Stainless vs Non Stainless & Kaneshin

[yenling83]

1. What is your opinion on Stainless vs. Non Stainless Steel Tools? Are there any other advantages besides being rust resistance? Do you think Stainless become dull faster?

2. Anyone have experience with Kaneshin Tools?
I purchased a large root Kaneshin cutter and it seems to be really nice quality. The ebay member kei1974819 sells them.

Thanks!

 

[Stan Kengai]

Stainless is softer, and therefore will dull quicker. I would rather spend a little extra time cleaning, oiling and properly storing tools (I store mine in old socks or other cloth dampened with a little motor oil when I know I won't be using them for a while). Have you ever tried sharpening concave or knob cutters, where having them meet perfectly is critical? It's a foolhardy chore. And because they have to be sharpened more frequently, and typically more material is removed during sharpening than with carbon steel, stainless tools do not last as long. Besides that, carbon steel tools are significantly cheaper than their stainless counterparts.

As far as Kaneshin tools, I have no experience there.

 

[Gene Deci]

I have a stainless spherical concave cutter because I could not find a carbon steel one. I use it sparingly but it has done the job whenever I needed it and I have no complaints. I wouldn't use stainless if I had a choice though even if they cost the same.

 

[yenling83]

Great feedback, I currently only own all black tools, however was considering trying stainless. I would not mind paying more and the anti rust thing is cool, but the fact that they dull faster makes me think i'm going to stick with the Black.