Is it actually possible for a knife to do this?

[Noctis3880]

It's curious. You'd think with today's powder metallurgy science and whatnot people would've already figured out how to get 1095 steel to behave like that.

[singularity35]

See, I told you 1095 rocks.(well, I didn't but then but I do now).

[me2]

What the #%?!! is bainite

You've done it now. Prepare for the poo hurricane.

After some recent work with a couple of folders and 2 of my 4 large choppers, I'd say cardboard and wood should pose no real challenge to steel edges. I cut over 100 feet of cardboard with 2 different $25 knives and both would still shave with some effort and cut paper with ease. I went through a 4x4 with one chopper with no detectable loss in sharpness when shaving my arm, and used another for an afternoon cutting up wood of various sizes and it will still shave hair and cut paper into thin curls. All four choppers cost a total of $40. In fact, I'd say that if a knife intended to be a large chopping knife wouldn't make it through a 2x4 and still shave, there is something wrong with it. Poor heat treatment, burned edge, dirt laden 2x4, bad steel, wrong steel, poor sharpening, too thick, too thin, etc., but something is amiss.

Listen to Esav. Sharpening plays a huge role in edge holding. A poor sharpening job will make S30V perform no better than properly sharpened AUS-6. Of course the same applies to all the other factors that go into knife design.

[me2]

It's curious. You'd think with today's powder metallurgy science and whatnot people would've already figured out how to get 1095 steel to behave like that.

I'm not sure what you mean by "behave like that", but if it's the wood chopping and paper cutting, try an ESEE in the 7 to 9 inch blade range. There are lots of people who figured out how to get 1095 to behave like that. They just didn't think it was impressive enough to tell everyone.

[DennisStrickland]

hardheart hits it on the head about bainite which actually patented in later 30s. angel sword uses this process in some hi-dollar katanas which have made 1000s of cuts on reed mats & remain very sharp with little edge wear after months of cutting.
dennis

[Ankerson]

I found this knife company vox knives. A one man crew with some pretty cool designs. At this link he chops a 2x4 in half and then says it still shaves hair and cuts paper. Is this possible? If so what properties do you have to have for a knife to do this?
Heres the link, http://blog.voxknives.com/#post108

Yes my Busses will do that easy.

I chopped a lot of 2x4's, Landscape timbers and 4x4's then batoned it after that without touching up the edge and after all of that it my NMFBM still shaved hair and would slice Phonebook paper.

[hardheart]

I'm not sure what you mean by "behave like that", but if it's the wood chopping and paper cutting, try an ESEE in the 7 to 9 inch blade range. There are lots of people who figured out how to get 1095 to behave like that. They just didn't think it was impressive enough to tell everyone.

I think he means the old Richtig demos of hammering the knife through bolts on an anvil.

[me2]

Oh that. Buck used that as their logo for a while, but I don't know if they could actually do it.

[Joshua J.]

I found this knife company vox knives. A one man crew with some pretty cool designs. At this link he chops a 2x4 in half and then says it still shaves hair and cuts paper. Is this possible? If so what properties do you have to have for a knife to do this?
Heres the link, http://blog.voxknives.com/#post108

As mentioned, wood is usually not very abrasive. Cutting a 2x4 is more a test of geometry.
The edge retention test is a monster that people have been trying to tame for as long as there have been knives, and even with the best technology available today there have been no conclusive results on what works best.

[paul'ie]

hello.
look up John Bradley, I got my knife from him. Its a camp knife , made of 52100, very light beautiful work its like art, scary sharp, excellent bushcraft knife too, cuts better than any other of my knives, he's also a pleasure to talk to. I consider him the guru of austempering.
Paul'ie