Category: Toughness
4 thoughts on “Toughness”
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Matrix Steels K888 and CPM-1V
Thanks to Roman Kasé for donating the K888 and Niagara Specialty Metals for donating the CPM-1V. Thanks to my Patreon supporters for funding this study, those dollars went toward metallography and CATRA blade grinding. You can support knife steel research by visiting Patreon.com/KnifeSteelNerds
Testing Chinese Knife Steel 8Cr13MoV/8Cr14MoV
Thank you Patreon Supporters!
Thank you to my Patreon supporters who help make these studies happen. Patreon funds were used for purchasing two ultimately useless knives, and some steel. Patreon supporter Marcus Ho even sent me some steel all the way from China which also ended up not working out. And I used Patreon funds to pay Shawn Houston (also a Patreon supporter) to do microscopy and grind two CATRA knives for me. So when I say that Patreon makes the study happen I don’t mean in an abstract sense. If you want to help fund more knife steel research please come join us on Patreon where you can get articles and videos early. Or if you sign up for the highest tier you can even get a sweet Knife Steel Nerds mug.
How to Heat Treat K390
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K390 Steel and Heat Treating Background
I already have a video and article about the history and properties of K390, which you can see here. K390 is a powder metallurgy non-stainless steel with high wear resistance due to very high vanadium, 9%. It is in a similar category to CPM-10V and Vanadis 8.
Does Damascus Outperform Super Steels? Testing Different Combinations
It’s been a while since I posted a full article, so there are a bunch of new Patreon supporters. Thanks to our new supporters Jack Hilton, David Heleander, KevinP, huck, Dd, C, Brian Fencil, Rick Steele, Leon Rodak, Kendal Thomas, The Madman, Michael Kelly, Allen Thomas, Jim Pickard, Linqian Chen, Matt Masuda, Nick Dunham, Fikes Lee, Timothy Becker, jmasinter, MakaBones, Will from Maine, and Charles. Please go to Patreon.com/KnifeSteelNerds if you want to be a supporter. Damascus is very expensive and this is one of the priciest studies I have ever done for Knife Steel Nerds. I spent several months and about $10,000 to do the following study. Without reservation, I can say this is the biggest study on the performance of pattern-welded Damascus that has ever been performed. Your support means we can do more studies on knife steel that would be unrealistically expensive otherwise.
How to Heat Treat Nickel Knife Steels – 15N20, 8670, L6
Thanks to the new Knife Steel Nerds Patreon supporters! Fikes Lee, Dennis Toland, mlknhny, Immenreiner, Robert Pearce, Andrew Lakey, and Scott Amstutz. It is thanks to your support that I can do experiments like the ones you find in this article.
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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Vancron and the Problem with Nitrogen Knife Steels
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What is the Best Hardness for MagnaCut Knives?
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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.
Knife Steels Rated by a Metallurgist – Toughness, Edge Retention, and Corrosion Resistance
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.
You should make a Facebook page
Just out of curiosity, did you ever test ztuff with a high temper. At one time I did some testing, and found it to be much tougher if tempered at around 1000 degrees. This was compared to tempering at 400 degrees!
I haven’t tested the high temper on Z-Tuff.
I think it would score quite a bit higher on you’re charts! Maybe in the future I could heat treat a few samples and send them to you. I’m interested personally!