Brick Wall

ron finkbeiner jr

ron finkbeiner jr

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So, does it seem to yall like it does to me that knife tech and steels have hit a "brick wall' as it were as far as new developments and technology?
 
Imo, not really. Have you seen what Nathan at CPK is doing and the tweaking he's done with Magnacut to push it to the limits. He's got some cool designs/knives in the works. Also, Busse and they are working their proprietary treatment with 3V. Both these companies are putting out some knice swords this year too.
 
ron finkbeiner jr said:
So, does it seem to yall like it does to me that knife tech and steels have hit a "brick wall' as it were as far as new developments and technology?
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I don't think so at all.

Makers are putting out new steels pretty often, and also pushing heat treat. Most of this is incremental but some is pretty big. Magnacut is a good example for stainless. For my uses the improved toughness has let makers offer thinner slicier blade stock. Another is the hardnesses people are taking Rex45 to while it still having good edge stability at low angles.

Sometimes the benefits take a while to manifest because there are a lot of variables, but once that starts getting wrung out we end up with more capable knives overall.

As far as the rest of knife tech....like shapes and handles and mechanisms....maybe. There has been some experimentation with locks, and more risks are being taken with blade profiles. Probably the biggest "tech" change I have seen is that very high quality work can now be had at really low prices.
 
There is only so much evolution that can occur in knife design (except for fantasy blades of course) but there are advances in steel and treatment regularly. I think when we are talking what is essentially a hand tool, these advancements will continue to be small and really only appreciated by perhaps professional users and enthusiasts.

Once a consumer grade lightsaber is offered I will eat my words :D
 
Err, once you can make me a version of Rex-121 that can be Joe-X'ed into a car, with a hollow grind, never rusts, and that I can hone up in a few touches with a fidgety lock that never breaks.
What would our forefathers think of Magnacut or CPM-Cruwear?

The lightsaber is cool, but takes the fun outta blade shapes. I would carry a full size lightsaber, with a 2" mini for utility, and a knife.
 
A brick wall? No, not at all. Still lots of innovation going on. Do I think we're firmly past the point of diminishing returns now? Very much so. Once Spyderco cracked the pocket clip and one handed opening I think the vast majority of innovations have been refinements and subtle improvements on what we already have.
 
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I'm with Andy the Aussie Andy the Aussie .... Once this happens I'll consider the matter settled.
 
If you're interested in knives, and you enjoy looking at and talking about them, you can easily get the idea that new and interesting things aren't happening fast enough to satiate your desire for new and interesting things.

Some of this is, as others have mentioned, a case of convergent evolution: you can only do so many shapes that will fit nicely in the human hand, and the human hand hasn't changed in at least several thousand years. The number of thousands kinda depends on which book you read.

Likewise, blade shapes are mostly a practical application of kinesiology, and a little bit of physics: there are only so many ways to make a blade that "cuts nice", and unless we learn how to flip our arms around backwards or some other equal body horror, the combination of point and edge is going to continue to put restrictions on the number of things you can do until you cross what I might call the "mall ninja limit".

Metallurgical developments have accelerated, if anything. How long was 154CM considered the pinnacle "super steel"? I honestly don't know, but now it seems there's a new "super steel" showing up twice a year! We've had a few new handle materials, which aren't as hype-worthy as new blade steels, sure. They're still happening, though.

If anything, this is a result of information saturation. I can remember a time when most of my knife information came in bi-monthly installments from a magazine. Now, I can refresh the web page as often as I like, in the hopes that something fantastic has happened. I'm not complaining, because it's allowed me to learn so much more about steel and history than I ever thought possible. It has also been an... opportunity... to be very honest with myself about the difference between "want" and "need", and how much I feel comfortable paying for those wants and needs.
 
A brick wall? Nope. A long slow incline, more like. And as long as steel is the predominant blade material, the long slow incline will continue. Something better than a super steel, or even an ultra-mega steel, will come along, eventually.

Hope I live to see it.....
 
ron finkbeiner jr said:
So, does it seem to yall like it does to me that knife tech and steels have hit a "brick wall' as it were as far as new developments and technology?
Click to expand...
Inflation and global supply issues could throw some cold water on developing innovations, but I think that there are still people out there chomping at the bit to acquire or create the next big thing. It's hard to say how adventurous the manufacturers are going to be with so many people's disposable income shrinking this year.

We didn't even have the chance to sink into S45VN steel and we got Magnacut! I would think that the industry on the whole will be working with these two big high end steels for a while longer, before they take another leap of faith or tech. That said, I'm still holding out hope for future blades with micro-electric machine edges on them, because that would be very cool.
 
Another question is do we yet fully understand the properties of alloying and heat treating metals or even the metal itself.
My impression is no. We are nowhere near fully comprehending the properties of metal and how to manipulate them.
There have been or perhaps even now significant evolutions in these areas but there seems to be so much more to learn.

One of the biggest issues is how to do it fast, and easy. Another is finding an economically practical way to bring the best out of these metals.
 
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One interesting food for thought is if we’ll still see “leaps and bounds” from here on out. Like toughness and edge retention in one package that greatly outclasses every modern steel today.
 
Have patience...

The single virtue; that none of us can wait to acquire.
patience_grasshopper.jpg
🙃
 
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