6BH Cobalt alloy

[Whit]

I an ad selling 6BH as a "great steel for knives" The specs stated it had a Rockwell C hardness of 42-49, certainly not what most knives should be. Is there a way to harden this stuff further? It contains 1% carbon, but does that not matter because it's 60% cobalt? I am ignorant in all of the metallurgy stuff, forgive me.

 

[larry1096]

Somebody who knows more (that's almost everybody) should expand on this, but...
The matrix is soft, but it only holds the cobalt, which actually does the cutting. I've heard it compared to a piece of plastic with bits of sharp glass embedded along the edge.
If you're at the site I've seen that at, it's not cheap, is it?
Larry

 

[Bob Sigmon]

I got some 6bh from High Performance Alloys. It is in a size that is only good for a fillet knife. It is age hardened and did make a very sharp knife that seems to be holding an edge. I have not run it through extensive testing. The big problem is the shape of the blank, it come in a rolled v shape and it is a bit-h to get pin hole vrtically through the stock (not to mention that you have to use carbide drills)

It was an interesting experiment but I don't think I'll get any more.

Bob Sigmon

 

[Kit Carson]

Talonite is 6Bh, or is it the other way around Do a search here on the forum and you can read a wealth of information. You might also want to search for Stellite 6K.