Question on WWII Remington Pal knives

[wildromanian]

Did the Pal company ever make a stainless steel blade 6 inch bowie knife. Thier carbon steel 6 inch knife had the part number Rh36 which was made for the military with a phosphate finish and thier commercial knife which had a high polish finish had the same number on it but did they ever make the same knife in stainless?

[Ringmaster]

I'm not an "authority", Wild Man...but I would be surprised if they did. If you have an example, with a high-polish, it just might be chrome-plated carbon steel. That was a popular finish, for a few years - post war. I have a Case example of chrome-plate, and it's readily apparent, if you look at the stamping - it's not black, like a heat-treated, polished blade, it has the same "gloss" as the blade.

But.... it wouldn't take much to convince me, that I'm wrong.

That's just my guess,
JR

[wildromanian]

I would think that the chrome plate type finish would be the best of both worlds. You would have the corrosian resistance( like stainless does) coupled with the easy sharpening of carbon steel. I wonder why knife companies today do not do this?

[Ringmaster]

Well, chrome is quite soft, compared to the steel. Rockwell is in the 20's, I think. So, on a working knife, it's gonna scratch, and allow the corrosion to start in the scratches. MOST people that sharpen with a stone will, at some point, drag the sides of the blade against the stone, and wear away the plating.

That's not to say that it was a "bad" idea, but the advances in stainless steels, in the 60's made it possible to create a useable blade, and eliminate this expensive step in the manufacturing process. The companies that were willing to invest in chrome-vanadium carbon steel found that it could be polished to a luster, as good as plating with chrome. (Case, and others).

And, truthfully, most people (apart from knife lovers), don't care if their blade is shiny. But...that's a whole other topic. I hope one of our members can set us straight, about the Pal blades. Pal cutlery has always been a favorite of mine.

JR