Tamahagane Spyderco!

[Jamesh Bond]

Definitely wouldnt complain.

[Dodge]

I have the bottom two designs that I think worthy of such a steel!!

[Bodog]

Don't these steels rust if you breathe on them and don't immediately dry them?

[Bugout Bill]

Don't these steels rust if you breathe on them and don't immediately dry them?

I had a Japanese sushi knife in some variety of traditional steel (carbon steel core, mild steel clad), it would rust quickly if not wiped down. Then again, that is a common element of Japanese cooking and even if it does rust, it's surface stuff that can be washed off quite easily.

Similarly, I do a lot of kitchen work with a Douk Douk; a knife in soft carbon steel. It will stain within minutes if you don't wipe food juices off.

[Cliff Stamp]

This is so strong that many Japanese use a two towel method. One towel is wet to wash the blade, one is kept dry to get the water off of it. This is also argued to stop cross contamination of the food. But yes, a pure carbon steel can rust so fast you can literally watch it happen in front of you if you cut an onion.

[762cal]

I'm in for a Hitachi White! I would like to use carbon steel knives Spyderco put out!

[Bodog]

This is so strong that many Japanese use a two towel method. One towel is wet to wash the blade, one is kept dry to get the water off of it. This is also argued to stop cross contamination of the food. But yes, a pure carbon steel can rust so fast you can literally watch it happen in front of you if you cut an onion.

So aside from edge keenness and sharpening ease, I have a hard time seeing how that would make a blade that someone would actually carry. May be good for kitchen work, but any kind of field or edc knife? No thank you. Well, I take that back. If it's clad then maybe. I have a hard enough time wrapping my brain around carrying bare blue super.

[Cliff Stamp]

... I have a hard time seeing how that would make a blade that someone would actually carry. May be good for kitchen work, but any kind of field or edc knife?

The ABS members commonly use 1084 and similar steels which are generally well regarded. It is rare to see someone talk about an ABS knife they bought which leaves them unsatisfied performance wise.

Now can they rust - absolutely. There is nothing in hammer forging which enhances the corrosion resistance of 1084 or similar steels even O1 which has significantly higher corrosion resistance (because even a small amount of Chromium is a huge difference over none) still reacts very poorly to even moderate conditions :




There are basically two approaches to using that kind of knife. The first is to be really focused on oil/wax to keep it as pristine as possible, ideally using a very high surface finish. The second is to essentially ignore it and just knock off the loose rust periodically and over time the black iron oxide will form a semi-protective layer. This isn't to say if you stick it in salt water it won't form orange iron oxide (which is the problem as it is a volume expansion and thus penetrates/expands rapidly) but you will note in mild conditions you won't see much of anything except a gradual darkening of the black oxide.

This is why a lot of ABS guys will ship their knives etched to force this initial oxidization, which also allows them a coarse look at the grain structure, transition points, etc. in the hardening.

[Niles]

What about a Spyderco version of the traditional Japanese pocket-folder knife: The Higonokami? Would it work?

Sortof like these, but, with trademarked Spyderhole and possibly serrations, and other features, perhaps even an FRN handle of some sort:

http://www.handeyesupply.com/products/h ... andle-75mm" target="_blank

http://www.metalmaster-ww.com/product-list/15" target="_blank

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higonokami" target="_blank

http://www.garrettwade.com/brass-cased- ... /02E05.01/" target="_blank

Yes to this!! The last link is the design winner for me. I also love that laminated blade look. My personal preference would be to have this as a locking blade though (compression lock?).

[sal]

We looked into Higonomi's about 25 years ago. They've been a traditional knife in Japan for a long time. The name Higonokami is a trademarked name and can only be used by the maker. Making our own and calling it a Higonokami was not a proper thing to do. We do have a Laci Zsabo designed, Higonomaki inspired knife with a RIL in-the-works. We also have at least one friction folder that we're working on and possibly two.

sal

[opusxpn]

I have the bottom two designs that I think worthy of such a steel!!

Like the blade shape on the bottom ones very similar to the BM 550HG (pointy sheepfoot)something I would like to see from Spyderco as far as a blade shape, of course spyderco will have better steel and locking mechanism.