Busse is not the only one using Nitrogen

Cobalt

Cobalt

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In the latest Blade issue there is talk of a Boker steel discussed by blade magazine in Jan/2000 using X15 T.N steel that "substitutes a certain percentage of carbon with nitrogen integrating the nitrogen into the steel during the primary melting process..."

Obviously, this is not INFI steel, but I thought that it was interesting that someone else is using nitrogen in their steel.
 
Someone sent me mail the other day stating that testing had been done on the Mod INFI showing it to be the same as an old Udeeholm <sp> tooling steel with an expired patent. I deleted the mail but I am sure others have seen it. Assuming that this steel receives the nitrogen treatment at some point, my question is would the addition of nitrogen somehow change the properties of an older steel to perform better than before? And, do you think this would be a process that would be beneficial to other steels. Also, would this qualify as a tempering process or is the nitrogen introduced during the manufacturing of the steel itself? anyone know?

-Sam.
 
Adding nitrogen is used since "eternity" in some forms of nitriding or carbonitriding, which is a form of "case hardening".
Case hardening is one of the best methods to create steel with a tough core and a hard surface. Unfortunately NOT suited for knives as you have to "sharpen" once in a while, so eventually the hard surface will be gone.
BuckCote is a more modern method, using TiN, and sharpening asymetrically keeps the hard surface longer.

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D.T. UTZINGER
 
Yes I know
wink.gif


Seriously though Nitrogen is a another property of steel that appears to be gaining acceptance in the industry. Anyone testing a Busse knife has to shake their head after a few hundred rope cuts. Nitrogen is a key ingredient, but more important is the way all the "components" are put together in the final package. Obviously Busse has mastered that part and others will as well. That is what makes innovation so cool! When one company makes a KICK ASS product, it forces others to do better as well. In the last twenty years, we have seen many companies rise to the occasion when pressured by more technologically advanced competition. Camillus is a prime example of a company who knows when it is time to change and the CUDA line is indicative of that.

More new steels, handle materials and such are on the drawing boards right now. You can no longer be a "me too" company. To succeed you must differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack and lead by innovation and technology. Just tossing Nitrogen in the mix won't "cut it" because then you will be just another "me too". The knife must perform!

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Mike Turber
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Nitrogen has been put into steel for a long time. It was used by the Germans in WW2 in the engines of their fighters. I believe it was used in place of the nickel that the allies used. About 12 years ago I read an old technical paper put out by ROLLS ROYCE of England that was about this. ROLLS made aircraft engines and british HQ coudn't understand how the german fighters had such good preformance as the thinking was that without access to nickel they could not produce alloys that would preform at elevated
temperatures. During the battle of britan downed germain fighters were recovered and analyzed and it was then that the nitrogen substition was found. I don't think that it was used as a manufacturing process in the USA or elsewhere for many years later.
I 'm writing from memory( now where was I ?)
I hope someone else has heard of this.
My memory is like a ..you know.. that thing with all the holes in it.
 
If I recall correctly, Busse's claim was simply that Ni had not been been used in the *cutlery* industry before he introduced its use. I believe J.Busse got the idea from the gun mfg industry (someone plz correct me if wrong), where it has been used for some time to purify and improve hardness AND toughness of steels.

Rex -- yes, INFI includes Ni in its composition. See the current thread, "What makes INFI so special???"

FYI -- Glen

[This message has been edited by storyville (edited 04-08-2000).]
 
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