Knife material choice

[suggy]

Teach me knife material please !

Basically 01 steel versus stainless

My knife for the past years has been a Helle Eggen

http://www.helle.no/products/knives/eggen/

and i'm happy with it but i'm putting together a new project for a necker. ( i aint gunna be making it)

So what do the knife-makers suggest? Stick with stainless?

Cheers in advance !

Suggy :)

[Dreward]

Try and look up the different properties of the metals..i.e. Hardness of the metal or can be achieved by Heat Treatment, also, Toughness (Springiness).
So...e.g,
Stainless :- Doesn't Rust but is not as Hard as other metals, also, Heat Treatment doesn't make it Harder.
High Carbon Steel :- Rusts, but, can be Heat Treated and needs to be Tempered to give it Toughness so it doesn't shatter.
Chrome Vanadium Steel :- Can be Heat Treated and depending on the amount of Chrome, etc, may stand up to Rusting, also very Tough (they make spanners out of it and can take a blow).

Have Fun....

[suggy]

Thanks for the reply Dreward ! Stainless so far, i want bling ! Lol

[Valantine]

High carbon steel is my fav' takes and holds a good edge, i find stainless dulls too quickly

[dave budd]

good stainless is good, bad stainless doesn't hold an edge for toffee. Some are just as good as carbon steels at holding an edge, though some would say less tough (but that is also true of carbon steels, it's all down to the heat treat).

I prefer carbon steels over stainless largely because they patinate and rust, I find stainless rather soulless. If you are going to be using it around salt water or are a really lazy git that doesn't like drying their knife, then go for stainless.

[MJ.]

who's doing the heat treat and how?
o1 can be heat treated at home in a simple diy forge but your not really getting the best from it unless you can precisely control the heat for a longer soak. simple carbon steel like 1084 is a good choice for home brew heat treat as doesnt need to be soaked for very long

[OakAshandThorn]

Like most here, I prefer carbon steel over stainless, though Mora's Sandvik stainless is just as good as top quality carbon steels. Must agree with Dave, stainless doesn't really develop character...it just stays shiny (of course, this is personal-preference ;) )

[Dreward]

A lot of knives for food preparation are Stainless purely for ease of maintenance, you can get High Carbon Steel ones, but, you must know that Rust is Poisonous and so take care to keep it from developing any severe corrosion. One thing that professional chefs do after using the knife is to give it a wipe over with cooking oil to protect it before putting it away.

[ammo]

I always use two knives to avoid cross contamination. One for food prep, one for everything else. Anyone who uses a carbon knife for food, you can see the black streaks on your cheese or onions etc. Also I think I have an allergy too amadou fungus aswell. So always two knives for me, one has to be stainless, I'm easy for my bushcraft/wood knife. O1, A2, laminate or even RWL34. I don't really care.
Each to their own eh.

[brindle]

i work with the carbon steels 01 , 80crv2 , 5160 its forgiving to worl with and heat trat , .if you mess a piece up no big deal it wont break the bank .

unlike vg10 or bohler n690 were things start to get abit critical , with heat treating mess that up and 30 or 40 quid in the bin ..:oops: