Knife Steels-Material Science

[x SF med]

Bill,
Let me recap the last 2 hours of reading; the Boss is at work, and I walked away from work long enough to really digest the the amazing information in this thread.

1. there are a whole spate of excellent knife steels out there
2. use is a primary consideration in the steel selection
3. 'stainless' does not mean it won't 'rust'
4. The matrix size directly affects the sharpness and possibly the durability of of the edge
5. the addition of various other metals, salts, and nonmetals can directly affect matrix size of the finished product (chemically and physically)
6. The metal continues to change throughout the working process, and that process is tailored to the metal itself so that the physical and chemical changes are going in the correct direction.
7. heat is good, heat is bad
8. cold is good, cold is bad
9. there are changes in the metal during the working process that cause a 'grain' i.e. austentising, martensiting, etc. in the blade itself and this grain is dependent on the annealing, heating, cooling and original chemical (what's in there)/physical (matrix size)/temporal (how long heated and cooled, and change in temperature over time of change)
10. the most exposed area of the metal (actually the sharpened edge) is also the area that is most dependent on the 'stainless' capabilities of the blade - as the atmospheric conditions may cause salts to form that will dull the edge by chemical breakdown.
11. hardness is good, hardness is bad
12. matrix size affects the edge holding and ultimate sharpness of the edge

13. I need to reread this thread to find out how much I missed and still don't know.

and finally - you really are a lot smarter than you look, your depth of knowledge amazes me - even about music - but you really need to change that one light bulb in the shop stereo.