Damascus, Edge Retention, Toughness

Does Damascus Outperform Super Steels? Testing Different Combinations

Larrin

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. read more

History - Articles - Books

New Book! The Story of Knife Steel – Innovators Behind Modern Damascus and Super Steels

Larrin

This is the biggest project I have ever worked on, spending many, many hours to write the comprehensive tale about steel and knives. If you have ever wanted to learn more about the inner workings of the knife industry, this book is for you. Wherever possible I used firsthand accounts from metallurgists and knifemakers to explain why they innovated and how. I will give links to buy so they aren’t lost on the page and then I will explain more: read more

History - Articles - Books, Steel and Knife Properties, Super Steels

K390 – Best High Wear Resistance Steel?

Larrin

Thanks to the new Knife Steel Nerds Patreon supporters! Dusan Praznik, Donald Adkins, Marcus Collins, and Trae Santiago.

K390 Video

Here is the video version of the following information:

What is K390?

K390 was developed as an alternative to Crucible’s CPM-10V, which has had success since the late 1970s as a steel with very high wear resistance yet also moderate toughness. CPM-10V achieved these properties by having a relatively high volume of vanadium carbides, very hard carbides that contribute greatly to wear resistance. Because the carbides are so hard, it requires less of them for a certain level of wear resistance. Carbides are brittle, so having a lower volume of carbide for the same wear resistance means greater toughness. The patent application for K390 was submitted in Austria by Bohler in 2002 [1], and the steel was announced in 2004 [2]. The main modifications to CPM-10V were increased Mo, W, and Co. This gives K390 better “secondary hardening” and therefore “hot hardness” so that it can maintain its hardness at high temperatures. The higher Mo also gives it greater “hardenability” so that large dies can still harden all the way through. read more

Austenitizing, Normalizing, Toughness

Knife Steel Metallurgist Juha Perttula

Larrin

Thanks to the new Knife Steel Nerds Patreon supporters! Steve, Bruce Blake, Michael Glaser, James F Khoury, Paul Horner, and Shane Sibert.

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. read more