Austenitic Stainless, Cold Forging, Corrosion Resistance

H2 Steel – H1 the sequel

Larrin

Background

A recent Spyderco Byte has announced a replacement for H1 steel – H2. H1 is known for being a very high corrosion resistance steel used primarily in Spyderco’s Salt line of knives. I have a previous article about the design of H1 and how it “works” which you can read here. I am somewhat tempted to re-write large chunks of that article here because H1 is one of the most misunderstood knife steels but I am going to try to hit a few of the highlights without much explanation and I hope you will read the earlier article to understand what I am referring to: read more

Steel Alternatives

Wood Knife that is 3x Sharper than Steel? Spoiler: No

Larrin

Several people have sent me links to a recent publication about a process that increased the hardness/strength of basswood. They then demonstrated the success of their processing by making a knife and a nail out of the wood. See here for an example of one of these articles: https://www.cnet.com/news/scientists-create-a-wooden-knife-thats-three-times-sharper-than-steel/ read more

Austenitizing, Cryo, Edge Retention, Edge Stability, Hardness, Heat Treating and Processing, Tempering, Toughness

What is the Best Hardness for MagnaCut Knives?

Larrin

Thanks to the new members of our Knife Steel Nerds Patreon community:

Chris Hancock, Chad Morris, Edward Voss, Liam Gogley, Erik Turner, Nathan Raptis, Nick Dunham, Joe Busic, Will Red Five Forge, Dmitry Kiyatkin, Edward Edmonds, Asinelli, Mattew Reagan, Nate, Dan Barrett, Malachi Chou-Green, Nats Spawnee, McKenzie Kelsay, Jantz Supply, Adam Webb, Brian Baley, Blade HQ, and Mark Demshock. read more

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

Knife Steels Rated by a Metallurgist – Toughness, Edge Retention, and Corrosion Resistance

Larrin

Thanks to Bill Smutz, Alex Topfer, Florian Bachler, Brunhard, Art, Rod H, Sach, Jinny Koh, Jon Duda, Cory Henderson, and UPKnife for becoming Knife Steeel Nerds Patreon supporters! And Michael Fitzgerald, Tim Marais, and Head VI for increasing their contributions. All of the experiments shown below are possible thanks to supporters. read more