Friction Forging

K

k_ozdragon

Joined
Feb 14, 2015
Messages
293
Just got in a new knife from "Diamond Blade" that has a forging process I've never heard of. They call it "Friction Forging". From what I can tell, they use boron nitride (spelling?) tool bit and force it heavily into cutting the blade edge. The resulting pressure and friction cause the edge to rapidly heat to forging temperature. They then quench it, causing a differential temper. The blade steel is D2 and they claim the edge is 65-68hrc without being brittle, and the spine is around 60hrc for strength. They also claim that the process " freezes out" the chromium before it becomes chromium carbide, which makes the D2 stainless - so much so that 10% nitric acid solution won't even etch the blade! They also offer CATRA testing showing its durability and retention vs a bevy of premium steels, but most notably D2 (standard), s30v, and s90v (they graph these traditionally forged steels because they came the closest to matching the Friction Forged D2). Despite the sXXv series of steel outperforming traditionally forged D2, they came nowhere near the Friction Forged D2. I've come across tons of "miracle processed" steels, but this one was interesting and had some merit to it - along with actual test data to back it up. What do you guys think?
I'll try to post the full literature later on this.
*Also I put this in general discussion to get everyone's opinion, not just knife makers. Plus this applies to a wider subject than specific questions on knife manufacturing
 
How do you like the knife?

I like D2, though I'm a light user and can't really justify having a preference.
 
I haven't purchased it cuz its $400 lol. I don't think the process justifies the cost. It just came into the shop I work at and the process sounded very interesting (if it truely works that way). The handle is very basic, but not horrible - just not what I'd expect at $400. However if it works as they claim, it would be a fantastic knife. I'd love to hear from anyone who knows more about this process!
 
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