have no clue stainless sells about 90% of all knives.
     
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  7. sludgefactory

    sludgefactory On Hiatus Banned

    Well from what i was reading even 440c has carbon in it, is just not considered high carbon. I've had s Gerber for years now that i just found out was 440c and its crazy sharp and holds an edge pretty well. So it's really about which stainless it is. 420 stainless generally seems to be regarded as a fairly cheep steal and a lot of the cheapo Japanese and Chinese knives use that it their equivalent of it. For example aus6 is the Japanese equivalent to 420 but aus8 is closer to 440c. I just bought a kabar zombie pestilence chopper and its sk8 which is apparently pretty much the same thing as 1085 or 1075 but the acheron knife that came with it is 5cr15 which is the same as 440a. I guess it really boils down to doing the research because there are a lot a variants of both stainless and high carbon steels. It's crazy how many different types there are.

    Anyhow i bought the kabar and i think I'm going to get a mora also. If you haven't heard of mora knives look them up. You can get one for like 15 bucks, they're high carbon and supposed to be really high quality.

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  8. Frisian

    Frisian Monkey

    I like hi carbon for woods/bush knives as imo they are easier to redress in the field and should one need to they can be used as the "steel" when making fire with flint.
     
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  9. Zombie Hunter

    Zombie Hunter Monkey

    It really depends on on what type of stainless steel. Just like carbon based steels they are many and varied. A good solid stainless is 440c and 154cm. The higher end of stainless steel are very good and often are very close to being considered a high carbon steel. Some of these are VG-10, Aus 8, and Aus 10. Then there are some ultra high end stainless steels such as CPM S125V and ZDP 189 which are normally only used for custom blades. These usually will have tungsten or vandium in them as well.
     
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