Budget High Carbon Steel Knives vs Stainless Steel Knives: A Complete Guide for Buyers

by | Oct 7, 2024 | Special Steel Encyclopedia

In the knife market, there are numerous materials to choose from, such as carbon steel, high carbon steel, stainless steel, ceramic, titanium, and Damascus steel. Carbon steel knives, especially high carbon steel ones, are ideal for handling tough ingredients, while ceramic knives are great for cutting fruits and vegetables. If you’re on a budget, carbon steel or stainless steel knives are affordable choices. If you can spend more, consider high carbon stainless steel, titanium, or even Damascus steel knives. High carbon steel knives are often preferred for their durability and edge retention. Damascus steel knife sets, with their unique aesthetics, are also a great option. In this article, I will introduce budget knives and compare carbon steel with stainless steel, both of which are frequently compared as cost-effective knife materials. The following sections will detail the characteristics, pros, and cons of high carbon steel and stainless steel knives.

What is carbon steel?

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Carbon steel is an iron-carbon alloy containing less than 2.11% carbon. Generally also contains a small amount of silicon, manganese, sulfur, phosphorus. Generally the higher the carbon content of carbon steel, the greater the hardness, the higher the strength, but the lower the plasticity. Carbon steel is inexpensive, good process performance, mechanical properties to meet the general engineering and mechanical manufacturing requirements, is the industrial production of the largest amount of engineering materials. Among them, the carbon content of less than 0.25% belongs to the low carbon steel, 0.25%-0.6% belongs to the medium carbon steel, higher than 0.6% belongs to the high carbon steel. Carbon steel can also be classified according to the quality of sulfur and phosphorus as ordinary carbon steel, high-quality steel, advanced high-quality steel. The lower the sulphur and phosphorus content, the higher the quality of carbon steel.

Ordinary carbon steel: Ws≤0.05%, Wp≤0.045%

High-quality steel: Ws≤0.035%, Wp≤0.035%;

Advanced high-quality steel: Ws≤0.02%. Wp≤0.03%;

Effect of chemical composition on carbon steel properties

Sulfur

Forms FeS (melting point 1190℃), which causes brittle cracks at grain boundaries at 1100℃-1200℃. “Hot brittleness”. It is a harmful component.

Phosphorus

All dissolved in F, solid solution strengthening, causing brittle fracture at low temperatures. It is a harmful component.

Manganese

Deoxidizes, FeO reduces Fe; reacts with S → MnS reduces hot brittleness; improves strength and hardness. It is a beneficial component.

Silicon

It forms slag with FeO in molten steel, improving steel quality; it dissolves in F to strengthen solid solution. It is a beneficial component.

The advantage of carbon steel knives

High hardness

the hardness of carbon steel is generally above HRC60, which can be made into high hardness cutting tools, suitable for processing high hardness metal materials.

Easy to sharpen

due to the high hardness of carbon steel, sharpening cutting ability will be better, longer service life of the tool.

Sharp and durable

the characteristics of carbon steel determines the sharpness of the tool after use is not easy to decay, and its performance is stable, long service life.

Low cost

compared with high-speed steel, carbide, carbon steel price is lower, while easy to sharpen, simple maintenance, low cost.

The disadvantage of carbon steel knives

Susceptible to corrosion

because carbon steel contains a large amount of iron, susceptible to environmental oxidation and corrosion, so regular maintenance is required.

Easily deformed

carbon steel tools are not as hard as high-speed steel and carbide tools, easy to deform in the cutting process, need to pay attention to the use of tools.

Toughness is not high

due to the high hardness of carbon steel, weak toughness, wear and tear is easy to crack, the need for timely replacement of the tool.

What is the manufacturing process of a knife?

Choosing raw materials

The main raw material for kitchen knives is metal, usually stainless steel or carbon steel. Stainless steel kitchen knives are corrosion-resistant and easy to clean, but the edge is not easy to keep sharp; carbon steel kitchen knives are sharp and durable, but easy to rust. Therefore, the choice of material needs to be decided according to the user’s needs and habits.

Cutting and forging

Firstly, the selected metal material is cut into proper size and shape, and then by forging, it is shaped into the shape of a knife. This process requires high temperature furnaces and skilled techniques to ensure that the knife is of the required shape and size.

Heat Treating and Quenching

Heat treating is the process of heating and cooling a metal to change its internal structure and improve its hardness and toughness. Quenching, on the other hand, is the rapid cooling of a heated knife to harden its surface and form a hard shell that protects the blade. These two processes are essential to ensure the durability and sharpness of the knife.

Grinding and Polishing

Grinding is the process of smoothing and sharpening the body and blade of a knife by means of a grinding wheel or whetstone. Polishing, on the other hand, is the process of making the surface of the knife smoother and shinier with the help of special polishing tools. These two processes not only improve the aesthetics of the knife but also its usability.

Installing the handle

finally, the handle is installed on the knife to form the complete kitchen knife. The handle is usually made of wood or plastic, and its shape and size need to match the body of the knife to ensure that the user can hold the knife comfortably and steadily.

Overall, the process of making a kitchen knife is a complex one involving a variety of crafts and techniques, each step of which needs to be finely tuned and tightly controlled to ensure that the final product is both aesthetically pleasing and practical. Although most of the kitchen knives on the market nowadays are produced by machines, the traditional handmade knife-making skills are still inherited in some places, making the kitchen knives more artistic and unique.

Stainless steel knives

As a knives material, stainless steel is often compared to carbon steel.

The characteristics of stainless steel

Stainless steel is a commonly used metal material, which is widely used in various fields due to its advantages of corrosion resistance, mechanical properties and aesthetics. The main components of stainless steel are iron, chromium and carbon. The addition of different ratios of chromium, nickel, molybdenum and other elements will produce different types of stainless steel, which are slightly different in mechanical and chemical properties.

The stainless steel material suitable for making knives

440C stainless steel

440C stainless steel is one of the most basic cutting tool materials, its strength, toughness and corrosion resistance are very suitable for the production of knives. Under proper heat treatment, 440C stainless steel can reach a very high hardness of 58-60 HRC, which ensures its service life and stability. It is widely used in high-end knives and scissors, medical equipment, aerospace and other fields.

ATS-34 stainless steel

ATS-34 stainless steel is a high-end knife material with excellent strength, corrosion resistance and cutting performance, and it excels in service life and reliability.The hardness of ATS-34 stainless steel can reach 60-62 HRC, and its abrasion resistance and toughness are excellent. Therefore, it is widely used in high-end kitchen knives, pharmaceutical equipment, medical devices and other high-end fields.

VG-10 stainless steel

VG-10 stainless steel is an excellent material for Japanese knives. It is excellent in hardness, corrosion resistance and cutting performance, and its special organisational structure can improve its cutting performance and wear resistance.VG-10 stainless steel is usually used to make Japanese kitchen knives, razors and medical equipment and other high-end knives.

The advantage of stainless steel knife

Stainless steel corrosion resistance

Stainless steel knives are not easy to corrode, in the process of use will not produce rust phenomenon, which also makes the knife has a longer service life. The corrosion resistance of stainless steel can ensure that the knife can be used for a long time without frequent replacement.

Easy to polish

Stainless steel knives are easier to polish than knives made of other materials, the manufacturing cost is relatively low. And stainless steel knives polished to maintain sharpness for a long time, with good wear resistance, do not need to use grinding stone grinding often.

The disadvantages of stainless steel knives

Soft

Knives made of stainless steel are soft and not very hard, so they are easy to be deformed or broken. And stainless steel made of kitchen knives in cutting vegetables, cutting meat and other operations, need to spend more effort, not as high carbon steel and other materials such as knives easy to use.

Difficult to maintain sharpness

Stainless steel knives will gradually decline in sharpness after use, requiring frequent maintenance and polishing. And because of the low hardness of stainless steel, the grinding effect of the whetstone is not good, easy to form burrs or uneven edge, thus affecting the cutting effect.

Conclusion

Different knives have different advantages and disadvantages, which depends on their chemical composition and performance. If you only choose one knife, carbon steel will be a better choice. It can cut both soft and hard objects and has stronger comprehensive practicality. In general, the best knife is the one that suits you. This article is just for reference.

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