Case Knives Steel

[BigBill5953]

Does anyone know the difference between Case steel? Ive seen some models that have stainless steel and others that have Chrome Vanadium. Anyone want to take a gander?

[The Mastiff]

I believe Case uses 420 HC for stainless. I've heard the CV steel is a 1080-1085 to 1095 type steel with a bit of added elements like vanadium ( not enough for vanadium carbides but used as a grain refiner). Kind of like KaBar's "Crovan" 1095 steel.The case steels are run pretty low when it comes to hardness and the CV knives are about as easy to sharpen as steel gets. It takes great edges, and gets really sharp. I don't care for their stainless but there are an awful lot of happy customers that like it.

They also use some different steels such as BG42 in different models like the Slim lock which is released in different handle materials, colors and finishes several times a year.

Joe

[Switchback]

I think Joe summed it up pretty good. Not much more I can add but I do like Case's stainless. There isn't anything special about it but it's more than acceptable for a traditional pocket knife.

I would like to see some more Case knives with a satin blade finish. Right now the only way to get that is to buy one of the Case/Bose collaboration knives. The rest of their stainless steel line is either mirror polished or what they call an "as ground" finish. Both good finishes but I would like to see them offer a satin finish on at least some of their regular line.

Their Chrome Vanadium is very good carbon steel.

[JD Spydo]

I believe Case uses 420 HC for stainless. I've heard the CV steel is a 1080-1085 to 1095 type steel with a bit of added elements like vanadium ( not enough for vanadium carbides but used as a grain refiner). Kind of like KaBar's "Crovan" 1095 steel.The case steels are run pretty low when it comes to hardness and the CV knives are about as easy to sharpen as steel gets. It takes great edges, and gets really sharp. I don't care for their stainless but there are an awful lot of happy customers that like it.

They also use some different steels such as BG42 in different models like the Slim lock which is released in different handle materials, colors and finishes several times a year.

Joe

Hey Mastiff that's interesting what you say about Ka-Bar's blade steel because I've always thought that they had a little bit better steel than most of what I call "hardware store" knives. Until I became a Spyder-head I used Ka-Bar knives a lot throughout the years and my Nephew is still using a double bladed, stag handled hunter/folder that I had used on many deer hunts and he still loves that knife.

Like I've said in the past most all of the brands of knives you see at many local hardware stores I tend to like KaBar and Buck better than most any of the others. It doesn't surprise me that Kabar uses a little bit better blade steel.

[RanCoWeAla]

just wanted to thank you for mentioning Case knives which happen to be my favorite brand of classic slip joints. I collect the Case Sway Back Jacks and I'm also a life member of the Case Collector's Club as well as a registered member of the Spyderco forum. However right now I'm buying way more Spyderco's than Case knives. There was absolutely nothing in either of the three 2012 Case catalogs that I was interested in so I'm just working on my Spyderco collection and SBJ's that my collection is lacking.

[VashHash]

If you google case CV steel you can find the exact composition. I've seen it a few times as I've done the search myself regardless i do have two case CV knives and one case SS and i prefer the CV knives they take a wickedly nasty edge and hold it fairly well. Defintely for working though. I wish case offered some of the nicer knives with CV steel. They do limited runs in certain color bone but all the ones i like are older models and not easy to find.

[phillipsted]

I have a couple of worker knives I've used for years in the Stainless - an M3Finn sheath knife is one of them. I always found that this steel accepted an edge readily, but rolled fairly easily. On the upside, it doesn't chip very readily, so it is easy to resharpen. Which is good, because you'll need to resharpen it a lot...

TedP

[Mr Blonde]

Perhaps a little off topic, but I visited the Case booth at last year's IWA show and asked them what steel they used. The answer was that they didn't know! They did offer to get back to me on it, but it would have required contacting the head office etc... I thanked politely. Apparently, steel isn't an issue at all with Case customers.

[v8r]

Perhaps a little off topic, but I visited the Case booth at last year's IWA show and asked them what steel they used. The answer was that they didn't know! They did offer to get back to me on it, but it would have required contacting the head office etc... I thanked politely. Apparently, steel isn't an issue at all with Case customers.

Unfortunately most people are only concerned with the way things look. They do not care about the technology that may be hidden beneath the surface. For instance a car could be the fastest, best handling vehicle ever with the ugliest body and nobody would give it a passing glance. Throw a good looking body on a slow car that dosen't handle well and joe consumer will like it. It all boils down to the fact most consumers buy on impulse and are not educated about what they are purchasing.

[BigBill5953]

Also I think most Case collectors buy Case's to put in a display box and set it on the mantle piece instead of their pocket. Dont get me wrong though, i have a few Case's I carry every now and then but theyre usually for opening letters, cutting string, etc.

[The Mastiff]

J.D., I agree about the Kabar crovan steel. It's also used in Beckers line and they have a lot of customers too. It's said to be the same steel as Cold Steels old Carbon V which were made by Camillus. It has several names including 0170-6, 50-100b , and something else I can't recall. It made pretty decent large blades but I liked it in small cold steel folders as well. Camillus really put out some great stuff when they wanted.

Joe