How To What If There's A Lie On Steel?

Step 1. Find a wood chipper
Step 2. Rent a boat
Step 3. Plan fishing..Uhhh whoops wrong question :D

Seriously though, purchase from reputable companies and dealers and for the most part there's no worries. Except bark river.
 
There is really no cheap/simple way, at least not that I know of. X-Ray SEM analysis might be one more expensive way.
 
ATJ999 said:
There is really no cheap/simple way, at least not that I know of. X-Ray SEM analysis might be one more expensive way.
Click to expand...

Agree. There is no simple home method for testing blade steel.

I avoid any doubt by purchasing name brands from dealers I trust.
If the deal sounds "too good to be true", it probably is.
 
Just last night I was bouncing around Youtube watching videos and found one with links to bladeforums about a well known company selling a knife as one steel when it was really another less expensive steel. I didn't read the thread long enough to determine what actually happened but I did read enough to be convinced the steel was incorrectly labeled.
I think there are enough people here familiar enough with the characteristics of most steels that if mix ups were a more common occurrence it would be recognized.
FWIW it says a lot about Bark River that they are the butt of the jokes so far when they aren't the company in the thread I'm referring to.
 
You're putting your trust into the supplier. Make sure he deserves your trust. Time generally tells.
If I buy Spyderco, ZT, Bradford, CRK...it doesn't occur to me to doubt the steel.
 
Mistakes do happen, but it's pretty rare these days. +1 for reputable dealers and manufacturers/makers.

With sketchy sources, it's not a mistake.
 
So long as you don't get stuck with a clone , the big name brands like Spyderco , Kai , Cold Steel etc are reliable . The HT and all the details count as much as the steel formula . The trusted dealer protects you from getting a clone or the occasional lemon .
 
Go with companies you can trust.
For example
you can always trust Buck to make a good knife and take care if it if they did
There are lots of companies out there that always give you what you think your getting.
I have no clue how you'd cheaply and easily test a steel you bought from a company you can't trust though.
 
Most companies label correctly and are honest. Chinese companies would be my main worry they have proven ruthless in the past decades, really money driven.

I spend over a decade in a production job the last two years as a QC inspector. So basically I know alittle about product production.

Bark River takes a beating because they miss labeled a few knifes in the past. Yes, I said a few because my understanding is they produce over 10,000+ Knives a year and there’s only been a handful reported over and over online the last 5+ years. That’s not a wide spread fraud type issue and would indicate a QC issue on their line.

There’s not a big amount of money to be made labeling 100 A2 blade knives as 3v or 154. Plus there’s a lot smarter ways to cheat the public than labeling carbon steel as Stainless that’s the easiest thing for a customer to test at home.

From my personal experience in production I think their issue was using many different steels in each model and poor controls in place on their line. It’s very easy to make one A2 Gunny, however when you make a A2,3V, Elmax, M4 etc etc things can get tricky on a production line.

The human factor is always the weak link in production as machines make few mistakes. Employee’s make mistakes so you must do everything you can to limit these on the line.

I read dealers pressured Bark River to improve their QC to avoid the past screw ups. I hope that is true and we aren’t seeing any new issues lately, because we need more American company’s and workers building knives in the USA.

One can’t also rule out supply issues/screwups directly from steel manufacturer and wholes-sellers dealin with large volumes of product. My company dealt with plastics which we machined. At one point in time our plastics manufacturer sent a bad batch of product that had shrinkage over time not good when you have parts threaded. Wasn’t our fault but caused us to recall a lot of product.
 
Last edited:
I'll send it to the labs and post the test result.

Chemical Analysis:
Spectroscopy (ICP-AES, ICP-MS, AES)
Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (SEM/EDS)
Positive Material Identification (PMI)
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)
Wet Chemistry

Corrosion Testing:
Intergranular Corrosion Testing (ASTM A262 Practice A, B, C, D, E; G-28 Methods A & B)
Corrosion Resistance Testing (ASTM G48 Methods A & B)
Corrosion Testing (ASTM A923 Method C)
Salt Spray/Salt Fog (ASTM B117)
Humidity Testing
Passivation Testing
Temperature Testing


Pray.
 
Last edited:
My BRKT is 14 years old and was made when they only used "A2" so there was no human error or mix up. I've tried to force a patina on it. It won't happen. I have a Bravo-1 that has taken on a natural patina.

I'm not sure which stainless steel the older one is made of but I suspect it isn't A2.
 
Little Hunter said:
I'll send it to the labs and post the test result.

Chemical Analysis:
Spectroscopy (ICP-AES, ICP-MS, AES)
Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (SEM/EDS)
Positive Material Identification (PMI)
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)
Wet Chemistry

Corrosion Testing:
Intergranular Corrosion Testing (ASTM A262 Practice A, B, C, D, E; G-28 Methods A & B)
Corrosion Resistance Testing (ASTM G48 Methods A & B)
Corrosion Testing (ASTM A923 Method C)
Salt Spray/Salt Fog (ASTM B117)
Humidity Testing
Passivation Testing
Temperature Testing


Pray.
Click to expand...
So , is this a joke thread ? Be cheaper to simply put your knife thru it's paces while you have return privileges . Do a reasonable use test and return if performance is not as expected .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top