Have we reached the pinnacle of knife development technology?

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DangerZone98

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Dec 7, 2019
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In terms of measurable parameters such as edge retention and toughness, have we reached the pinnacle of knife development tech? Will we still see major improvements in blade performance in the next 50 years or so, e.g. 10x more edge retention than M4 steel, 5x tougher than 3V, etc. Or is it going to be incremental improvements from here on out?

Let’s make this a fun and educational thread, but keep it polite with one another too.
 
With cnc we will not see another level of precision. Some refinement will happen but mostly it will be simple design definition only. There will be as with any industry change for the sake of change which is consumer driven only.
 
someday we might be able to implement graphene into steels...or we come up with a completely new material for blades and steel will become something for nostalgic people.
 
As in everything, I think improvement will be more incremental as time passes but I guarantee there will be much better design and materials in the future, given a long enough timeline.

What we have now is pretty awesome, too.
 
Although we have made huge strides in the last 20 years we might still be in the stone age;what if some kind of new material develops or is accidently found that makes everything we are using today mediocre?
 
Larrin said:
Given how many stress risers are found in current popular knife designs I think we have a long way to go.
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I cant recall seeing knives break at stress risers unless abused badly. Maybe a Spydiehole break in very hard/brittle steel.
 
A knife is a knife. Be it chipped from stone or bone or machined from the most high tech of super steel, a blade is a blade.

I see steels that mend at the molecular level. I see blades made from materials that exceed the best properties of steel without the drawbacks.
 
I say absolutely NO. We have yet to find a Maxamet that you can beat on like 1095! But seriously... we have not come close. We still don't even have really proper scientific methods or standards, for what is "technically, by the book" a sharp knife, and by the same merit, when it is dull. Sure, lots of "methods" out there, will it "reliably" cut paper, will it pass through a rope free-hanging, but technique goes into this, lots of stuff does.

What we have now is GREAT but we should really have standard definitions. "Cuts through X x X x X length paper with X amount of pressure applied" or whatever
 
Steely_Gunz said:
A knife is a knife. Be it chipped from stone or bone or machined from the most high tech of super steel, a blade is a blade.

I see steels that mend at the molecular level. I see blades made from materials that exceed the best properties of steel without the drawbacks.
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Out of curiosity, what should we all be using then? I want to know about this magic stuff haha
 
DMG said:
As in everything, I think improvement will be more incremental as time passes but I guarantee there will be much better design and materials in the future, given a long enough timeline.

What we have now is pretty awesome, too.
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This is what excites me to think about. Will there be a day when M390 becomes a “so-so” offering compared to the cutting edge offerings of the future? Only time will tell perhaps.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
A knife is a knife. Be it chipped from stone or bone or machined from the most high tech of super steel, a blade is a blade.

I see steels that mend at the molecular level. I see blades made from materials that exceed the best properties of steel without the drawbacks.
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A phenomenal steel with “no weaknesses” is definitely something to look forward to.
 
DangerZone98 said:
A phenomenal steel with “no weaknesses” is definitely something to look forward to.
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Heck, a lot of materials we use today were thought to not be able to exist just a few decades ago.
Not all of those things ended up being good, see - Dupont and PFOA surfactants (teflon) that is now detectable 98% of the world over, and gave all the workers ulcerative colitis. Ask Mr. Kenneth Wamsley, a loyal employee of Dupont for years. Rambling, though.
 
jstn said:
I think Magnacut was big improvement I. All around performance, but not one single metric.
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I wonder HOW much of an improvement it is over LC200N or something, though.

I was looking at those Magnacut Emerson/Lionsteel Karambits and thought they seemed interesting, but have my doubts. It's like a stainless Cruwear, the way I understood it.
 
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