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What is M390MK Knife Steel?
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Knife Steel Metallurgist Juha Perttula
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Intro
Juha Perttula has a doctorate in metallurgy and he has published several studies in scientific journals on heat treating knife steels. So for this article I want to feature not just an individual study but a person’s work. His studies have focused on traditional bladesmithing, low alloy and carbon steels, and wootz Damascus. He also makes and sells knives which you can read about at his website, juhaperttula.com. Juha’s website also has links to the articles I will be discussing below, and I recommend you read them in addition to my commentary.
Z-Tuff and CD#1 – The Toughest Knife Steel?
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Do Knifemakers Know How to Heat Treat?
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Video
Is There a New Bohler Knife Steel Coming?
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YouTube Video
The video version of the following information is available here:
How to Heat Treat ApexUltra Knife Steel
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What is ApexUltra?
Why Nitrogen Knife Steels are Soft
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I also have some Patreon-exclusive bonus content related to this article such as Nitrobe 77, Nitro-V, and 14C28N steel hardness data and experiments on the effects of the high temperature temper on nitrogen steel hardness.
Vancron and the Problem with Nitrogen Knife Steels
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How to Heat Treat 80CrV2
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