The most exotic steel Kershaw has ever worked with?

Black samurai said:
Any news on what's new from zt ( hints please ) ;-)
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Thomas W said:
There is news, just nothing we can talk about...
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Thomas W said:
There is news, just nothing we can talk about...
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Can you talk about milkshakes?

If steel types were milkshakes, Iron is ice cream (obviously), Carbon is chocolate, Vanadium is peanuts, Nitrogen is caramel, Cobalt is brownie chunks, Molybdenum is mango, Tungsten is M&M's and Niobium is jelly beans (we don't need to list Chromium since we know anything used from here on out will have a lot of it, and no, I've never had jelly beans in a milkshake).

Thomas, what kind of "milkshake" are you going to have with your next ZT?
 
Please oh PLEASE come out with something truly awesome before my birthday!

My wife is buying me a folder of my choice for my birthday, and i just got her to increase the maximum budget to $500...

I want something that i can use to utterly embarrass my friends when they pull out their gerbers and benchmades!
 
I have a question to you guys about the SG2 Junkyard Dawg, since its still an exotic steel used by Kershaw. An exotic process in a folder at the very least.

How is the lamination process different than the composite blade brazing? What is the yellowish stuff between the SG2 and 410? (Slag?)

I think the blade is San Mai construction, sandwiching a thin piece of SG2 into a U shaped piece of 410, using the SG2 as the blade edge steel, similar end product to the newer brazed composite blades. Is this info correct? Any additional comments or corrections?

I can mark off getting a samurai sword to hang on the wall because the San Mai SG2 is basically the same thing in a folding knife. So each SG2 has its own soul and no two are exactly the same.

I can really see KAI's influence in what Kershaw has produced, from a San Mai folding knife to the current composite blades, whats next besides steels new to folding knives?
 
I am really looking forward to what will certainly be another Home Run collaboration. ;)

Laminated blades differ from composite blades in a big way. Laminated blades are exactly what they sound like. A thinner piece of harder steel is sandwhiched between two pieces of softer steel. The softer steel offers strength to the harder more brittle core steel when it comes to lateral force. The composite blade is a more exotic piece of steel attached to a usually cheaper piece of steel using what I believe is a copper braze. The lamination can take on different looks when it comes time to grind the blade, but that core steel will always be doing the cutting.

Samurai swords weren't made using a lamination process. The edges on older samurai swords were hardened by quenching with clay. This would make the edge much harder while leaving the spine softer. Again, this helps with lateral pressure, but also makes for a blade that can handle vibrations and strikes against hard surfaces without shattering the blade. The line on the blade you see in these examples is a "hamon line", which is extremely popular these days. The darker look of the blade toward the edge literally shows you where the blade is harder and the lighter steel behind it is the softer steel. As far as I know, this hamon line can only be created by using carbon steel. Stainless steels will not produce a hamon.
 
Thanks for the info Tony, its made me do some more research into samurai sword construction.

So as far as I can tell the hamon line is just what it looks like where the harder and softer steel meet, so the yellowsh line on the SG2 JYD is a hamon line of sorts. I don't think its glue. I think the lamination process is very similar to how they made/make samurai swords, like pattern welding; welding different layers of steel together. I know with swords the polished by hand with small stones and maybe etched on the bevel to show the hamon line, kinda like Kershaw does to create more of a contrast with the composite blades.

I remember Thomas saying on here that the SG2 was tricky tricky, so I think maybe that was a reason to graduate to the composite blade method to create the same result with a cheaper and easier process, having a hard edge and a softer more rust resistant spine. The copper brazing line imitates the hamon line. Basically updated mass produced modern day samurai sword tech.

Just a little correction/clarification. I read that clay was used more on the spine to slow the quenching process, keeping the steel softer. The edge steel had little or no clay applied before the tempering and quenching processes for quick contraction, creating a hard but brittle high carbon edge steel. I have seen video that explains how the curve of the blade has to do with the way they quench the final layered blade, edge first, they do it over and over to slowly create the radius.
 
Thomas W said:
Both will be new patterns (One in-house, one collaboration) and never used steel (that I know of).

Now that you mention it, that SG2 was tricky, tricky.
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Can you give us some more info about this. You are talking about the lamination process of the JYD, right? The Blur was laminated not a regular copper brazed composite blade right?

I would argue that the laminated SG2 JYD or Blur is one of if not the most exotic blades Kershaw has produced.
 
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I would love to see another laminated blade, the SG2 blur I had could shave hair of my arm amazingly well. I had many bold spots from showing people. I'd have to buy a few if they made some more.
 
Unobtainium Composite blade... That's it...


Since the late 1950s,[1][2] aerospace engineers have used the term "unobtainium" when referring to unusual or costly materials, or when theoretically considering a material perfect for their needs in all respects, except that it does not exist. By the 1990s, the term was in wide use, even in formal engineering papers such as "Towards unobtainium [new composite materials for space applications]."[3] The word unobtainium may well have been coined in the aerospace industry to refer to materials capable of withstanding the extreme temperatures expected in reentry. Aerospace engineers are frequently tempted to design aircraft which require parts with strength or resilience beyond that of currently available materials.
 
bluejayburly said:
Thanks for the info Tony, its made me do some more research into samurai sword construction.

So as far as I can tell the hamon line is just what it looks like where the harder and softer steel meet, so the yellowsh line on the SG2 JYD is a hamon line of sorts. I don't think its glue. I think the lamination process is very similar to how they made/make samurai swords, like pattern welding; welding different layers of steel together. I know with swords the polished by hand with small stones and maybe etched on the bevel to show the hamon line, kinda like Kershaw does to create more of a contrast with the composite blades.

I remember Thomas saying on here that the SG2 was tricky tricky, so I think maybe that was a reason to graduate to the composite blade method to create the same result with a cheaper and easier process, having a hard edge and a softer more rust resistant spine. The copper brazing line imitates the hamon line. Basically updated mass produced modern day samurai sword tech.

Just a little correction/clarification. I read that clay was used more on the spine to slow the quenching process, keeping the steel softer. The edge steel had little or no clay applied before the tempering and quenching processes for quick contraction, creating a hard but brittle high carbon edge steel. I have seen video that explains how the curve of the blade has to do with the way they quench the final layered blade, edge first, they do it over and over to slowly create the radius.
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I've never seen a yellow line on any of my SG2 JYD II's or my SG2 Blurs. I've had quite a few, but I'm down to only one of each now. The best way to think of laminated steel is to see it as a steel sandwich, two slabs of softer steel sandwiched around the harder core steel. There is no glue or any adhesive. I've heard laminated blades also called San Mai blades. Older Samurai swords were created by folding steel upon itself over and over again, but the quenching is what gave it the hamon. Yes, the hamon is the line created between the softer spine and the harder edge. You are correct that the spine was quenched in clay, not the edge. A lot of makers still do this today and it has become very popular for its look.

So you have a few different ways to get a "look" here. High carbon steel blades can be produced to have a hamon line. Stainless steel can be laminated and this gives what some would consider a similar look to a hamon, but it is not. What you are actually seeing is the color difference or finish difference between the outer steel and the core steel. Laminated blades have been done by Spyderco, William Henry, Cold Steel, Rockstead, and some different custom makers. Some makers laser etch a hamon to the edge of the blade, this is simply for looks. Some makers use Ti for the blade and then carbidize the edge and this also gives the edge a hamon look, but also greatly improves the performance of the blade. Kershaw uses CB technology, and in my opinion it not only looks great, but is done for an improved edge steel over what is used for the spine.
 
Here's a pic of my hamon line, that's part of its soul right? Mine looks kinda yellow, whereas the composite brazing is copper colored.

This knife it's a great slicer. I can't tell if the SG2 or the deep hollow grind has the most to do with how great it cuts with light pressure.

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bluejayburly said:
Here's a pic of my hamon line, that's part of its soul right? Mine looks kinda yellow, whereas the composite brazing is copper colored.

This knife it's a great slicer. I can't tell if the SG2 or the deep hollow grind has the most to do with how great it cuts with light pressure.

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Hi Jay, that isn't a hamon line. It's simply the area where the core steel and the outer steel meet. A hamon is the specific term for the line produced on high carbon steels when differentially heat treated and quenched with clay.

Hole_Skinner_Hamon.jpg
 
Ya I know traditionally and the origin have to do with a specific process (using flat to create the hardness variation), but for lack of a better word, I think it is what it is, a visible line where two steels of different hardnesses are joined together, the way its ground that exposes the line gives the blade its character (soul) same as on a samuari sword.

Thomas has said regarding the Tilt for example that the Vanax 75 cutting edge is 62 RC and the 14C28N spine is 59 RC, both +/-1. I know thats not a drastic difference like a 58 RC ha vs a 40 RC mune, the difference in hardness is the objective. In addition the steels chosen have different strength and toughness vs high edge retention.

The Japanese can be translated as the way the (harder) cutting edge is shown on the blade, blade pattern.

What I would really like is more info about the process Kershaw (KAI) used to create the blade, but maybe thats a secret japanese tradition.

I don't mean to argue, I think of it more like polishing each other.
 
So the RJ Martin collaboration will be made out of Carpenter's CTS-B75P. (I guess similar to bg-42)
The limited edition 0560 will be made out of a S110v composite.

The remaining question is what the in-house design will use. The suspense is killing me. Sadly waiting for these knives to hot the streets will be painful!
 
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