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New Book! Knife Engineering: Steel, Heat Treating, and Geometry

Update 3/29/2022: I added that SD Knives and Supplies is the place to buy in South Africa

Update 3/31/2021: I added that Gameco is the place to buy in Australia.

Update 10/13/2020: I completed a minor revision to Knife Engineering to correct a few typos. Some readers outside the USA also asked for more conversions from Fahrenheit than were present originally, so I incorporated both Celsius and Fahrenheit everywhere in the book in the text and tables, though some images and charts still have only one temperature scale or the other.  I wouldn’t say that the changes in the revision are big enough to buy a new one if you have it already, this is not a new edition, but if you haven’t purchased one yet this is as good a time as any.

When I began working on this Knife Steel Nerds website I didn’t think I would write a book. I was doing this website instead of a book. And now after spending hundreds of hours and many months I have had time to reflect on why I wrote it:

  1. Knife Steel Nerds readers have been asking me for one. Apparently just because someone reads a blog doesn’t mean that they don’t also want a book to read. When I am asked for something I try to deliver!
  2. Reading comprehension is worse when reading on screens [1]. Personally, I find myself skimming a lot more when I read on my devices and I am a lot less patient with long articles. Reading a book is a different experience.
  3. Superior editing. I sent draft copies to a group of all-stars for suggestions and feedback including Devin Thomas, George Krauss, John Verhoeven, Roman Landes, Shawn Houston, and Cliff Stamp. The book is certainly a lot better after their ideas were incorporated.
  4.  A book feels more permanent than articles on the internet. When the world’s internet crashes and the singularity leads to us hiding in underground bunkers we will still have copies of Knife Engineering to enjoy.
  5. Different mediums have different advantages. Blogs are good for one-off type subjects along the lines of 13 Myths about Heat Treating Knives or articles about current events like the release of the new CPM S45VN steel, and providing updates on individual experiments like CATRA edge retention testing of 48 knife steels. However, individual articles are usually limited in scope and sometimes commenters will ask, “Why didn’t you cover this?” when of course I can’t cover everything in an article on a specific topic. A book allows a broader introduction to a range of different areas and presenting them in a relatively logical order. It is easier to show how everything fits together.
  6. I can’t give the necessary background within every individual article. In many articles on this website I end up linking to older articles like crazy, i.e. To learn more about austenitizing, click here; if you don’t know how nitrogen affects steel, click here, etc. And according to my website’s statistics not many people click on those links so I think most people plow ahead hoping they can make sense of it anyway.
  7. This website has gotten too big. There are currently 108 articles and 270,400 words on this website before I click publish on this one. It’s very intimidating to new readers and they don’t know where to start. The book assumes you know almost nothing about knives and by the end of reading it you will know quite a bit about knives and steel.

Who is the Book for?

The book covers the major variables that control knife performance like edge geometry, steel selection, and heat treatment. This is described through different mechanisms that affect knives including: flexing and bending, chipping and fracture, corrosion, edge retention, grindability and polishability, etc. The different grades of knife steels are introduced including their composition, microstructure, toughness, edge retention, hardness, and corrosion resistance. The process of heat treating and processing steel is extensively covered including what happens in each step like austenitizing, quenching, tempering, cryo treatments, and more. That includes an explanation for the changes to microstructure, what the goals are for each step, and how to optimize the different heat treatment steps. And I provided specific heat treatment recommendations for most of the major knife steels. These are all things that knifemakers need to be concerned about for high performance knives. And knife enthusaists can learn what aspects knifemakers are controlling for, what to look for in their knives, and how to adjust their sharpening procedures in terms of edge angle and finish for different uses. I have images of the table of contents below.

Structure of the Book

The book comes in at a hefty 450 pages. There is plenty of detailed content for the most diehard knife enthusiasts and makers. However, for those of you that are scared of a high page count I would say not to worry. The page count is high in large part because of the hundreds of images that are included in the book. Pure text is dry, uninteresting, and hard to follow. Describing the process of austenite formation without pictures is an exercise in futility. Nearly every idea covered in the book has a corresponding image to illustrate what is being described. This is not that different than how I handle topics on this website. My regular readers will know that I like charts, diagrams, micrographs, etc.

The book is also broken up into digestible chunks. There are four major sections: 1) Steel and Knife Properties, 2) Knife Steels and their Metallurgy, 3) Processing and Heat Treating Steel, and 4) Knife Making. Each section has 5-10 chapters in it for a total of 29, each chapter averages around 2400 words and 12 pages. And each chapter has a summary to make sure you got the major points. Since I went through 8.5 years of Engineering University education I have read through my fair share of dense, difficult books. So when I wrote mine I was striving for comprehension, ease in finding relevant information, and clear structure.

I broke some traditional rules in writing one of these books in that I used the first-person in many places within it, especially when expressing my opinion. And while I cited where data came from when using charts from different sources, individual claims are not cited, instead having a references section for each chapter at the end of the book, so that citation numbers [2, 4, 7] do not break up the reading. These types of choices were for improving readability and providing the book a more engaging style.

More Exciting Features!

  • I provided ratings for all of the major knife steels. You no longer have to rely on questionable “steel ranking” articles.
  • Heat treatment recommendations for every major knife steel. (Yes, I already said this, but it looks even better as a bullet point).
  • Stainless vs carbon. Forging vs stock removal. The real differences explained.
  • How to read TTT, CCT, and Iron-Carbon Phase Diagrams.
  • Impress your friends with terms like Austenitizing, Austempering, and Face Centered Cubic Crystal Structure.

Community Involvement

Writing for this website has been invaluable. I thought I knew the knife community well after growing up with a father with a Damascus steel business. However, I have learned a lot about what subjects are interesting to knife makers and buyers, what topics are confusing people, and which areas require(d) more research. I have gotten help from several knife makers and companies who volunteered time and materials for experiments to answer some big questions. Many of those experiments have been presented on this website, and that information was very helpful for the content of the book.

Price and Where to Buy

One of my big concerns with publishing a book like this is that books in the Academic Press are over $100, sometimes well over that number. I am very happy that I found an option to keep the book cost much lower, at $39.95 (note: the actual price varies based on the whims of Amazon robots).

The book is available exclusively on Amazon both in the USA and several international Amazon sites. It should be possible to buy in other countries by importing from the most convenient Amazon location. Let me know if you have any issues with ordering in your region and I will do my best to get you a copy.

South Africa – SD Knives and Supplies

Australia – Gameco Artisan Supplies

USA – Amazon.com

United Kingdom – Amazon.co.uk

Germany – Amazon.de

France – Amazon.fr

Spain – Amazon.es

Italy – Amazon.it

Japan – Amazon.co.jp

Canada – Amazon.ca

I Want to Hear From You!

One of the best ways to support me after buying the book is to write a review on Amazon. Reviews on Amazon help with the book’s position in different searches. And when people click on the book they can have confidence in what the book is offering by reading the experiences that others have had with it. If you have questions about different areas of the book or are interested in expanded information on different sections, please contact me here. I will do my best to answer, and this will let me know what should be added if there is ever a future second edition.


[1] Delgado, Pablo, Cristina Vargas, Rakefet Ackerman, and Ladislao Salmerón. “Don’t throw away your printed books: A meta-analysis on the effects of reading media on reading comprehension.” Educational Research Review 25 (2018): 23-38.

[2] I cite everything on my blog, which is somewhat backwards. Normally people are more careful about citations in books rather than on an article for the web.

[3] There is no citation number 3.

[4] I was just checking to see if you would read any of these citations.

[5] Five citations seems excessive for an article about my own book.

[6] Six even more so.

[7] Seven is a lucky number so we will stop here.

65 thoughts on “New Book! Knife Engineering: Steel, Heat Treating, and Geometry”

  1. Thank you Larrin! Both for the book and the advancements you’ve made to the knifemaking community.

  2. Thanks for taking the time to write this book, which is sorely needed. I have my copy on the way!

  3. I love all the citations. Thanks for doing this and I’m looking forward to my copy showing up!

  4. I hope that you printed enough copies! I’ll be buying two, one for me and one for my brother, and we both will be recommending the book to other edged weapons minded folks!!!

      1. Do you have any plans to make this available via ebook? Or is this just strictly paperback only? If your traveling an ebook can be a life saver.

  5. Hello Larrin,
    l need your book, so gladit is a book,
    I live in Australia, Amazon site in UK and USA for some reason state – do not deliver to Australia .
    Can you help

  6. Thank you very much for your valuable work. Your contribution will surely benefit us as we learn and enjoy from it. Congratulations Larrin!

  7. I absolutely crushed that Buy Now option on Amazon. This is excellent news, congratulations!! No pun intended, I know I’ve barely scratched the surface of steel metallurgy, but your work has been a game changer. Truly educational.

  8. That’s great news, Larrin. You’ve got the talent of talking about complex matters in plain language.
    I believe the restriction to Australian Amazon is only because of COVID making the delivery difficult – in my experience, for Australia the Amazon print-only books are printed in the USA and then delivered.
    Maybe at some point you can consider publishing its digital version on Kindle and/or Google Books? To help the book reach more people.

    1. Is it COVID, or because Amazon has a presence in Australia so we’re forced to purchase from them (and they ignore the fact they don’t carry it)? Although Amazon does seem to have some stupid restrictions…
      Whatever the case, I’m looking forward to it..

      1. As I understand it, it’s because Australia taxes certain imports and Amazon isn’t willing to pay the fee.

  9. Very interested in your book. Can you let me know when it will be available in Australia?
    Regards
    Rob

  10. I’ve ordered my print copy for Amazon and am looking forward to reading it once I’m back in the US.

    I’d also buy a Kindle version if it were made available, echoing the expressions of interest above.

  11. As always Larrin, exhalant job on the finished project although I enjoyed the preview. This is going to be a groundbreaker for sure, great, great inside knowledge that is needed if you want to be a serious knife maker!

    Ben Brabant
    FOBOS Knives

  12. Will order today!
    Thanks for taking the time and effort to do this, when all else fails; to paraphrase Conan the barbarian “This you can trust”.

    Glad to support you and hope it gets used in an academic setting at some point.

  13. Hey Larrin,
    Just got the book in here in The Netherlands. Read the first few chapters and it’s great! Very clear, lots of useful pictures and diagrams. Anyone only mildly interested in knives should get a copy. I highly recommend it!

    As a knife maker I already learned loads from your blog, having a paper copy is just indispensable.

    Thank you!
    Jasper – M3taal

  14. Hello! Greetings from Argentina!
    I’m not being able to get the book from amazon, there are shipping issues, plus shipping costs twice the books price, and to make it worse currency exchange rate is not good for us so total cost would be like 20 something percent of my monthly salary… 🙁
    Hope you release a kindle version because I can’t wait to get my nose into that book!!!
    Love your blog, thank you for all the work and effort!

  15. I have been anticipating you writing a book for years, and it did not disappoint! Your book is the single best book I have seen on knife making!

    If I could make any change to the book, I would add a steel index. I put together an index of the heat treatment recommendations for my own use. I pasted it below if anyone else wants it. I’m working on one for the whole book. This book is such an incredible reference and just being able to quickly flip to all of the sections on a particular steel will make this book even easier to use.

    Thank you again for such an incredible book!

    Steel Page #
    1.2442 398
    1.2519 397
    1.2562 398
    1.4116 419
    1040 387
    1045 387
    1050 387
    1055 387
    1060 387
    1075 388
    1080 388
    1084 388
    1095 389
    5160 391
    8670 392
    52100 396
    10V 409
    13C26 420
    14C28N 419
    154CM 426
    15N20 393
    19C27 425
    204P 432
    20CV 432
    26C3 400
    420HC 419
    440A 422
    440C 426
    80CrV2 394
    A2 405
    A6 393
    A8 402
    A8 Mod 401
    AEB-L 420
    ASP2030 414
    ASP2060 418
    ATS34 426
    B75P 427
    BD1N 424
    Becut 422
    BG42 427
    Blue #1 398
    Blue #2 398
    Blue Super 398
    Caldie 403
    CD-1 403
    CPM 15V 411
    CPM 1V 402
    CPM 3V 404
    CPM 4V 407
    CPM-154 426
    CPM-D2 408
    CruForge V 397
    CruWear 405
    D2 408
    Elmax 430
    F2 398
    HAP40 414
    HAP72 417
    K390 410
    K490 407
    K890 404
    L6 392
    LC200N 421
    M1 412
    M2 413
    M3:2 414
    M390 432
    M398 434
    M4 415
    M42 413
    Maxamet 417
    N690 427
    Niolox 423
    Niolox+ 422
    Nitro-V 421
    O1 395
    O2 395
    PSF27 408
    Rex 121 418
    Rex 76 415
    Rex 86 416
    Rex45 414
    RWL34 426
    S1 390
    S110V 433
    S125V 436
    S290 416
    S30V 428
    S35VN 428
    S45VN 428
    S5 391
    S60V 432
    S7 400
    S90V 433
    SG2 427
    T1 412
    T15 415
    V-Toku 1 398
    V-Toku 2 398
    Vanadis 4 Extra 406
    Vanadis 60 418
    Vanadis 8 408
    Vanax 431
    Vancron 410
    VG10 425
    W1 389
    W2 389
    White #1 389
    White #2 389
    White #3 388
    XHP 429
    Z-Max 416
    Z-Tuff 403
    Z-Wear 405
    ZDP-189 435

  16. Hi there. I’m from Australia.
    The USA AMAZON ordering didn’t work for me. I would like to buy a copy of the full size book please (450 pages) please advise.
    Kind regards

    1. I ordered in Australia through Amazon US, got in about ten days, awesome service for most in depth book l have come across

      1. I’ve been hitting this blog in searches recently, hut hadn’t taken much time to read. I was looking up a book om knife metallurgy on Amazon and saw this – just ordered it and subscribed.to the blog. Looking forward to seeing the book!

          1. The book is excellent, but it is not possible to find it in the Czech Republic, where I have been working in the field of physical metallurgy for many years (30).

          2. Reply to Michal Černý:
            Michale what about ordering it from Amazon.de? I am considering doing it as well. I can see they are shipping to ČR.

  17. There’s any chance for a digital release? The book looks great, but with import fees and shipping it becomes very expensive in some countries.

  18. Larrin, I was wondering about the book revision and if a person bought a book at Amazon now, if it would be the revised publishing or if there was a chance a person would get the original publishing.

  19. I am so surprised when I am come up with a book!
    I am a knife enthusiast. I always wanted to little bit dipper about knives. this book might help I think.
    I am looking forward to buying your book “Knife Engineering”.

  20. I think I will address the elephant in the room which is, why is this not available via ebook? What is the reasoning and rationale behind that? Simply put, I am in a part of Southern Africa where Amazon deliveries are just not an option. We barely get internet here, and I assure you there are no Amazon delivery services or book stores that carry this. Why not just release a kindle or ebook version of this that I can purchase through Amazon?

  21. Hey Larrin, my name is Gabe, I run a YouTube channel on knife sharpening and I live in New Zealand. Since I launched the channel I have been researching and learning continuously about sharpening, metallurgy & steel but the biggest thing I’ve learned is that I know so much less than I thought haha!

    I’d like to get your book, but with border lockdowns and very few planes in the air, shipping to NZ is spendy. Is there any way to get your book electronically on Kindle and save shipping?

    PS I have followed your research (much as I can comprehend) for years and have been wishing someone would make a steel with ~ 1% C and ~ 10% Chr and a good amount of Ni and V for small carbides ever since you came out with your Charpy testing data and I saw the hole in the stainless midrange of the scatterplot. My mind was blown when you revealed MagnaCut, it’s almost exactly the steel I always wanted to see created, I just got a Spyderco Mule in it that I am SO excited to sharpen, use and enjoy – thanks for all you do for the community – you are a blessing, sir.

  22. It would be great to have a seller available other than Amazon, for whose of us who don’t want to deal with El Jefe (Bezos). The book does sound great.

    1. I concur, I want this book but refuse to use Amazon. I called our local independent bookstore and they informed me Amazon was the only retailer. I just want to support small businesses and people like you without feeding Amazon.

  23. Got this a year or so ago, and it’s great. I’ve read and enjoyed other books oon metallurgy/working with steel/iron but this contains almost anything one is likely to ask. Well done, Larrin, will check out your patreon and I go back to the toughness/edge retention/corrosion resistance page just about every day to brush up on steels I don’t usually mess with.

  24. I have a big question, where I know little about forging.
    When you heat a block of steel up to glowing yellow or white, is the metal inside molten held in by an external shell? I did see such a piece struck where it smoothed the guts out sending it flying. Which with say oxides on the outside, I can see where a shell would be created along with ambient temperatures keeping the exterior solid, while the insulation properties might absorb more and more heat internally, where I’m only asking as I’m sure there’s others that know especially the fellow who wrote the book. Which he is correct, I prefer a written book, it’s just easier to read.
    Another question, do all the elements inside a glowing yellow or glowing white ball, or bulk, get to freely move around, joining to other elements equalizing the mix?
    I’d appreciate feedback.

    1. If the steel is overheated the grain boundaries will melt first, which leads to the interesting behavior when forging begins.

  25. It’s a shame that’s no portuguese version of this book yet. My english is very basic to get a deep understanding of all topics… Cheers from Brazil.

  26. Could you also release an e-book version of ‘Knife Engineering: Steel, Heat Treating, and Geometry’? I am in China and unable to purchase the physical book. I’ve already bought the e-book version of your new book. Thank you.

      1. Will there be a digital edition for the second edition? I have been following your website for many years and have learned a lot from it. I look forward to your new works, preferably in digital format, so I can purchase and download them directly online.

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