Types of steel

[jnoble]

Hello all. I am new to this forum and look forward to learning and sharing.

I have a question about steels. I am looking at the Murray Carter neck knives. Varieties of steels are used, from white to blue and so forth. I suspect some of the terms are japanese, as that's his background and his focus.

Pros and cons on varieties would be appreciated, as would be a source such as books, where I can learn more about this.

John

 

[knarfeng]

"white steel" and "blue steel" are Japanese non-stainless steels of extremely high purity. Because of the high purity, they hold an edge very well.

A good place to start learning about steel is the "Steel FAQ" sticky on the maintenance forum.

BladeForums.com > Knife Related Subjects > Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment > Steel FAQ
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=368828

 

[Knife Outlet]

Real briefly the steels are named for the colors of the labels they carry from the factory. White steel is a pretty basic carbon steel that hardens up to as high as RC64. Blue steel has a few additional alloying elements to help primarily with corrosion resistance. The Japanese view blue steel as superior (and it is more expensive) but you can make a case either way.

View them as hard, somewhat brittle non stainless steels. They are the two traditional steels used in making traditional japanese kitchen cutlery.

 

[neuron]

In addition to what the others have said, you might be interested in this, which is taken from the FAQ on Murray's site and concerns the particular steels he uses.

Q. 13. Which is the best steel, White #1 or Blue Super?

(Technical answer)

There is no such thing as a "best" steel for every application. However, there is a best known steel for a given application. The steels I use are top quality and each are specialized in one way.

White steel, my personal favorite, is an amazingly pure steel and therefore the carbides in the steel allow for the keenest edge possible. So, when a surgically clean cut is required, such as in some type of food preparation (sushi, etc.), or in woodcarving, White steel reigns as king.

Blue Super steel is basically White steel with chromium, tungsten, molybdenum and vanadium added. This results in oddly-shaped carbides in the steel, so keenness is sacrificed somewhat. However, the new carbides enable this steel to retain its edge longer than any other grade of cutlery steel. Therefore, Blue Super steel is the king of edge retention.

(Practical answer)

While there is a scientific explanation as to the difference between the two steels, after I extensively forge them, anneal them and heat treat them by hand, the differences become less apparent. Ultimately, it is up to the customer to judge. They both produce a superior blade if I do my part.

 

[DennisStrickland]

ditto to neuron--this excerpt from carter explains the steel very clearly for veterns & beginners using his products.
dennis

 

[Gator97]

Varieties of steels are used, from white to blue and so forth. I suspect some of the terms are japanese, as that's his background and his focus.

There are 3 white(Shirogami) and 2 blue(Aogami) steels, plus blue super, plus yellow(Kigami) used in knives. All are Hitachi YSS(Yasuki specialty steel).
Hitachi YSS steel Compositions.
You can also check - Japanese kitchen knives types database and Japanese kitchen knife terminology glossary.