Carbon knives

aXed

aXed

Joined
May 1, 2002
Messages
190
Is there such a thing as "pure" carbon knives? which manufacturer produces the highest carbon content knives and what percentage of carbon does it contain? If there are such things, how well do they perform if they can perform at all? would they be found in kitchen knives, sporting, or swords?

Thanks everyone!
aXed
 
a "pure" carbon knife would either be graphite (soft, like your pencil lead) or diamond. Never seend a knife made out of either.
 
There is another carbon possibility - carbon nanotubes. Most research is being done with it's electrical properties ( higher conductivity than copper etc ) but it also has extremely high strength.
 
no, i think i should rephrase my question, 100% carbon would be coal wouldn't it?

Let's say Cold Steel, what percentage of carbon is in their Carbon V steel? are there steels out there that have a higher carbon content?

sound better?

thanks
aXed
 
Cold Steel Carbon V is what CS says it is at the time more or less 1095 or .95 Carbon.

As you can see there are many steels that have more carbon in them than Carbon V.
 
In general use 'carbon steel' knives referes not so much to the amount of carbon, but the fact that is a 'simple' steel: carbon + iron. I've read ads that 'these knives are high carbon' or even funnier is the 'high carbon stainless'. It is to laugh. Almost all stainless steels run in the 1% range. Some run higher because of a beneficial mix with other alloys.

As a general rule, tho, carbon above 1% either provides no benefit or starts to reduce the quality of the steel. The metallurgists amoungst us can explain.

For example, cast iron has carbon in the range of 2 to 4 percent. You couldn't make an effective knife with it! The other extreme is wrought iron with almost no carbon - it won't harden. It's the 3 little bears story.

Papa bear's iron has too much carbon and is brittle.
Mama bear's iron has too little carbon and is too soft.
Baby bear's iron is just right!

In simple carbon steels for knives the range is .5% to 1%. Of course that's a broad generalization and when the alloy content is high bets are off.

Hope that helps,

Steve
 
There are a few possibilities; carbon fiber and resin = fiber composite can be fairly easily formed into a knife form, it's been done.

A totally carbon knife would be made of carbon fibers and infusioned resin graphitized in high temperatures or pyrolyzis carbon could be used as matrix or possibly some form of CVD semi-graphite.

All of these are strong and can be sharp enough for SD pourposes otherwise somewhat useless.

TLM
 
Originally posted by TLM
There are a few possibilities; carbon fiber and resin = fiber composite can be fairly easily formed into a knife form, it's been done.

A totally carbon knife would be made of carbon fibers and infusioned resin graphitized in high temperatures or pyrolyzis carbon could be used as matrix or possibly some form of CVD semi-graphite.

All of these are strong and can be sharp enough for SD pourposes otherwise somewhat useless.

TLM
Click to expand...

I was actually just wondering how carbon-fiber would enter into this.

:)

I've got a carbon-fiber Melee by Neil Blackwood.

:)

Allen
aka DumboRAT
 
It is important to note that high carbon is a factor but you must also factor in alloying elements.

CPM S30V has 1.45 % Carbon
O1 has .85 to 1.0
D2 has 1.40 to 1.60
M2 has .95 to 1.05

although O1 and M2 have lower carbon % they hold an edge better typical of higher carbon blades. Also if you look at the rest of the chart there cromium % is very low compared to S30V and D2.

Because of this they are harder steels and not Stainless.

The true nature of steel is Iron and Carbon anything else is gravy to get the steel to preform in the environment you need. You can get steel that will never need to be sharpened just don't drop the blade and put it near water. You can also get steel that will prevent rust better the Titanium just don't expect to cut more then butter with it in a knife.

So that kinda makes your question hard to answer who had the highest Carbon blade. Well that is simple whom ever uses CPM 10V has the highest Carbon % but it is that high to ofset the fact that it has high Sillicon and high Sulphur in it.

O1 and W1 are the highest carbon contain steel out there.
 
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