Carbide

[Shmulik]

Hello all, this is my first thread!

What I would like to know is how come they dont use tungsten carbide for making knives' blades?

 

[Cliff Stamp]

People have made knives out of solid carbide. The problem is that they are just very brittle compared to steel.

-Cliff

 

[Shmulik]

Is it more brittle than zirconium oxide?

I'm under the impression that you can use it for small blades like in the sak's, where you don't use too much force.

 

[tom mayo]

tungsten carbide is about as brittle as glass

 

[Shmulik]

Ok ok, I get the picture.
But let me ask you fellows this,on what kind of tools you can use carbide in a multitool?
I all ready know about the file and wire cutters. You see,it's just that I have always felt that our knives and tools have a "metalphobia", and they can not manipulate the harder spectrum of matirials.
And the CPM steels just don't cut it.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

There is no reason that you can't use carbides if you want, just find a knifemaker that is willing to grind it. The only real drawback in regards to cutting, is that the edge is going to be really prone to breaking. If you have to really overthicken the edge in order to get it to get a decent enough level of durability, the cutting ability might be so low as to really reduce its ability as a knife. In regards to the CPM steels, the primary reason that many of them give bad impressions is because of they way that they are hardened. If left soft ~55RC, they are not going to give that high a performance in many areas of edge retention. However there is no reason that you can get them to ~64RC if you want. If you are not satisfied with CPM-10V at 64RC, then you have some very high standards for edge retention. Have you tried any of the ceramic blades on the market?

-Cliff

 

[Shmulik]

Cliff, I didn't know about the CPM at 64c, do they have it in production line, or do I need to have it costume made? How would you compare it to 154CM?
I only saw a Boker ceramic folder, and I wasn't very impressed with the complaints about its brittleness.
My dream knife won't only keep it's sharpness long, but would be able to cut tin cans with out going dull, and I wouldn't be scared to cut against hard surfaces. Is that possible these days?

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Most production companies run their blades on the softer side to make them a little less likely to break when they are not just being used to cut things. So yes, you will have to go custom to get a high level of hardness as it indicates a much more focused blade.

In regards to the kinds of cutting you mention, you would want a very hard steel to resist impacting and deforming, as well as one with a high toughness so it won't chip easily. The kinds of steels mentioned in the following thread :

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=190808

Any steel could do the above with an obtuse and thick enough edge, the goal would be to have a knife that could do that kind of cutting without damage, and still cut well enough to be useful as a knife in general.

Ceramics and carbides for example can easily cut tin without damage if done in a controlled manner, but if you attempted it by hand, with a fine knife edge, you would just break the edge of the blade apart.

-Cliff