Is Blue Super Steel Actually Super? The Facts about Tungsten-Alloyed Steels

Alberta Ed said:
Nice work. CPM S110V has a bit of tungsten, too.
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I definitely wasn't covering all tungsten steels, but only the types with low hardenability that are often used by those who forge. I didn't cover any of the tungsten-alloyed high speed steels, for example. But adding, "low hardenability, high carbon, low alloy tungsten steels used by forging bladesmiths" seemed too long for the title. :)
 
Larrin said:
In this article I summarized the available data on tungsten-alloyed high carbon steels, estimated the properties where they are not available, and offered general information on the strengths and weaknesses of steels like Blue Super, O7, 1.2519, and V-Toku1:


http://knifesteelnerds.com/2018/03/...uper-the-facts-about-tungsten-alloyed-steels/
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Great article, I enjoyed reading it! I guess I'm a steel nerd too (or at least a wanna-be steel nerd).:D
The article talks about O-1 quite a bit. I didn't even know O-1 had Tungsten in it. Something that has been bothering me for a long time is, how does O-1 steel's toughness compare to 1080 or 1084 carbon steel? (Assuming an average factory knife heat treat, hardness at around 57-58 Rc.) I've never been able to find the Charpy values for 1080 or 1084. I've only seen them for 1095 and O1.
 
GrReaper said:
Great article, I enjoyed reading it! I guess I'm a steel nerd too (or at least a wanna-be steel nerd).:D
The article talks about O-1 quite a bit. I didn't even know O-1 had Tungsten in it. Something that has been bothering me for a long time is, how does O-1 steel's toughness compare to 1080 or 1084 carbon steel? (Assuming an average factory knife heat treat, hardness at around 57-58 Rc.) I've never been able to find the Charpy values for 1080 or 1084. I've only seen them for 1095 and O1.
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The article makes many references to O1 because it is well understood and can serve as a baseline from which to compare. The fact that it has a small tungsten addition makes it even more useful for that purpose. O1 has similar toughness to other high carbon low alloy steels like 1095 or 52100.
 
What's so Awesome is that Larrin IS a metallurgist professionals AND a knife guy, he also has made/makes knives, His father is Devin Thomas, A famous knife maker that specializes is Damascus, stainless Damascus and AEBL steel with killer heat treatment.

In that last article Larrin talks about Cruforge V which is a fascinating steel. It's low alloy high carbon steel like 52100, 01, etc with a "pinch" (0.75) of Vanadium

These articles take alot of his time to create and it's well sourced and researched.

Seems to be once a week currently.

So it's been great getting the updates through email subscription.

Larrin does this all for free so it's greatly appreciated.

This is great stuff.
 
Larrin said:
Why are you interested in the cobalt addition?
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Well ........I make some knife from HSS steel , M35 and M42 particularly and they are ALMOST stainless ............and I think that it is cobalt that make them so rust resistant , I think ........... :)
 
Natlek said:
Well ........I make some knife from HSS steel , M35 and M42 particularly and they are ALMOST stainless ............and I think that it is cobalt that make them so rust resistant , I think ........... :)
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I have m2, m35, m42, t42 blades and agree. M35 is M2+5% Co and is more rust resistant than M2, as is m42 (8% Co)and t42 (10% Co).
M2 is ok though and only accumulates very light dusting of surface rust in short periods, 12 hours or less. Under the same conditions, CPM-M4 will start pinhole pitting. I was one of the few who was disappointed Benchmade m2 was substituted with cpm-m4.

I'd also like more info on HSS as that's been my preferred knife steel for almost 35 years.
 
I’ve never seen in any publication that cobalt increases stain resistance. I would need references to write anything like that.
 
Larrin, thanks for continually sharing your knowledge and remaining a scholar :) Quick question, outside of s7 type steel, which would you rate as the toughest for hard blade use? (I exclude s7 since it seems to be the most tough, but it's other properties seem to suffer a lot). Does tungsten play a role? Or other 'newish' steel elements like Nb etc?
 
dirc said:
Larrin, thanks for continually sharing your knowledge and remaining a scholar :) Quick question, outside of s7 type steel, which would you rate as the toughest for hard blade use? (I exclude s7 since it seems to be the most tough, but it's other properties seem to suffer a lot). Does tungsten play a role? Or other 'newish' steel elements like Nb etc?
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I should write a clickbait article called, “What is the toughest steel?” I’m not sure I know what the toughest would be. The toughest steel would almost necessarily have poorer wear resistance. And it depends on what hardness you mean, as generally toughness is higher at lower hardness. I’m not sure your question is possible to answer.
 
I enjoyed your article. Couldn't help but think of Maxamet with Tungsten: 13.00%.
 
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