Month: August 2019

Hardenability, History - Articles - Books

O1 Steel – History, Properties, and How to Heat Treat

Larrin

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O1 Steel History

O1 steel was developed in 1905 by Halcomb steel which was acquired by Crucible Steel a few years later [1][2]. However, the history is a bit more interesting than that. In 1876 a large Sheffield steel company, Sanderson Brothers, purchased Sweet’s Manufacturing Company’s Geddes Steel Works in Syracuse New York. American tariffs had led to a large reduction in exported steel from Sheffield, and steel output from the USA had also greatly increased to match. So several English steel companies setup production facilities in the US, including Sanderson Brothers. Sanderson Brothers was a very old Sheffield steel company, founded in 1776. Tool Steel development began to explode starting in about 1900 due to the recent discovery of “high speed steel” which you can read about here: The History of the First Tool Steel. The year 1900 was doubly significant because in that year there was a major consolidation of 13 of the major steel plants which used “crucible” steel production methods, accounting for 95% of the crucible steel production in the United States. read more

Damascus, Powder Metallurgy

The History of Powder Metals in Damascus Steel

Larrin

Gratitude

Thanks to cbw, Doug Siddens, Nick Dunham, and Robert Martin for becoming Knife Steel Nerds Patreon supporters!

I interviewed several knifemakers for this article. Thanks to Ed Schempp, Hank Knickmeyer, Steve Schwarzer, Rick Dunkerley, Jim Batson, Shane Taylor, Jeff Carlisle, Kelly Cupples, Daryl Meier, John Davis, Matt Diskin, Wade Colter, Barry Gallagher, Howard Clark, Bob Kramer, and Devin Thomas for talking to me. read more

History - Articles - Books, Toughness

How to Heat Treat 26C3 Steel

Larrin

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26C3 Steel

26C3 steel is produced by Uddeholmstrip (part of Voestalpine Precision Strip) as a razor and scalpel steel. This steel is also known as 1.2002 using the German designation. I don’t know much about the history of the steel but the marketing literature says, “voestalpine Precision Strip AB has long experience and were the pioneers of both the high carbon (UHB 26C3) and the martensitic stainless steel (UHB AEB-L) razor strip grades” [1]. In the 1927 patent for AEB-H [2], reference is made to “the purest Swedish carbon steel with ‘1.05% C and 0.4% Mn'” and in a 1970 patent for a razor blade steel there is a reference to UHB 26C (the 3 is not on the end) which has the same approximate composition as the current 26C3 [3]. So I think there was probably some evolution of the composition despite the claims of the marketing material. The composition of 26C3 is shown below: read more

Corrosion Resistance, Edge Retention, Edge Stability, Steel and Knife Properties, Toughness

How to Design Knives that Do Not Fail

Larrin

Thanks to Tom Krein, Joshua Goldstein, Matthew Maola, Edo Vernoschi, Nils Anderssen, and Cedric & Ada for becoming Knife Steel Nerds Patreon supporters!

Failure Modes

A common engineering technique is to evaluate designs based on how they failed, or may fail. Failure modes are identified and the designs are modified to prevent those failures. These ideas are simple in concept but it is surprising how easy it can be to miss the forest for the trees. In terms of predicting failure modes in some cases it is easy and in some it is difficult. You would expect a large chopping knife to require heavier edge geometry to prevent chipping and rolling, or a seawater diving knife to require high rust resistance. Other times failure modes are identified through testing of the knife or by returns from customers. Whatever the source of the failure, there are usually relatively simple methods for fixing each one, though the trade-offs for doing so may not be desirable. read more