Bark River Knives at Crystal Falls Trading Company

Bark River Knives
Carbon and Stainless Steels

Carbon Steel

All of these steels are closely related and performance depends on the heat treatment. So the following applies only to Bark River knives, not other brands!

1080-C: Bark River uses 1080-C on big choppers like the Golok. It is tough and takes a very good edge.

Carbon: .80% to .85%
Chromium: trace added to aid in hardening

1095: This is a basic High Carbon Steel that is fine grained and tough. It holds it's edge very well with proper heat treatment.

Carbon: .95%

0170-6, 50-100B and 1095CV: Are all the same steel. The are a little tougher than 1095 and hold their edge a little longer. It was the super steel of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

52-100: It is tough and takes a very aggressive edge and it is easy to sharpen and maintain. It's primary use is for ball bearings so it takes impact very well. It is also fine grained and is tougher than 1095, so it will hold it's edge a little longer.

Carbon: 1.1%
Chromium: 1.5%

50-100B: This is a steel that is an improved 1095. It is fine grained and holds it's edge just like 52-100 but is a little tougher due to the trace of Nickel and Moly in the mix. In actual use 50-100B and 52-100 will act so closely that they are almost impossible to tell apart in anything but laboratory conditions.

Carbon: 1.1%
Chromium: .5%
Nickel: .25%
Vanadium: .16%
Molybdenum:.06%

A-2: This steel is tougher than all of the above and holds it's edge longer because of the larger amount of Molybdenum. The Moly makes it more abrasion resistant than any of the above steels without compromising toughness. It is also fine grained

Carbon: 1.1%
Chromium: 5.5%
Vanadium: .5%
Molybdenum:1.4%

CPM 3V: Is a Powdered Metal Technology Steel made by Crucible Steel. It is tougher and more wear resistant than A2 steel.

Carbon 0.8%
Chromium 7.5%
Vanadium 2.75%
Molybdenum 1.3%

Stainless Steel

What knife makers call Stainless Steel is actually a Stain Resistant High Carbon Alloy. It is not Stainless Steel. You cannot make a knife from actual Stainless Steel because it has no carbon and can not be hardened.

440C: A high hardness martensitic stainless steel (HRC 58/60) which offers good wear resistance and good corrosion resistance.

154 CM: Is more abrasion resistance than A-2, but less toughness. It has a bit less abrasion resistance as D-2. With Bark River's heat treatment it is about as tough as D-2. 154CM is more stain resistant than either A-2 or D-2 and that is it's largest asset.

12C27: Is more stain resistant than any of the carbon steels. It is a fine grained steel with very uniform carbide disbursement like A-2 and 52-100. That means that all three will take a very fine edge. It also means that all three excel at toughness. A-2 holding it's edge longest because of the Moly content, 52-100 will be next because of it's higher carbon level and 12C27 will come in third for edge holding.

13C26: It has more Carbon than 12C27, so it will hold it’s edge longer.

19C27: A High Carbon Alloyed Stainless Alloy. It is tough and has the same edge holding as 154CM. The grain structure as fine as one can have in a High Carbon Stainless Alloy. It is not actually fine grained but finer than 440C and 154CM. That gives it a high level of toughness. Compared to 12C27 it has a lot more edge holding, but it is not as tough.

CPM 154: Is much more stain resistant than 12C27. CPM154 is as tough as D-2. It holds it's edge longer than A-2 by about 20%. It is also much harder to sharpen than A-2 because of it's abrasion resistance.

CPM S35VN: Designed to offer a 15-20% improvement in toughness over CPM S30V without any loss of wear resistance or corrosion resistance. It is also easier to machine and polish than CPM S30V

Bark River Knives

Bark River Knife & Tool
Website

Bark River Knives Company
Information

Product Information

Bark River Bravo-1 Knife
Bravo-1 Leather Sheaths
Fire Starting using Swedish Firesteel
Operating your Aladdin Oil Lamp
Cutting Board Cleaning and Care
Manufacturers Information

Useful Websites

Bark River Knife
Collectors Association
KnifeForums.com
Outdoors-Magazine.com
An Ax to Grind:
A Practical Ax Manual
U.S. Forest Service
ForestAndStream.com
Wilderness Learning Center

Knife
Manufacturers
Websites

Bark River Knife & Tool
D.H. Russell Knives
Grohmann Knives
Helle Knives
Hess Kniveworks
Leatherman Tools
LifeHammer
Marbel’s Outdoors
Mercury Mushroom Knives
Old Hickory Knives
Ontario Knife Company
Opinel Knives
Pro Tool Industries, Inc.
Sharpshooter Sheath Systems
Supreme Products, Inc.
Swiss Advance
Victorinox Swiss Army
Wetterlings Axes
W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co
Woodsman’s Pal

Bark River KnivesCarbon and Stainless Steels

Bark River Knives

Product Information

Useful Websites

KnifeForum.com Links

KnifeManufacturersWebsites

Bark River Knives
Carbon and Stainless Steels

Knife
Manufacturers
Websites