Knive steel

R

RWBlue

Joined
May 10, 2008
Messages
13
This is something I haved been interested in, but know I know nothing.

Could someone write up something about the different knife steel that are out there?

Which are harder than others? Rockwell hardness?
Which are flexible?
Which are too soft for X?
Which will chip if you try to use them as a wedge?
Is there a better knife steel for kiten use, vs. woods use, vs. daily city carry....?

If you know of certain companies that use X vs Y steel that would help.
If there are any gotyas, like although company uses X steel because they don't Z, it is not as good as normal X steel.
 
Man, you are asking for a lot.

The best place to start is Google, and don't believe everything you read. As you narrow down the topic a bit, come back and ask more specific questions.
 
The variety of different steels and their inherent characterisitcs will both baffle and amaze you.

Good luck studying this beautiful melting pot of metallurgy on the forums! :D
 
Last edited:
noakland said:
Check this out.
Click to expand...

I see nothing.




Can someone compare and contrast

INFI
INFI is currently only used by Jerry Busse. In place of some of the
carbon (INFI contains .5% carbon), INFI has nitrogen. The result is a
non-stainless steel that is nevertheless extremely stain resistant
(informally reported at close to D-2, or even better), incredibly
tough for a high-alloy ingot steel, and with extremely good wear
resistance.

D-2
D-2 is sometimes called a "semi-stainless". It has a fairly high
chrome content (12%), but not high enough to classify it as stainless.
It is more stain resistant than the carbon steels mentioned above,
however. It has excellent wear resistance. D-2 is much tougher than
the premium stainless steels like ATS-34, but not as tough as many of
the other non-stainless steels mentioned here. The combination of
great wear resistance, almost-stainlessness, and good toughness make
it a great choice for a number of knife styles. Bob Dozier is one
maker who uses D-2. Benchmade has begun using D-2 in its Axis AFCK.

And
http://www.scrapyardknives.com/knives.htm
Steel: SR-77
Hardness: 58 - 60 Rc


I have talked to people that claim they can abuse their Busse knife and it is still good.
I have a Scrapyard knife. I have abused it. I cut lots of things which is no big deal, but I needed to split wood one day and didn't have a wedge..... It scuffed the finish, but didn't screw up the knife. I am impressed with it.

I don't have a D-2 knife. Can I abuse a mass produced D-2 knife and not damage it?
For grins lets say a Ka-bar.
 
There are a ton of references on the various steels. What really compounds the variations is heat treat. Each steel gets it's own optimum heat treat, but the "recipe" of temperature, soak time, quench, reheat, and other thermal conditioning brings out a range of performance for each steel. It's the desired end goal that determines what to do.

Blade profile and edge grind can also affect the ability of the knife blade.So, basically, the same steel can be made too hard or soft, too flexible or stiff, too brittle or too ductile. All of those extremes are interrelated to each other.

A soft tempered stainless with thick edge may be a lot worse cutter than a thin carbon steel blade at much higher hardness - and break more easily.

So, when you choose the steel, blade profile, edge thickness, heat treat, and map them all out, you might get what you were trying for. It's still more art than science in the actual product.
 
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