Carbon steel or stainless steel, how to make my choice?
Wide question! Beyond the notions of food, the choice between the two families will focus on a technical issue when you want to make its first knife. Response elements and nuance tips in this article!
Are your steels ready for use? Should the heat treatment be carried out?
Whether stainless steel or carbon, all our cutlery steels are delivered to the annealing state. That is, after the different stages of rolling, they follow in steel mill a last heat treatment step to standardize the structure and release the tensions. It also makes it possible to lower the hardness to allow you to easily perform the different stages of cutting, drilling, grinding and polishing.
Once your blade is shaped, you will have to perform the different steps of quench and income to give it the desired mechanical characteristics. For heat treatment, we advise you to use the thermic to 19r, a slightly accelerated oil that is very well adapted for the quench Steels and stainless steel cutlery.
Is it easier to work stainless steel or carbon?
Depending on the composition of steels, they will be more or less easy to work. Some shades are more resistant to wear than others and therefore require more polishing or sharpening for example. However when we work by removal removal (remedal stock) carbon steel and stainless steel cutlery are also easy to format one than the other. The main difference is at the heat treatment. For stainless steel, the austenitization temperature is much higher (on average 1050 ° C against 800 ° C for carbon) and the time to maintain this temperature can be more than 30 minutes. Therefore if we want to work stainless steel in good conditions, it is necessary to be equipped with an oven quench.
When we start in cutlery, we do not always have all the necessary equipment or an extensible budget. So if you do not have an oven yet, it will be better to start with carbon steels.
Which carbon steel choose to make a knife blade?
The carbon steel shade to choose will depend on the type of blade you want to achieve. Below, find the main carbon shades used in cutlery.
Carbon steel XC75 / 1075 / 1.1248
The most used by beginners for its excellent value for money.
Carbon Steel 80crv2 / 1.2235 / L2
Weakly allied steel, this steel has good skills to collect shocks and flexions.
Carbon Steel 90mcv8 / 1.2842 / O2
Thanks to its alloy elements, the 90mcv8 has better mechanical characteristics than the XC75: cutting holding, flexing aptitude ...
Carbon steel XC100 / 1095 / 1.1274
Nuance similar to the XC75, the XC100 has a higher carbon level, which allows to obtain larger and more wear-resistant blades.
These two shades are steels with very high carbon levels, allowing to obtain a formidable cutting edge and very beautiful lines of quench (quench selective / hamon).
And for folding knives?
If you want to make folding knives, the XC45 keeps a hardness rather low and therefore good bending ability, so it is recommended for the manufacture of clippers. It is available in 3mm. If you want to make springs in another thickness (2.5 or 4 for example), you can use the XC75 and increase your income temperature to 280/300 ° C to drop the hardness and get better flexibility.
Find the characteristics and compositions of the steels in our technical sheets available for download in each of the products concerned. In particular, you will find the information necessary for the realization of the quench From your knife steels.
What mating materials and accessories do I need to achieve the handle of my knife?
For turntables, we propose the X6CR17, also called 430 or 1.4016. It is a ferritic stainless steel (non-soaking) which only serves in cutlery only to make aesthetic parts (turntables, miter, false parts ...) It is available in 1.2 /1.5 and 4mm. We also have brass or millechort that ensure the same functions.
With regard to rods, we have different references. Our team advises you to rods In stainless steel in X6CR17 that have the advantage of being anneaned and therefore very easy to work. You find them in Ø2; 2.2 and 2.4mm. For maintaining these rodsyou can also use bushings, brass or stainless steel (also in X6CR17) available in different dimensions.
By opting for the same steel shade for the realization of these different mounting elements, you ensure a uniform color for the whole handle From your knife and so better finish.
If you prefer to work with fixing screws rather than with rodsWe also offer tissue stainless steel (Z30 to 55hrc) threaded in M3 and in different diameters.
For the manufacture of handles, do not hesitate to visit our "materials for handles": We offer a large selection of blocks and platelets, ever-changing range.
