Hardness, carbides, and how they affect durability and edge-retention.

[Michael Rader]

Great thread, guys. A good addition to the "Shop Talk" area.

All this metallurgy gets a little bit easier to understand after the first few hundred readings...

-M

 

[mete]

http://www.nitrofreeze.com/eta_carbide.html

Michael and Nebulae , It's all right there .LOL LOL
eta carbides are very small carbides formed by tempering after cryo. These carbides themselves increase wear resistance but part of it is that the have cohesion with the matrix adding strength .

 

[sunshadow]

I think this sounds like a fine idea. I've got a really thin one that's been kicking around the shop a little while. I just used it to break down a bunch of cardboard and I've been using it to deburr a bunch of phenolic I've been machining. It was designed to skin deer, but when you see how really thin D2 cuts up a lot of cardboard you're gonna pee your pants.

Tell me about your test, what do you do, how does it work?

PM me your address and I'll get it out on Monday.

OK update time.

Nathan did indeed send me two D2 knives, one of which is for the comparison test, the other to "drive it like you stole it" and I have been wearing it today and breaking down a lot of boxes. My first impression was that it did not feel and act "aggressively sharp" yet Nathan is absolutely correct, this thing cuts cardboard! I have noticed that it seems (not doing quantitative objective test, just impressions from use) to cut the cardboard more aggressively than fine edge knives, but not cut the plastic tape as well. I have cut a few leather straps, and it does not push cut well, but slicing motions cut extremely well. When I have held my end of the challenge up and created the equivalent blades in CPM154 this should be a great comparison.

-Page