Too much worry about steel types?

My sharpest and best performing knives for my needs are Victorinox larger folders,and boning knives!Their steel is easy to sharpen,doesnt rust and stays sharp for decent amount of time.Even have used some of these knives in chopping wood(large butcher knives) and never had any damage!Steel type is overrated.What rules is the heat treatment and geometry.Buck 420hc is another one that performs better than a lot of other more advanced steels !Bucks geometry is very good along with heat treat....
 
bodog said:
I wanna know about. Whats it called?
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You don't want to know about it, but since you asked, it's called Jarbenzium. It's as much a process as it is an alloy, something stumbled upon during my time as an experimental metallurgist at Rostafrei Heavy Industries in Jamaica. I won't bore you with details, suffice to say that the process involves liquid nitrogen, diamond dust, a fish, dynamite, and nerves of steel. Our #1 blade tester at the time, sword master E. Honda, remarked that a properly heat-treated and tempered blade made of Jarbenzium "will shear a shadow, and even sound will be cut."
 
I agree that we worry more about steel than we need to. My EDC folders have steels ranging from 154CM, S30V to M4 and S110V. All of them work for my normal needs and I can sharpen them when I need to.

But we are knife enthusiasts and that is our excuse for worrying about and talking about things such as steel composition and steel performance.
 
Mecha said:
You don't want to know about it, but since you asked, it's called Jarbenzium. It's as much a process as it is an alloy, something stumbled upon during my time as an experimental metallurgist at Rostafrei Heavy Industries in Jamaica. I won't bore you with details, suffice to say that the process involves liquid nitrogen, diamond dust, a fish, dynamite, and nerves of steel. Our #1 blade tester at the time, sword master E. Honda, remarked that a properly heat-treated and tempered blade made of Jarbenzium "will shear a shadow, and even sound will be cut."
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Outstanding, sir. The fish gives it its flexibility, right?
 
bodog said:
Outstanding, sir. The fish gives it its flexibility, right?
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No, that's what I had for lunch during the Jarbenzium experiments. You don't even want to know who Diamond Dust was.
 
My second gripe is that I just can't seem to cut zip ties, especially the thicker, heavy duty ones, for squat with the utility knife. But my cheap folding knife with its thicker blade can do it almost effortlessly.[/QUOTE]


If I had a lot of zip ties to deal with I always prefered wire cutters over a knife. I do agree that while I have cut thick zip ties with a utility knife, I started reaching for my SAK in my pocket when coming across those.
 
A fully serrated blade is good for separating matter. Partially serrated blade are useless.

bt93 said:
My second gripe is that I just can't seem to cut zip ties, especially the thicker, heavy duty ones, for squat with the utility knife. But my cheap folding knife with its thicker blade can do it almost effortlessly.
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If I had a lot of zip ties to deal with I always prefered wire cutters over a knife. I do agree that while I have cut thick zip ties with a utility knife, I started reaching for my SAK in my pocket when coming across those.[/QUOTE]
 
Mossyhorn said:
I started reaching for my SAK in my pocket when coming across those.
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That's an interesting reaction to seeing some zip ties, but it is 2015 after all.
 
Blues Bender said:
Lol! Come work with me for a day! Give me your best, hardest, toughest steel and I'll show you how my job will turn that beautiful 18dps .0009 micron stroped edge to rubble in a few minutes:yawn:

B0CCEC50-25BC-4410-976A-F450A21BD108_zpsimrwytfu.jpg


88723716-BD00-46C4-851F-025B946B75B1_zpscsztzklu.jpg


5BD4D112-F517-4488-AA6E-1B65D3FB9C12_zpsf2j7an2x.jpg


Ever cut carpet with $1,000 worth of knives? I'll tell you what... S35VN performs no better than N690 at that task. Geometry matters a lot more.

8239D5B4-D500-4039-A35F-F035D6BE7A82_zpsffg2cau6.jpg


Here's a video in case you think I'm just blowing smoke...

[video]http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/Discomonkey28/media/8A29952B-759A-4224-8F05-A52EFD256DEF_zps7fyahikj.mp4.html[/video]
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I wish we had a "like" button...... Winning!!!!
Russ
 
Here ya go, every thread is better with pictures

When you're out here:

m2Dx0iw.jpg


Looking around at this

mYEygvA.jpg


Or down in a place like this

qJULSB4.jpg


Or up in a place like this

oLciNEc.jpg


The option of having the best tool for any given job isn't an option. You have whatever you can carry :)
 
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The more specific the context the more specifically the geometry can be tailored to the task.
 
For most of human history things like stone, bronze, iron, and a basic steel have done everything we needed done. In the 1900's it was carbon steel or 400 series. So do you need high end steels to get the job done? Mostly no. We, however, love knives and newer steels give us an edge (pun intended) on certain tasks by holding an edge longer. Do you think a rancher in 1910 would have appreciated say M4 if it meant he could work longer without sharpening? Maybe an old fur trader would have appreciated a blade that was robust enough to leave the axe at home and carry less weight. Point is these steels have improved on the original. Those that can do their job with a Ginsu I say keep it up! Those that have the means to get the apex of knife tech keep it up! There is no right or wrong!
 
bodog said:
Here ya go, every thread is better with pictures

When you're out here:

m2Dx0iw.jpg


Looking around at this

mYEygvA.jpg


Or down in a place like this

qJULSB4.jpg


Or up in a place like this

oLciNEc.jpg


The option of having the best tool for any given job isn't an option. You have whatever you can carry :)
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So in this environment what kind of tasks do you use a knife for the most?
 
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