Poll: Can You Tell Which Is Which?

Which One Is Stainless Steel?

  • Top

    Votes: 63 38.4%

  • Bottom

    Votes: 64 39.0%

  • Unsure

    Votes: 37 22.6%
  • Total voters
    164
  • Poll closed .
FortyTwoBlades said:
I maintain it's not possible to tell. But the thread was started to put to the test claims made by some in another thread. :)
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This exercise doesn’t test the claims, FortyTwo. It’s just a pic on a screen. One photo being expressed by light-emitting pixels, not real pieces of steel. It’s fun, but ultimately a game with no point.

It’s like saying a jeweler can’t tell the difference between a cubic zirconia and a real diamond by eye, and then posting a pic with a poll on a jewelry forum to prove it.
 
Oh it's purely anecdotal and not at all intended to be conclusive scientific proof. But it certainly tests whether the differences are significant enough to be discernible via a clear photograph. And I maintain my position that not even experts can tell by look alone, even in person and tilting the piece under good, natural light. Other factors are what get used for that assessment, such as noting performance in corrosive conditions, the development of any staining and what it looks like, knowledge of the manufacturer, observing signs of manufacturing methods or treatments that are more conducive to one sort of material than another, magnet or spark testing, etc. etc. But not appearance of the bare metal.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Oh it's purely anecdotal and not at all intended to be conclusive scientific proof. But it certainly tests whether the differences are significant enough to be discernible via a clear photograph. And I maintain my position that not even experts can tell by look alone, even in person and tilting the piece under good, natural light. Other factors are what get used for that assessment, such as noting performance in corrosive conditions, the development of any staining and what it looks like, knowledge of the manufacturer, observing signs of manufacturing methods or treatments that are more conducive to one sort of material than another, magnet or spark testing, etc. etc. But not appearance of the bare metal.
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I can't count high enough to count how many times the "experts" have been wrong.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Oh it's purely anecdotal and not at all intended to be conclusive scientific proof. But it certainly tests whether the differences are significant enough to be discernible via a clear photograph. And I maintain my position that not even experts can tell by look alone, even in person and tilting the piece under good, natural light. Other factors are what get used for that assessment, such as noting performance in corrosive conditions, the development of any staining and what it looks like, knowledge of the manufacturer, observing signs of manufacturing methods or treatments that are more conducive to one sort of material than another, magnet or spark testing, etc. etc. But not appearance of the bare metal.
Click to expand...

Ok just making sure. XD The other tests are how it’s done in the industry for sure, but have you looked closely? Way more closely than the photo. I’m not saying that steel doesn’t need to be tested, but...

I maintain that a high amount of chromium makes a visible change in iron/steel that can be pinpointed by the naked eye. That’s just how light works. The ocean is all water, but its variances in color are limitless, because other factors around and within the water change the color and how the light is bent when it’s reflected.

Carbon and stainless steel are extremely common and it gives one a chance to, with time and observation, begin to discern what a large amount of chromium looks like in steel.
 
As I've noted before, I think you can have two steels next to each other (like here) with identical surface finish (like here) and identify a very slight visual difference to them. But using that as a basis to determine that one is stainless and the other is not strikes me as highly improbable. In fact, you could actually have two different stainless steels, or two different non-stainless steels, with an observable difference between the two in their reflective qualities and apparent coloration, but you might misidentify what broad class they belong to simply because one looks different. The difference in color itself does not indicate stainless vs. not, but rather just "steel A" vs "steel B". Heck--they could even be the very same steel with different heat treatment! :)
 
Mecha said:
Ok just making sure. XD The other tests are how it’s done in the industry for sure, but have you looked closely? Way more closely than the photo. I’m not saying that steel doesn’t need to be tested, but...

I maintain that a high amount of chromium makes a visible change in iron/steel that can be pinpointed by the naked eye. That’s just how light works. The ocean is all water, but its variances in color are limitless, because other factors around and within the water change the color and how the light is bent when it’s reflected.

Carbon and stainless steel are extremely common and it gives one a chance to, with time and observation, begin to discern what a large amount of chromium looks like in steel.
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I took a good look at two of my mirror finished blades today in the natural light. One is 1084 and the other is CPM154. I couldn't see any difference.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
As I've noted before, I think you can have two steels next to each other (like here) with identical surface finish (like here) and identify a very slight visual difference to them. But using that as a basis to determine that one is stainless and the other is not strikes me as highly improbable. In fact, you could actually have two different stainless steels, or two different non-stainless steels, with an observable difference between the two in their reflective qualities and apparent coloration, but you might misidentify what broad class they belong to simply because one looks different. The difference in color itself does not indicate stainless vs. not, but rather just "steel A" vs "steel B". Heck--they could even be the very same steel with different heat treatment! :)
Click to expand...

Yes, they can all look different from each other even just from heat treatment alone. I’m not looking at the flat color, but the irridescence. I’m asserting the radical notion that a specific element looks a certain specific way and that one can learn to recognize its visual effect when heavily blended into a very common alloy. Chromium isn’t some magic element that becomes invisible as soon as it touches iron. If it was extremely common to use steel that had 15% tungsten in it or what have you, it would be possible to learn to recognize that too. Stainless steel is just “hard mode.” Copper would be easy mode, for example.

There is no evidence beyond the commonplace anecdotal to “prove” either claim. One is just normally assumed and accepted. I’m sorry if others can’t see it, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

There are many people who can reliably see the difference between and pretty accurately identify 24k gold, 18k gold, 14k, rose gold, white gold, etc, purely due to what is alloyed into the gold. Just because they can see it doesn’t mean they don't test the gold to make sure, or that jewelers don’t mark their pieces. Steel is no different, just much more difficult due to all the silvery alloying elements, usually in small quantity...except chromium in stainless: large quantity, very common, not invisible.
 
Well, looks like I accidentally selected it to close a day earlier than I intended, so I'll post up the unaltered image in a jiffy. :)
 
41889092_10216721763904917_462698879792447488_o.jpg
 
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