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Originally Posted by The Reaper
Finally, something I know a little about.
If we have not beaten it to death elsewhere, for a starter, I would like to see a little about the older carbon steels, tool steels, stainless and near stainless steels, heat treating, hardening, blade profiles, thicknesses, grinds, bevels, etc.
Just a few thoughts.
TR
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The topic of alloys is very interesting. Historically some steels were much better than others because the naturally occurring ore dug from the ground contained alloys unknown to the steel makers but beneficial to the performance of the finished blade.
The Indian Wootz steel (think fine Persian blades) of old is a good example of this. When the ancient mine, the original source, of this iron ore played out, the quality of the swords and daggers diminished but no one knew why.
The first alloy of Iron to make steel is carbon. Both high carbon steels and tool steels may contain similar amounts of carbon but not used for the same jobs.
The difference is in the degree of refinement during steel making.
Many truck springs contain .90 carbon content but would not be acceptable for some tool and die jobs needing a tool steel with the same carbon content. This is because the truck springs contain some impurities and inclusions like slag that still make great springs but do not have the grain refinement and purity of manufacturing to hold an extremely fine edge in a hard use production tool.