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Blade smithing

Crosche

Super User
One could differentially heat treat the blade ie make the edge hard and the spine soft.
Otherwise I would shoot for 58 Rc which should yield a hard edge that won't chip.
 

PeterT

Ultra Member
Premium Member
@Chris Cramer are you set up to forge/laminate (whatever the right word is) 'dissimilar' alloy materials in a blade blank?

 

Chris Cramer

Super User
Vendor
Premium Member
Laminating with forge welding is best done with a hydraulic press, or a power hammer. I don't have either of these tools, and my propane forge uses a lot of gas to reach forge welding temperatures. I believe laminated blades could be a great way of protecting carbon steel blades with stainless steels. It's not the same as Damascus steel but quite a few people think Damascus is the best type of steel, when it is simply two or three types of standard high carbon steels like 1084 and 15n20 forge welding over and over.
 

Chicken lights

Forum Pony Express Driver
The general rule of thumb is higher hardness means lower toughness, but over the years there have been discoveries that have engineered steels with balanced properties of hardness, toughness, and corrosion resistance. Those are the three general metal properties. Standard high carbon low alloy steels that are easiest to forge such as 1084, 1095, and 15n20 have decent toughness but low hardenability because the hardness comes ony from added carbon. The added carbon creates iron carbide which is the softest type of carbide.
High alloy tool steels contain alloys that provide more hardenability. High alloy steels with high Vanadium and tungsten fall under high speed steels because Vanadium carbides and tungsten xarbides are the hardest types of carbide
One of the biggest inventions that has brought more toughness into extremely hard steels is powder metallurgy. Powdered metallurgy technology reduces the size of the carbides in the carbide structure of the steel. In return, the fine carbide structure makes the steel much tougher.
If you look up knife steel ratings on Google and go to knife steel nerds, you can read an excellent article about different ratings and some tables on the ratings of different steels.

Moderator Edit - I think this is what you wanted us to see. https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10...ness-edge-retention-and-corrosion-resistance/
I wandered over to knife steel nerds but didn’t spend much time there, yet. I’ve watched my fair share of forged in fire so I’m an “armchair expert” like every body else

Knives are tools- how much does spine thickness affect slicing? Are heavier blades more prone to being reduced to camp chores? Why are some blades serrated on one side yet flat ground on the other?

For some reason I’m now a knife collector and not understanding the reason behind some of the design choices
 

Chris Cramer

Super User
Vendor
Premium Member
I wandered over to knife steel nerds but didn’t spend much time there, yet. I’ve watched my fair share of forged in fire so I’m an “armchair expert” like every body else

Knives are tools- how much does spine thickness affect slicing? Are heavier blades more prone to being reduced to camp chores? Why are some blades serrated on one side yet flat ground on the other?

For some reason I’m now a knife collector and not understanding the reason behind some of the design choices
The spine thickness greatly effects the strength, the weight, and the flexibility of the blade. The bevel and the edge are what effect how well the blade slices the most, but a thicker edge will also make it more difficult for the blade to pass through the material. An ax has a thick spine and a wide angle edge to easily split the wood, and gives it high durability.
 

Crosche

Super User
I wandered over to knife steel nerds but didn’t spend much time there, yet. I’ve watched my fair share of forged in fire so I’m an “armchair expert” like every body else

Knives are tools- how much does spine thickness affect slicing? Are heavier blades more prone to being reduced to camp chores? Why are some blades serrated on one side yet flat ground on the other?

For some reason I’m now a knife collector and not understanding the reason behind some of the design choices
A thick spine prevents deflection of the blade and adds mass to assist with chopping tasks, such as an axe or machete. Most tools of this nature will have a convex or obtuse Vee edge to split materials apart. Conversely, knives with thin spines will generally be more flexible and suitable for controlled slicing motions and will feature an acute bevel edge to part materials more efficiently much like a filet knife or boning knife.
I suspect that the serrated blades that are flat on one side are produced like that because they are easier to manufacture and to maintain in that configuration. That being said, some people really like chisel edge knives and the way that they cut. Many Japanese blades have chisel edges that feature a slight concave on the "flat" side of the blade to prevent the material being cut from sticking to the blade. Additionally, some Western culinary kitchen knives produce the same effect by grinding shallow grooves vertically along the length of the blade.
 

Chris Cramer

Super User
Vendor
Premium Member
I finally finished my first set of steak knives, as well as a new machete that I got distracted with while working on the steak knives. Each handle is made of dymalux handle material which s similar to Dimond wood. Several layers of wood fused with resin, which creates a beautiful pattern when made circular. The blades are made of aebl stainless steel which is very affordable, and still has higher hardness toughness and corrosion resistance than almost all carbon steels.
The machete was forged this time since the width is 3 inches and it is still over a foot in total length, so I had to draw it out by forging.
I also decided to challenge myself with a more complicated acid etch. To go well with the handle, I etched a dragon into the face of the blade, I made a brass guard in the shape of some wings, and used the same brass dragon pommel.
 

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Chris Cramer

Super User
Vendor
Premium Member
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I received a request from a former co-worker for a custom made cleaver. The blade isn't as thick as some heavy cleavers that weigh up to 2 pounds but the metallurgy (CPM Magnacut) and heat treatment gives it high enough edge retention and wear resistance to break rib bones without the blade taking any damage. Despite the thinner blade the large blade gives it decent weight without making your wrist tired which gives assistance by gravity with chopping. The large blade also gives more space for a more complex laser engraving. I purchased the 3W ir laser module for the D1 Pro primarily for engraving aluminum, but it also does a much better job of engraving steel as well.
 
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