Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon; just as bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. Historically, steels have been prepared by mixing the molten materials. Alloying elements are melted and dissolved into molten iron to make a steel. When liquid these elements are relatively homogeneous or evenly dispersed throughout. The molten steel is cast into an ingot, which is then rolled out (while it is still hot) and shaped much like you would roll out cookie dough. As the steel begins to slowly cool below the critical temperature, things start to happen inside the steel. At these elevated temperatures, alloying elements are able to move around in the steel, or diffuse. Different elements diffuse at different rates, (typically the larger the element, the slower it diffuses). If the alloying contents are too high for some elements to assimilate with, the excess will separate or segregate out of the steel and form inclusions or possibly combine with another element to form large undesirable carbides. These diffusional processes are also controlled by the austenite grain size of the steel – grains are little packets of specifically oriented crystals. Grain boundaries act as barriers to diffusion, the smaller the grains, the more boundaries, and the slower the steel. This limits the performance capabilities of the steel both in corrosion resistance, and in wear resistant carbide formation. (See: Part 3, Powder Metallurgy and our Steel Glossary)
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Spyderco’s obsession with blade steel goes back almost 40 years to their very first production knives. At that time, most knife companies were content with the stainless steels that were readily available, most of which had carbon contents below .08 percent. The reason for this was that steels with higher carbon contents could not be … Read More
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