Blade Education

E

expectthebest

Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
4
I'm looking for a primer on blades. I see so many different blade materials. For example, 1095, 440a, 440c, AUS 6, D2 and so on. Then there is the Rockwell hardness scales. Is there anybody who can give me a quick education on knife blades?

Thanks!!!:D
 
Also look forward to your confusion growing. For every new point you'll now consider, several more you know you don't know will creep in. The good part about all of this is that you'll enventually know why that knife you've always used for a certain task was just perfect even though most of what you'll be learning will suggest it was less-than-good.

I think the Gordon-MacYoung clan put it best:

"If you're not confused, you don't understand"
 
While web sites are great, I've always prefered reading a book. Anyone have any good knife books out there that cover the basics?
 
I'm afraid not. I can order a beer, ask where you are, and count to four in German. That's the limit I'm afraid. :)
 
Roman Landes, a member of bladeforums, wrote a book about steels and their uses and misuses in knives (it's the one in German which is why I asked). Phil Wilson, another guy here, has a bunch articles from the perspective of a knifemaker serving the needs of fishermen, hunters, and cooks. Alvin Johnston shares a ton of wealth over at rec.knives. You can also find enough metallurgical leads to cause an aneurism over at SFI, Don Fogg's, and over at Fred's place.

The biggest blind alley, and it's filled with sabre hollow-ground tactical knives made of the latest fad steel, is the search for a do-everything knife or do-everything steel. Do-everything is always followed by "but not do most things well."
 
expectthebest said:
I'm looking for a primer on blades. I see so many different blade materials. For example, 1095, 440a, 440c, AUS 6, D2 and so on. Then there is the Rockwell hardness scales. Is there anybody who can give me a quick education on knife blades?
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Rather than a quick education, expect an enjoyable lifetime of learning.

IMO bladeforums.com is as good a resource as you'll find, with the "Knife Reviews & Testing" and "Toolshed" forums being the primary places where we get into more of the interesting technical stuff.

A book I strongly recommend is "Metallurgy Fundamentals" by Daniel A. Brandt. The chapters dealing with steel alloys, heat treatment, phases, etc. will give you valuable background for really understanding the science of blade making. The book is also enjoyable to read, not overly technical, and well-illustrated.

One of the primary contributors here, Cliff Stamp, has posted a lot of great information and knife tests and reviews on his website, cutleryscience.com. One page on the site you may enjoy looking over is this one with information on a variety of popular blade steels:

http://www.cutleryscience.com/reviews/blade_materials.html

There's quite a bit of bullshit, hype, and popular misconception about knives floating around out there .... right here is a good place sort out fact from fiction IMO.
 
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