How different is Case's carbon steel vs the CV?

[El Jay]

Anyone have any info from actual usage? Thanks!

 

[hhmoore]

Maybe I'm not understanding your question. Case's carbon steel  is CV.

 

[El Jay]

Maybe I'm not understanding your question. Case's carbon steel  is CV.

They don't label it cv. Now it is cs. Supposed to be different.

 

[hhmoore]

Consider me so informed (and corrected!!) - I just looked it up... citing supply chain issues & increased demand they have decided to switch to 1095. From 1095CV. I doubt that most users will notice a difference as it is run. That might not be true with a more optimized heat treatment; but Case wasn't running their CV at 62-63 HRC.

 

[cbach8tw]

I thought the CV stood for chrome Vanadium, so now they have switched to CS. Intersting, good read when I looked it up.

 

[screened porch]

There's a long thread about this already.
Not that I can tell you exactly where.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I didn't notice any difference and I suspect most people probably never wouldn't either.
Many of the more obsessed knife nuts here who have experience with just about every kind of steel might, but those people also care more than a lot of people.

 

[abcdef]

So, have they dropped CV? Or are they offering CV and CS?

 

[Rsmith_77]

What I am reading is they cv is limited stock and when it's gone, it's gone

So I think they offering both until it runs out then it will only be cs

 

[afishhunter]

"CV" = "1095 Chrome Vandium"
"CS" = "Carbon Steel" (any carbon steel.)
At least that is my understanding.

It's "almost" like Case took a page from the pre-2004 Schrade book concerning the "Schrade +" designation/name for their stainless steel blades.
"Schrade +" was  usually 440A. However, there are no guarantees or promises a run or three  didn't have 420HC ... or even 440C, in the early/mid 1960's/early 1970's, when it was ... "difficult" ... to find a pocket knife that wasn't a Schrade family or a Buck with stainless blades that weren't stamped "440C".
At the time, "440C" was a huge selling point for knife marketing departments.

Even the cheap no-name (made or imported by FROST?) Gas Station Specials were stamped "440C" on the tangs!
They may well have really been 440C. However, that does  not mean (a) They had a good heat treat (or any heat treat, for that matter) and (b) they had a proper edge angle.
(Using the Arkansas stones that were available then, the no-names stamped "440C"  were harder to touch up the edge than the rarer, more expensive name brand knives that had 440A blades.)

I remember some of the no-names were so dull they could not sharpen a Crayloa Crayon, or slice a peeled tomato, without spending hours with a file and/or stones to re-profile the edges first. TBH, I would not be surprised if some I sharpened for a couple friends in Junior High (now known as "middle school") came with a 50 to 60 degree per side (100 to 120 degree inclusive) "edge".

 

[Lesknife]

This is one reason why I gave up on case knives. After visiting with a case factory representative about the steel they use. His explanation was that the cv blades were 1085 with some chrome and vanadium. He didn’t have the exact specs for the composition and stated that some could be 1095 steel depending on what their supplier had available. The same with their ss surgical steel, xx stainless. He couldn’t nail it down as to what they used or the heat treatment specs. I was astonished by the lack of specifications or the heat treatment process and he didn’t seem to think it mattered.

I think mostly they make knives in the various handle covers for collectors who just want pretty knives and not for actual use other than slicing an apple or cutting a string . I have a few that are acceptable for use and one in 154cm that’s a decent knife but most of what I bought 10-12 years ago just wont hold an edge. They are just to soft be it ss or cv. The case/ Bose knives are in a different category but at several times the cost.

I just can’t understand why a knife company with a long history would be so uncaring about their steel and process to achieve a better knife. And it’s a mystery of what actual steels they use. And the masses who buy them probably don’t care either and that’s why they can get away with it.

 

[helobite]

I just can’t understand why a knife company with a long history would be so uncaring about their steel and process to achieve a better knife. And it’s a mystery of what actual steels they use. And the masses who buy them probably don’t care either and that’s why they can get away with it.

You hit it on the nose with your last sentence. Their customer wants a knife they can sharpen with rudimentary equipment. And wash the knife in the dishwasher if need be. I asked two Cutco representatives about what steel Cutcu uses, and it is 440A. And the reason, their customer puts the knives in the dishwasher. And I am going to claim uses the grinding stone found on the back of an electric can opener.

Very few, and I mean, very people have sharpening stones, and fewer have the ability have the skill to maintain a bevel. Few are the people using diamond stones, which are needed for modern hard steels.

this will just round the edge on a modern, hard, knife steel. It is not aggressive enough to form a flat bevel

It has always surprised me to handle the knives of trademan and find they are dull, and have not been sharpened within memory. "I don't know the last time I sharpened the thing!" The market segment demanding hard, high alloy steels is very small.

If Case uses 1095 chrome moly, that might be an improvement. I like 1095CV.

 

[brownshoe]

If they use terms like CV and CS it can be any steel. That's one of the reasons why they use ambiguous terms. Another reason is to make you think it's special, like Schrade+ or Queen Steel. That 's why Spyderco and Benchmade stamp the steel type on the blade, so you know what you are buying.

 

[JM2]

You hit it on the nose with your last sentence. Their customer wants a knife they can sharpen with rudimentary equipment. And wash the knife in the dishwasher if need be. I asked two Cutco representatives about what steel Cutcu uses, and it is 440A. And the reason, their customer puts the knives in the dishwasher. And I am going to claim uses the grinding stone found on the back of an electric can opener.

Very few, and I mean, very people have sharpening stones, and fewer have the ability have the skill to maintain a bevel. Few are the people using diamond stones, which are needed for modern hard steels.

this will just round the edge on a modern, hard, knife steel. It is not aggressive enough to form a flat bevel

It has always surprised me to handle the knives of trademan and find they are dull, and have not been sharpened within memory. "I don't know the last time I sharpened the thing!" The market segment demanding hard, high alloy steels is very small.

If Case uses 1095 chrome moly, that might be an improvement. I like 1095CV.

That vintage stone in box is pretty cool man. Thanks for sharing.

I don’t care for cases stainless though I use it. I use a knife a lot for whittling and woodwork. Ease of resharpening is the most important for me. I also enjoy using oil stones. So simple steels are what I like. 1095 and similar are all just dandy for my purposes.

As a woodwright, I keep my tools edges pretty keen. Stropping intermittently between stoning.

 

[jmh33]

Wow.. All the way to Post 11 before the negativity started...
Might as well throw BRKT and CRKT in the mix for a complete Tri-Fecta..
John

 

[Lesknife]

Wow.. All the way to Post 11 before the negativity started...
Might as well throw BRKT and CRKT in the mix for a complete Tri-Fecta..
John

Case has earned the negative reputation. When they can’t come out and say what steels they use or the heat treatment and keep it a mystery then they have no merit. If they don’t care then why should I ?

I’ve contacted case about a mini trapper i have that has a stainless clip blade and a cv spey blade. Their response was that I had a unique knife. After that I was done with case. They clearly have no care about their products meeting a standard or customer satisfaction.

 

[brownshoe]

Case has earned the negative reputation. When they can’t come out and say what steels they use or the heat treatment and keep it a mystery then they have no merit. If they don’t care then why should I ?

I’ve contacted case about a mini trapper i have that has a stainless clip blade and a cv spey blade. Their response was that I had a unique knife. After that I was done with case. They clearly have no care about their products meeting a standard or customer satisfaction.

Your knife is unique, how is that a failure to satisfy a customer? They wouldn’t know why.

Blade swapping and Frankenknivves made of parts has been done for years. I have a Remington that never was factory assembled based on the covers and the two smaller blades which are tang stamped Remington but are obviously custom ground to smaller size. You can buy bags of knife parts. Lots of old celluloid knives were deconstructed to create nicer knives and discard bad covers and rusted blades. Plus, stealing parts from your factory job to make a knife at home is supposedly a time honored practice in US cutlery tradition.

 

[JM2]

Maybe case isn’t the best at customer service. Maybe they don’t make the finest cutlery stainless steel, but when they get it right, a case is both beautiful and functional.

I prefer carbon steel. I don’t mean I prefer cases carbon steel to cases stainless; but I prefer carbon to anyone’s stainless. Stainless just isn’t up to the tasks that I give a knife. It doesn’t get the keenness of edge I need, and anything “decent” is also to hard to sharpen.

I use cases stainless just like i use bucks , and Camillus, and schrade USA stainless; begrudgingly. When I’ve had and used a benchmade in stainless, it was also begrudgingly.

 

[helobite]

That vintage stone in box is pretty cool man. Thanks for sharing.

Purchased it new from AG Russell in the 1970's. And it works fine for plain carbon steel knives, not so great on 420. Hopeless for D2, S35VN.

 

[hornetguy]

I've had about 95% success with Case's steels, both CV, CS, and TruSharp. I've been able to get very useable edges on all of them. I've only had one... maybe two that I just could not seem to get a decent edge on.... probably due to uncertain heat treat.