STAINLESS or CARBON? knives.

[Kieran]

Which blades are the best?
What are the differences :confused:

:)

[greenpete]

Personally I like the carbon as not only is it a whole lot easier to make them your self you can get a really good edge on them.
That's not to say you can't get an good edge on stainless, I have a Solingen knife made from stainless and it's lovely.
Obviously stainless doesn't rust and is better for gutting etc, but don't think because it doesn't rust you shouldn't look after a stainless knife... you should!
There are pro's and con's to both and I guess it comes down to preference and the job it's intended for at the end of the day.
Hope that helps.
Peter

[Martin]

Can't add much to what Pete said, mainly 'cos he knows much more about this than I do, but I've always been told that carbon steel is easier to sharpen than stainless. Having said that, I don't think I've ever owned a stainless steel blade so can't really say whether they are or aren't easier to sharpen.

Martin

[Kieran]

Personally I like the carbon as not only is it a whole lot easier to make them your self you can get a really good edge on them.
That's not to say you can't get an good edge on stainless, I have a Solingen knife made from stainless and it's lovely.
Obviously stainless doesn't rust and is better for gutting etc, but don't think because it doesn't rust you shouldn't look after a stainless knife... you should!
There are pro's and con's to both and I guess it comes down to preference and the job it's intended for at the end of the day.
Hope that helps.
Peter
Thanks pete

[Kieran]

i've only ever used stainless blades on pocket knifes...

[Martin]

i've only ever used stainless blades on pocket knifes...

Oh yeah, good point. I've had numerous SAK's and never had any problem getting a good edge on them, but maybe that's because they are so thin??

Martin

[JEEP]

I have both carbon and stainless knives in my collection; a quick count shows that I have more than twice as many carbon knives than stainless ones. But, most of my stainless knives remain unused or virtually unused. I guess that must mean that I prefer carbon over stainless :)

Carbon is a lot easier to sharpen than stainless. Though some may claim that stainless holds it's edge longer than carbon, I must say that I have never experienced that much of a diffrence - if there is one it is, for me at least, easily surpassed by the advantage of effortless sharpening.

Carbon steel is much less brittle than stainless, especially in sub-zero temperatures. Making a carbon blade much less prone to breaking or chipping when dropped or strained.

Carbon will rust if not maintained properly, but so will most tools. A stainless knife can actually rust aswell, but only if it is thoroughly neglected.
I keep my blades well oiled and have no problem with rusting carbon blades - but, I have obtained quite a few heavily rusted used/antique carbon knives over the years.

The imho. only reason to prefer a stainless knife over a carbon one, is if you need to carry/use your knife in extremely wet environments (especially near or in salt water).

I'll say; go for a carbon blade - once you go black(ened), you'll never go back :D


Regards.

Jakob

[Ashley Cawley]

Some great answers there from Pete & Jakob, pretty much echoes what I would have said.

I once heard a knife-maker say that you couldn't get stainless-steel as sharp as carbon, well, I can get stainless shaving-sharp & that's good enough for me!

Personally I use mostly carbon, I keep them dry & clean when put away. I've got a nice patina building up on a couple, which occurs naturally & comes from tannins/chemicals in stuff your cutting. I like a patina on some blades, it shows use and it can actually help prevent red-rust from starting in the first place.

You can also 'force a patina (http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/kit/reviews/forcing-patina-on-bushcraft-knives.html)' which is like putting on a fake, aged look, well it's essentially speeding up the process of 10 or mores years worth of patina in a short while, you can get some interesting designs with it.

[Kieran]

Thanks for the answerrs guys!!!

[greenpete]

Also, I find a mirror finished knife a pain to work with in bright light, as it 'flashes' and can be very unpleasant!
I heard a story I can only imagine is true from my own experience, that a person was once temporarily blinded by the reflection of the sun on an iron when they were ironing their clothes near a window on a sunny day. I have had simillar experiences with shiny (stainless?) knives when carving in the woods and so I much prefer a non reflective blade, in the way that Ashley explains a patina.
I also rearly if ever polish a blade simply to make it 'pretty'.

[greebwee]

Carbon all the way! Just make sure to keep it dry. I've had a terrible time getting decent edges onto many types of stainless blades, although not all stainless is created equal.

[Aaron Rushton]

i have 2 mora clippers. one in carbon and one in stainless which i bought later after a seafishing expidition where i gutted a fish and by the time i had got back to the tent it was already beginning to corode. after a half an hour of scrubbin with steel wool and wd40 i decided next time i go anywhere near saltwater i would get a stainless blade.

[luresalive]

I have both but normally use a carbon mora. I was once on a course where I was given a bit of tinder fungus and told to start a fire with only what was around us, we had no steels and there was no flint about..so I did manage to find a piece of quartz and them out came my mora and striking the back of the blade against the quartz gave the sparks that ignited the tinder, without the carbon knife I couldn't have created the sparks!

[Tony1948]

Now you tell me you dont mirror finish your knifes Pete,you didant tell me that on your vid, Iv been polishing mine for weeks to get a mirror finish.AAH never mind

[greenpete]

Now you tell me you dont mirror finish your knifes Pete,you didant tell me that on your vid, Iv been polishing mine for weeks to get a mirror finish.AAH never mind
Did I not? Ooops!

[redmegalord]

ive only ever used stainless, i dont have much to say except that stainless is cheaper and probably a lot more common considering.. i would very much like to own a carbon knife, but theyre so expensive here so when i do actually manage to find one (i cant even afford in the first place) i wouldnt want to use it. im a utilitarian, so how a tool looks doesnt matter to me but if im paying three hundred dollars for a knife then i dont really want to damage it, the funny part being that i really dont know what id do with it then because im not a show offy kind of person. if anybody knows where i can find an affordable carbon knife, please let me know. not sure iif it has any meaning but i live in the U.S so things may be a little different here, like i said im not sure.

[Shewie]

I have a couple of stainless knives but they're my canoe blade and a small food prep blade. I prefer to use a carbon blade for my main user as I find it holds an edge better.

[JEEP]

ive only ever used stainless, i dont have much to say except that stainless is cheaper and probably a lot more common considering.. i would very much like to own a carbon knife, but theyre so expensive here so when i do actually manage to find one (i cant even afford in the first place) i wouldnt want to use it. im a utilitarian, so how a tool looks doesnt matter to me but if im paying three hundred dollars for a knife then i dont really want to damage it, the funny part being that i really dont know what id do with it then because im not a show offy kind of person. if anybody knows where i can find an affordable carbon knife, please let me know. not sure iif it has any meaning but i live in the U.S so things may be a little different here, like i said im not sure.

Shoot me a PM, I'll help you out

[greenpete]

If anybody knows where i can find an affordable carbon knife, please let me know.
You could make your own for free! www.greenpete.co.uk/knife-making (http://www.greenpete.co.uk/knife-making/) :)

[Comptona]

I had the same problem when trying to choose and decided to go for a cheap frost mora clipper carbon at £8.99 delivered. I never bought another knife as this is perfect for my uses. At that price why not buy one of each and see how you get on before investing further. The knife has been reviwed on this site.

[WoodTroll]

Carbon steel every time for me. Stainless is very often a lot harder than carbon which means it is often harder to sharpen. Give me a zero edge scandi in carbon and I'm a happy amn. You can keep them razor sharp with a steel. Just my 10 cents worth.

[redmegalord]

Shoot me a PM, I'll help you out

im sorry, but whats a PM?

[redmegalord]

You could make your own for free! www.greenpete.co.uk/knife-making (http://www.greenpete.co.uk/knife-making/) :)

thank you, but i have already seen the videos and was planning on making a file knife soon, i know i can buy steel at the local hardware store (to make a better knife) im just not sure exactly what kind of steel im getting.

[greenpete]

thank you, but i have already seen the videos and was planning on making a file knife soon, i know i can buy steel at the local hardware store (to make a better knife) im just not sure exactly what kind of steel im getting. What makes you think that you will get a better knife from steel bought at the hardware store? If you can get o1 ground flat stock you will be getting good steel, but an old file is not a compromise, it's very good steel!

[redmegalord]

What makes you think that you will get a better knife from steel bought at the hardware store? If you can get o1 ground flat stock you will be getting good steel, but an old file is not a compromise, it's very good steel!

thanks again for your input, i will certainly keep that in mind, however i wasnt trying to imply that an old file is inferior steel i was just trying to say that not every old file will be the same quality or in the most ideal condition (such as size and shape, thickness etc etc..) but with steel bought from the store i have more control over these factors and ill know exactly what i have that will be best for my needs, whatever those needs may be.

[leon-1]

Interesting thread, Pete's post was very even. Different types of steel have different properties, O1 tool steel is normally hardened to around 58 - 59 RC, stainless steels have been used for bearings meaning that they required to be harder and can be tempered to around 61 - 62 RC. I do not really think that the type of steel makes a lot of difference apart that you can cast sparks from a carbon steel knife.

To be honest I think that the difficulty in sharpening stainless steels tends to stem from the structure and heat treat of stainless steels. With the improvement of CPM technology the heat treat and the ease of sharpening of stainless steels has become a lot easier. CPM S30V and CPM D2 are very good examples and a blade with a good heat treat will perform as well as if not better than a carbon steel blade. I have a number in both steels and they are easy to sharpen and have excellent edge retention.

[OKBushcraft]

Greenpete's vid on making a woodlore clone is outsatanding and pushed me over the edge on making my own knives. I would listen to about anything he says on knife steel. I buy steel only because it removes two steps in making knives-annealing and cleaning the file teeth off.
For bought knives I used to be a hard core carbon steel advocate. But since I have bought and used numerous stainless knives- Several SAK, a SAK hunter in particular, a Gerber easy out, I have become accepting of some of them. I still prefer a carbon sheath knife. I can't shake the bias entirely.
The sharpening issue isn't that big a deal. Like Ashley said, I can get a shaving edge on my stainless.
For fire-If I have my keys I have a BSA Hotspark on the ring. I usually have two other Ferro rods in my kit.