New book “The Story of Knife Steel” by Dr. Larrin Thomas

I think I will buy a copy and have a go.

Idea for your next book: non-steel blade materials. Or are there not enough of them to warrant a book?
 
Smaug said:
I think I will buy a copy and have a go.

Idea for your next book: non-steel blade materials. Or are there not enough of them to warrant a book?
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Two books was already too much work for me. I have some non-steels to test for a video/article but since I am a steel metallurgist I doubt I would ever do a whole book about these inferior materials.
 
I was one of the first to order your first book - and it is excellent.

Apologies, I have not yet had time to get this new one but I will & will put a review up on amazon etc

...
a word of advice, if I may, (a good friend of mine has published 8 fiction novels now, on amazon & we've been discussing some finer points over the past few years)

there is an art to setting up the ads on amazon to setup target audience etc, it's worth the time to research it (and worth some $ to setup ads & get it networked)
I'm looking forward to reading it
 
“Inferior”? I dunno. Maybe just different strengths and weaknesses.

Less well-rounded? Certainly.
 
dirc said:
I was one of the first to order your first book - and it is excellent.

Apologies, I have not yet had time to get this new one but I will & will put a review up on amazon etc

...
a word of advice, if I may, (a good friend of mine has published 8 fiction novels now, on amazon & we've been discussing some finer points over the past few years)

there is an art to setting up the ads on amazon to setup target audience etc, it's worth the time to research it (and worth some $ to setup ads & get it networked)
I'm looking forward to reading it
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Ads are not something I looked into because Knife Engineering has always sold well. But maybe I will try it one of these days.
 
Later to the party than I should be...but I ordered the hardcover today. Can't wait to read it as many of the individuals featured, (from the past few decades), are folks I have crossed paths with over the years, several of whom I'm privileged to call friends.
 
I love this book. The sheer level of detail is staggering. I'm about half way through it now, reading a bit at a time, while also reading a bunch of other non-fiction books. The way you lay out the foundations of the custom knife makers and their impact on the community adds to my appreciation of this hobby.

There was one thing that I keep meaning to ask. I'm not a material scientist or metal worker, but on page 134 in the section on Matrix High Speed Steels, it says: "So, a steel with 0.8% C, 6% W, 5% Mo, and 2% V (M2 steel) does not have all of those elements "in solution" after heat treating, but might have something like 0.5% carbon, 4.5% Cr, 2.75% Mo, 2%W, and 1% V." Is the "Cr" left out of the first formula just a typo?
 
The Grendels said:
There was one thing that I keep meaning to ask. I'm not a material scientist or metal worker, but on page 134 in the section on Matrix High Speed Steels, it says: "So, a steel with 0.8% C, 6% W, 5% Mo, and 2% V (M2 steel) does not have all of those elements "in solution" after heat treating, but might have something like 0.5% carbon, 4.5% Cr, 2.75% Mo, 2%W, and 1% V." Is the "Cr" left out of the first formula just a typo?
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Could be, but the important part is understanding not all the elements in the chemistry are actually in solution, there is a table with the full chemistry of M2 and Vasco MA on page 136.

It's a really awesome book.

Has to be one of my favorites. It really helps you understand why knife steel has changed to the elements they use today versus the elements they used to use at the turn of the 20th century.
 
The Grendels said:
There was one thing that I keep meaning to ask. I'm not a material scientist or metal worker, but on page 134 in the section on Matrix High Speed Steels, it says: "So, a steel with 0.8% C, 6% W, 5% Mo, and 2% V (M2 steel) does not have all of those elements "in solution" after heat treating, but might have something like 0.5% carbon, 4.5% Cr, 2.75% Mo, 2%W, and 1% V." Is the "Cr" left out of the first formula just a typo?
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No, there are no typos in the book. :P My guess is I intended to leave out the chromium because almost all of it goes in solution, thus simplifying the information. But it must have only been deleted from the first half and not the conclusion.
 
Larrin said:
Thanks for bringing the book up again. I recently did a fun interview about the book on Mark of the Maker: https://markofthemaker.com/2024/02/11/episode-113-the-story-of-knife-steel/
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Just finished listening, Larrin. That was an awesome trip down memory lane for me...as you guys discussed so many companies, and folks I've encountered personally, or via their knives, as well as here on the forums.

Kind of reminded me exactly why I've been doing this gig for over 25 years now. It's all about the community. (Some day we'll have to do the history of bladeforums.com)

Now I really can't wait for the book to arrive. Thanks again for (all of) your contributions.
 
Blues said:
Just finished listening, Larrin. That was an awesome trip down memory lane for me...as you guys discussed so many companies, and folks I've encountered personally, or via their knives, as well as here on the forums.

Kind of reminded me exactly why I've been doing this gig for over 25 years now. It's all about the community. (Some day we'll have to do the history of bladeforums.com)

Now I really can't wait for the book to arrive. Thanks again for (all of) your contributions.
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There’s a lot of great people!
 
Just received this book some days back and it's a real treat to go through.

So many of the folks I have been privileged to meet, know, befriend, hang out with, or purchase knives from over the past 30 years or so, are featured in this book.

If, like me, you feel connected to the knife world and its people at the DNA level, this is something you'll want to put on the shelf alongside the very best of your reference books which you can refer to again and again.

Thank you, Larrin. This was a superb effort on your part. The images alone are worth the price of the book, but the information that makes them relevant is even more so.
 
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