How much is INFI worth?

slight said:
Is infi's composition known? I believe I have seen a chart stating the composition of the steel.

I don't know much besides my experience as an end user, which is relatively mild, so don't be surprised if I sound like a crazy person.

Couldn't you possibly ask someone for a quote to make some steel for you using the exact same composition (or a similar one) as infi?

Though that would only be half the equation since the heat treating also costs money (and time which also equals money.)

Like I said, my only knowledge of steel is as an end user. And even that is not vast compared to some. I have my doubts this is possible since it would have been done already.
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Elements in the steel and their percentages are fairly well known...now the anneal, quench, Heat treat., Cryo treat protocol, and other treatments-- well, that's a company secret and probably as close to impossible to figure out as anything in the known universe.

It's similar to the secret recipes for KFC & CocaCola.
 
PeteyTwoPointOne said:
It's similar to the secret recipes for KFC & CocaCola.
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Crucible industries could tell you but it would cost between $2500 and $3500 and letting them destroy a blade to find out the costly answer.
 
To my understanding, the composition of INFI is no secret at all, it's been posted many times over. It's the heat treat that makes it so special,, so you could argue that it's not in the material, but in the process that the value lies.
 
shqxk said:
I don't believe INFI would be any more expensive than powdered steel.

Its just a conventional cast steel with moderate amount of alloy. I'm sure there are mills that will get you a good price for a custom melt if you order in large enough quantity.
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your terminology is incorrect. Cast implies that is what you machine. No knife steel is just cast, well except cpm, but even the company that provides cpm does an extra step that I mention next. Not sure if you know how a steel mill works. But, molten steel is poured from a ladle into a large form usually very thick. The steel is then hot rolled and reduced in thickness to the desired size through a series of hot rolling mills. This stretches and compresses the steel. This reduction makes for a very solid piece of steel, and why I do not believe that cpm has such an advantage as claimed over non cpm steels. But that is another story. So, the making of most sheet steel is done by hot rolling.

Now lets discuss your claim. You are telling me that a steel like say S30V being made in the millions of tons for the biggest knife manufacturers in the world, is going to be as expensive a custom designer steel run in small batches say 1000 tons at a time? Really. That certainly makes ZERO sense, And certainly no one that has worked in any industry would ever believe that.
 
I don't think INFI is expensive at all. You can get a 6" blade for around $330 shipped (basic 6 le?) and it will last multiple lifetimes without breaking. It's only natural enemies are oxidation and bootleggers. That's a pretty short list.
I think the steel is probably similar in price as S7 but really just a guess.
 
rcb2000 said:
To my understanding, the composition of INFI is no secret at all, it's been posted many times over. It's the heat treat that makes it so special,, so you could argue that it's not in the material, but in the process that the value lies.
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Never tried to "mix" any up myself, but the "ingredients" are out there...the company secret I was referencing related to the HT, quench, anneal, cryo treat.-- exactly what you mention also. :)
 
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