Aged steel cuts better??? You are kidding, right?

michaelmcgo said:
Age hardening actually is a method of post-hardening. It's been a few years since Material Science, but as I recall the molecules are still a little flexible after heat treatment and take a while to settle into a stable and rigid pattern. I think the material actually absorbs something out of the atmosphere and incorporates it into it's lattice, which strengthens the material. I think the property that is increased the most by this is yield strength.
Click to expand...

You're mostly right, but it's movement of impurities that are already within the metal rather than being absorbed from the atmosphere. The process is also called precipitation hardening, because it happens when the atoms of these other alloying metals move through the lattice until they clump together. These clumps block dislocation movement. It can occur at ambient temperature, but is usually sped up with heat. This occurs mostly in aluminum and brass, and only in low carbon steels. Basically, a blade could get harder with age, but only if you used a metal that you shouldn't have in the first place.
 
My hardness seems to be waning now that I am middle aged. Maybe if I ingest some concrete, I can overcome ED. It fer sher gets harder with age. I can then strut around like Mick Jagger back in the late 70's, early puberty days for me. If not, Enzyte here I come. As for the article, sigh, I really should start writing professionally, because that author should not be paid for garbage such as that.
 
cj65 said:
My hardness seems to be waning now that I am middle aged. Maybe if I ingest some concrete, I can overcome ED. It fer sher gets harder with age. I can then strut around like Mick Jagger back in the late 70's, early puberty days for me. If not, Enzyte here I come. As for the article, sigh, I really should start writing professionally, because that author should not be paid for garbage such as that.
Click to expand...

Oh geeesh...Enzyte might not be the answer and probably has similar properties as the magical aged steel, but I loved the story. See your physician for the desired sub-4hr election (sorry, been watching too much of the Indonesian belly dancer :o )
 
LOL, luckily my posts never get to the raunchy level. I forgot what forum I was in LOL. I am by nature PG rated.
 
I don't know one way or the other, but I have heard about this. I was curious enough a while back to Google search on the subject. I didn't find anything related directly to knives, but I did see many references to some steels & other metals becoming more brittle with age (does this mean hardening?). Saw many references to structural applications (bridges & building supports), and also in aviation (turbine blades in jet engines becoming brittle & cracking). It seems at least possible to me that, at the very least, steel and other metals will CHANGE to some degree with age. If that happens to result in some hardening of the steel, I'd think that could affect a knife's cutting ability, one way or another.
 
If you flex a piece of metal millions of times, it will fatigue and break. Think B.O.A.C. jets. The same thing happens to cheese.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
I didn't find anything related directly to knives, but I did see many references to some steels & other metals becoming more brittle with age (does this mean hardening?).
Click to expand...

It doesn't. What you were reading about is most likely hydrogen embrittlement. That happens when hydrogen molecules diffuse, typically at high temperature, into the metal and react with carbon to form methane. The methane molecules then exert high tensile stresses on the surrounding metal, which causes cracks to form. Hardness is not affected.
 
It probably goes to show just how much worse the rope today is made if anything.
 
It's really hard to keep up with metallurgy. I'll have to go back to my metallurgy books and add notes about Enzyte as an alloying element !!
 
The reason this was happening is that a knife that is used for several years will suck out a part of your soul. You become slightly weaker, but your knife will gain that strength. It is for this reason that knife enthusiasts tend to get addicted to buying knives. They have no souls and are so weak they can no longer resist the urge to buy more knives. Since they have no souls left to give to their new knives, they tend to place these new purchases away in safes. One day, these souless bodies will die, and the knives that were never used will be placed in the hands of the new, where soul seeping can begin anew.

I thought every knife knut new this? :D
 
KnifeHead said:
I have to admit that when I first starting reading the article starting on page 68 in the current(June) issue of Knives Illustrated, I flipped back to the front cover to make sure it wasn't the April 1st Edition. The article is titled: Aging Steel: Testing Reveals the Older Some Knives Are, the Better They Cut.

The assertion by the writer is that some knives that he tested 1-4 years earlier were now cutting 3 to 10 times better....because they have "aged". Sharpening was done with a Lansky system to establish the same edge geometry on all knives tested and similar rope was used for the cutting test.

I don't doubt that he was able to cut more rope 1-4 years later but, the last time I looked into it, extreme temperatures were needed to change the properties of steel. I'm astounded that an article like this gets into a magazine such as KI but I am novice...who the heck am I to judge an expert(I'm assuming this and you know what that does:p)

Am I the big goof here for not believing this line of reasoning? I am willing to to be re-educated though, so what's your thoughts.
Click to expand...

This is actually a pretty valid scientific observation. This also works with all types of objects. I recently found a favorite pencil of mine from when I was 8 and now I write at least 3 to 10 times better than when I was in the 3rd grade.
 
Thalestin said:
The reason this was happening is that a knife that is used for several years will suck out a part of your soul. You become slightly weaker, but your knife will gain that strength. It is for this reason that knife enthusiasts tend to get addicted to buying knives. They have no souls and are so weak they can no longer resist the urge to buy more knives. Since they have no souls left to give to their new knives, they tend to place these new purchases away in safes. One day, these souless bodies will die, and the knives that were never used will be placed in the hands of the new, where soul seeping can begin anew.

I thought every knife knut new this? :D
Click to expand...

I'm adopting this theory. See, this is why you shouldn't be shy when you have a question. I feel smarter now. :D
 
There may indeed be some truth to the concept. In the 60's, Rolls Royce would bury their freshly cast engine blocks in large piles of manure. Left to age for a number of years, the blocks were then dug out and machined. The end result was supposed to be a more resilient engine block that was not as subject to cracking.
 
A.P.F. said:
There may indeed be some truth to the concept. In the 60's, Rolls Royce would bury their freshly cast engine blocks in large piles of manure. Left to age for a number of years, the blocks were then dug out and machined. The end result was supposed to be a more resilient engine block that was not as subject to cracking.
Click to expand...

Thats a bunch of crap :D
 
I am no expert by a long shot... but I was talking with a maker about something similar the other day.

I think it is possible.... but it does not have so much to do with the "aging" as it does with the sharpening.

Of course it would depend on the steel, heat treat, tempering, was it forged,.... a bunch of things.

But, say a knife was forged a bit to "hot"..... some carbon is "burned out".... more so on the thinner part down toward the edge.

Say heat treat is a bit on the "hot" side..... a very slight bit more carbon may be "burned out"..... especially on the thinner edge.

When the knife is finished, you can get it sharp...... but it mat not hold an edge real good. However, with repeated sharpening it gets to where it should be as far as edge retention goes.

Was it because it aged?...... Probably not.

Most likely it was because with repeated sharpening you get past the part of the edge that was ever so slightly lacking in carbon and get to a bit thicker part of the blade that contain the correct amount of carbon.

At least that was how it was presented to me and made perfect sense. ;)
 
Maybe because of the high tech delayed effect, plasma targeting, ultra high velocity heat treat and the superdense, high angle, hypersonic blade beveling technique.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top