mild steel as blade steel

[woodybushman]

I don't know what kind of steel a printing press axle is made of, but I bet somebody in Shop Talk does.

:footinmou :footinmou OOPS, thanks for the referal to Shop Talk..... my bad..

Mods, you can move this if you want....

 

[underaged!]

Using mild steel as a blade any comments?

Thrower.

 

[Ilovetoolsteel]

How much worse than 420hc could it possibly perform?

420HC is a pretty decent steel, it is a heck of a lot better then 420J, and even that stuff is better then mild steel.

n2s

Did you have a look at the link Cliff posted? The fact is If 420hc were a "pretty decent steel" custom knifemakers would use it. Nobody who manufacturers knives uses 420 hc because it makes a good blade. They use it because it's dirt cheap and is easy on the tooling.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

The fact is If 420hc were a "pretty decent steel" custom knifemakers would use it.

I would not use that as a real strong arguement, there is a lot of bandwagon jumping in the custom market.

As an aside Phil Wilson uses 420HC in kitchen knives, ~ 55 HRC. He picks it for the balance of corrosion resistance, toughness and edge holding.

Nobody who manufacturers knives uses 420 hc because it makes a good blade. They use it because it's dirt cheap and is easy on the tooling.

This is true in general though, same with "surgical stainless" to an even greater extent.

-Cliff