Could blade scratches = Stress risers

[L. Uebelein]

Whether from use or sharpening, blades tend to get scratched. Ive often wondered if scratches could be stress risers, especially on steels that tend to be brittle? Any thoughts?

 

[mete]

Not enough to matter.

 

[Shmackey]

Would have to be one badass scratch.

 

[Doug C]

Or one REAL thin blade!

 

[L. Uebelein]

Thats good to hear:thumbup:

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Some makers have said such, Fowler for example, however I have seen many blades broken and they don't crack through the scratches unless the force is already concentrated there. I even went so far one time as to use a cutoff wheel in a dremel to cut a line straight across a machete and vice it and see if it would crack there, it would not. Significant issues tend to be really sharp and square corners, especially at the tang.

-Cliff

 

[george tichbourne]

I have seen very thin blades stress crack at a grinding scratches. This happened on blades that were flexed regularly during sharpening.

 

[Ed Fowler]

A lot depends on the blade, a whimpy blade is not as likely to break due to influence of a significant scratch, a strong blade can develop a crack from a scratch from a single swipe with the edge of a triangular file. Scratches from sharpening are not likely to lead to a crack in normal use, unless you are using real coarse abrasive material to sharpen.

 

[rev_jch]

Scratches, most any way, are much to minor to be any kind of a real problem.