Will steel bladed knives ever be replaced?

nah. silly thing needs a lead cable and big battery. bet it wouldnt fit in the pocket very well either.

Steel for me!
 
Can you whittle with it? If not, then I'm not interested. Certainly has many good other applications though.
 
As soon as we can get a power pack tiny enough to fit in your pocket for EDC, the laser knife will replace steel!:D
 
maybe polymer blade, with a thin springy steel spine/core and an edge made of tungsten carbide with lots of cobalt
 
In some venues they already have been because other materials are more suitable for the job. But for the time being the jury is still out on the answer to that. I've learned to never say never. Anything is possible for mankind. We've already come so far beyond what anyone thought possible to do. Think about it. Someone somewhere asked the same question about bronze once. And someone else probably said with assurance. "NO!"


STR
 
If they can solve the brittleness issue, I imagine high-density ceramics will replace steel in most structural applications. I have handled a ceramic kitchen knife, it was incredibly sharp with great edge retention...just don't drop it!
 
I don't see why steel wouldn't be replaced in the distant future, materials for edged tools have been replaced multiple times throught history. However, it would have to be an extremely strong and tangible material in order to meet EDC requirments.
 
Knives must be man's first tool (animals use clubs, so I don't count clubs) so they've lasted pretty well. And steel works pretty well too. I suspect they'll be around for a while longer.
Sorry guys, lasers won't do it--try fishing something out of the fire with a laser. A knife doesn't JUST cut.
Greg
 
DGG said:
Is there any technology that may someday render steel knives obsolete in the near future. The important thing is the quality of the "cut" not the knife/tool doing it.

http://www.clinicon.com/diamondlaser.html
Click to expand...

"Someday" and "near future" are quite different. I'm positive that someday there will be a better material (If we don't blow ourselves back into the stone age at some point). I don't see it happening in the near future though.

However, the stuff I use on my cats to kill fleas wasn't exactly something I saw coming during my lifetime a few years ago either...
 
Of course steel will be replaced someday by a man made synthetic, it just hasn't been developed yet. :)

The problem is getting a substance that is incredibly hard, but not brittle (see also: ceramic knives). And before that, I'm sure a synthetic that has the properties of knife steel (will be as hard as heat-treated steel and is user-servicable) will come along soon. Using steel for cutlery will be obsolete in...100 years? 50 years? Who knows. By that time, they'll even be able to make it look like steel.

You bring up an interesting topic, and I hope someone can offer up some information in the field.
 
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