Would you rather have 80CrV2 carbon steel or X55CrMo14 4110 Stainless steel

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C0untZer0

C0untZer0

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That all comes down to whether you like carbon steel or not. The two steels are not super comparable. They are both pretty basic steels. 80CrV2 is basically 1080 carbon steel with a little bit of vanadium deliberately added and just a smidge of silicon, manganese, sulfur, and chromium. X55CrMo14 / 1.4110 is an extremely basic stainless with .3% less carbon than 80CrV2, almost 15% chromium, and a smidge of molybdenum.

If the knife is under 6" in blade length, I prefer the higher hardness, but both would be adequate.

80CrV2 will take and hold a keener edge, assuming the same edge geometry, due mostly to the higher hardness but aided by the higher carbon content. 1.4110 will resist rust. 80CrV2 will not.
 
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80crv2. I've used a few 80crv2 Lauri blades and they are excellent. Lauri makes blades for a lot of manufacturers, and I'd bet they make the blade for the knife you linked.

It isn't so prone to rust, that it's worth going to a sst blade for just that reason. Basic wipe down cleaning will keep it tip top.
 
OK, cool...


I'm not going to let the knife lay around wet, so 80crv2 should be fine.

I just didn't want something that was going to rust if it got rained on and wasn't wiped down immediately. Or... I'm canoeing, it gets a little wet and I'm not able to dry it off till I get back to camp - which may be 6 or 8 hours, and by that time I've discovered its started rusting :(
 
80crv2.

If you're not super concerned about aesthetics, you can always thoroughly degrease the blade, tape just the edge, and spray the rest of the blade with flat enamel spray paint.

Great website, btw.
 
I think you're letting the deluge of letters and numbers that identify the steel overwhelm you a bit. Either steel should be fine, though my choice might be the carbon steel. I've never had a carbon steel blade rust so badly that it effected either the appearance or utility of the knife. That said, I wipe them off after I use them (even if the rag is my pants leg), and lightly oil them for storage.
 
JShirley said:
you can always thoroughly degrease the blade, tape just the edge, and spray the rest of the blade with flat enamel spray paint.
Click to expand...

I've heard some reviewers say that it is blackened from the heat treating process - so I'm assuming that doesn't provide any rust protection ?

Does that have to be removed before I paint it?

Jaakari Puko.jpg
 
C0untZer0 said:
it is blackened from the heat treating process
Click to expand...

Close, but not just. If you hot form like forging or hot dye you get the black on the surface that has to be ground off after quench. If it is stock reduced stainless then that's not going to be prominent like carbon steel. So, if the black on the unground portion of the blade is from the forge then you'd have to grind it off (not something you want to deal with a finished blade). Of course you could use file and paper to do it if you were patient and persistent.
 
The older I get the more I appreciate today's high quality stainless steels. Sometimes it's nice just to be able to leave a knife wet overnight when you know you are going to be using it the next morning.
 
I have had a dive knife for decades and it never gets rinsed off and dried until the end of the day after a dive, there is usually a boat ride back from the dive site, a drive back to the dive shop, equipment turn in and a drive back to the hotel or wherever we're staying - then I disassemble the knife, rinse it off with tap water and dry it. I've never had a spot of rust on that knife. But it is awkward to use for anything like food preparation, it has a big hilt on it and it is kind of clunky.

I really don't use a knife that much, I've used my knife to cut down abandoned fishing line, and once while fishing, a bunch of fishing line snarled my cousin's Minn Kota and I used my knife to cut that line away. I don't even gut fish - either my brother or my cousin always clean the fish. I have had things rust on me over the course of a canoe trip - some stuff I keep in water-proof bags, but not things like a knife, which I keep handy.
 
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