Thought experiment

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ADBrown

ADBrown

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Understanding the laws of physics (as we understand them now) are immutable, assume for a moment that a steel - or similar material - is developed that satisfies all the desirable qualities of what we now deem as “super steels” - tops in edge retention, ease of sharpening, toughness and corrosion resistance, etc. - it supersedes all other variants. Apart from nostalgia, wouldn’t that material become the standard for all knives? Considering the progress in technology over the last 50 years, such a scenario isn’t out of the question. We might have much less to quibble about apart from design, functionality, etc. Highly improbable but interesting to ponder…
 
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Not until somebody invents a blade that never corrodes, can't be broken and has a perfect edge that never needs sharpening, and thats just not going to happen....
 
Something else glazed over in the OP is PREFERENCE. No one steel will appeal to everyone. Whether it's cost, sharpenability, lack of taking a patina, toughness, or any one of dozens more factors, no one steel will ever fill that role.

Variety is the spice of life, we as bladeforums denizens exist within a very niche subsection of cutlery. The vast majority of people using steels in cutlery don't give a rats bum about the latest steel.
 
Honestly, at this point, I have to think that the next evolution in blade steels won't even be steel, and will instead be something that currently only exists in "Star Trek" or some other sci-fi fiction set in the distant future. Diamond-infused graphene nanotube ceramic polymer with laser etched microserrations or some such bullshit.
 
It's very strange that a thought experiment can give such answers. As the name suggests, it's a thought experiment, it's just a scenario that we construct in our minds in a possible world. It is meaningless to say that this cannot be done. Yes, if, as you say, a steel is produced that meets all requirements to the maximum extent (including price), this steel should be a monopoly.
 
I feel like this is similar to asking: what if there was a car that was the best at drag racing, but also offroading, but also towing.

I know the analogy isn't a perfect 1 to 1, but maybe it is to our benefit that steel performance is specialized to the tasks we ask of it.
 
The basic design of a knife has never changed. It's a piece of metal sharp on one side, and dull on the other. It has a handle, so pressure can be easily applied, and that force placed on the handle is multiplied thousands of times, because the surface area of the edge is so small. That's how knives have always worked. There has never been a need to alter the fundamental principles that make knives the most useful tool ever invented.
 
We’ve already passed the point of the thought experiment. We’ve had surgical stainless for years and people got bored with it. That’s why we‘ve seen a surge in lesser “super steels” in the last few decades. People want variety not performance.

Kidding aside, a material as described in the OP SHOULD become the standard but it would be incredibly boring. The knife community would be like a dog chasing cars. If they ever caught one they wouldn’t know what to do with it. That’s how I see the endless pursuit of super steels.
 
This is pretty much an extension of the recently closed MagnaCut thread which covered the same avenues of thought.
 
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