A little science for the masses. Why is 1095 crap.
1095 has plate martensite. To avoid it one has to quench to target hardness. So not to max and temper it down. That way there is no plate martensite but there is a remainder of carbides which will kill toughness. Steels bellow 1060 and including will never get plate martensite. 1095 peaks in toughness around 55-57HRC and is in D2 category. One way to avoid plate martensite and get a harder blade is going for bainite. Still 59HRC is still in the non tough zone. Little is achieved because those same carbides kills toughness.
Alloy steels have no plate martensite because of correct alloying to avoid it and make carbides for cutability. There is no stainless nor high alloy steel with plate martensite.
1095 is marketing as seen here people still believes it rocks. Science debunks that. Larrin debunked it.
Geometry! Thicker makes stronger. Thicker blade, lower grind, thicker behind the edge, higher edge dps. All this enhances strength. Purpose of correct steel is to achieve balance of weight and purpose.
Testing is done incorrectly. A butter knife can cut thru nails. Those are compression tests and majority of steels can do it without suffering. If it doesn't cut nails, it's bad HT. My M398 skinner did it. So what is the reason for steel picking? Edge retention and vibration. Massive choppers vibrate more. Hand damage is now ignored but there are YT stuff that relates and shows difference in comfort of using TOPS heavy stuff vs thinner with better geometry. All materials fatigue. More mass equals more vibration. More carbides, stress in steel is higher per vibration. Softer steels with carbides suffer faster from it. That's why spring steel dominates in elastic deformation. Even they have limits, otherwise old springs would be good for knifemaking. That's' why 420HC when HT'ed to max hardness will have almost no carbides and prove tougher than 1095 3x and because of large amounts of Cr will have a better edge retention. And it's stainless. And it's cheap. And there are makers who prove it superior in budget blades.
Sharp corners, small sharpening choils, small and sharp jimpings and overall sharp edges all over are a visible recognition of more work, ergo more value, makers give. But are all weak points. Stress riser and crack propagation sites. Nathan's knives are more than just Delta 3V. He has taken care of small things to achieve a better product.
So why do people use a costlier steel, work more with it and for less working results ( 1095 vs 1055) is purely marketing. As seen here 1095 is like something everything else is compared to. That should remain 100 years ago. 1095 is a myth. 3V is so much more that 1095 should never be compared to it.
As some simpletons decided to adhominem, and for those who like to think with the correct head (anything is for debate with data), here is a
disclaimer:
Using correct choices of steel I have achieved the following in my HT:
- a method to achieve 2x min up to 3.5x max strength and toughness per steel, so low toughness steels are pushed into more reasonable category. This year going for 5x (it's way tougher than achieved).
- a method to bring down ductile to brittle transition almost to 0K, which makes the steel tougher at room temp and reasonably lower, ergo wherever people go
- a method to bring Ms 100°C up, so no cold treatment is used. This year goal is to bring it 200°C up to avoid cryo treatment
- a method to achieve more stainlessness, so for example MagnaCut can achieve LC2000 stainlessness
- a method to anneal steel in less than 1h from achieving correct temp
- soon start of testing a method for in situ alloying, so makers can make there own alloys
As seen, I like knives and want to make them a lot better at their purpose. 1095 is never a choice for those who want more. We have kilns, so why use coal!?
And I will give a big THANK YOU to
Larrin
and
Nathan the Machinist
for their respected work as they gave me motivation to do things differently.
Back to subject.
3V IS tough and one should be careful with what it compares it to. It's almost as a category for itself.
