Thread: Alternate materials for blades

Not a problem and I understand completely. I'll ask some third parties with no interest in our money what their experiences are with this.

I got a response from Gale about this as listed below:
I do indeed mean tungsten carbide. We make razors out of this powdered metal as thin as .009" thick or .228mm thick. It is a brittle material but as long as there is not extreem side pressure or down force, (as in use with industrial machines) then the blade will not chip.
The blade can be shattered if thrown against concrete floor with severe force, but not if it is bumped or dropped.

I did discuss some of these specifics with Randy on the phone late yesterday.

I also spoke with a guy that makes tungsten rings for a living. He flat out said it's too brittle. Thoughts? Shall we drop this idea and stick with our carbon steel?

Notice that Gale is refering to razor blade .2mm thick. That thin blade, even if trown to the floor, will not have enouhg momentum or impact force to break. But the straight razor blade is another metter altogether. It is heavy, and I think if it's more brittle than carbon steel, will brake.

Today I atested my DOVO Micarta (No.105) razor. I throw it on the floor from chest height, and it was fine.

Ofcourse, the razor slipped from my hand, but it was closed, and fell straight into tang on wooden floor. Needles to say, my blood turned to ice in my veins, but, phew.. it is fine. On my restoration project, I dropped just the (oiled) blade (no handles) from 2 foot height and chipped away the point. Fortunately, the razor had ugly ground and very rusted barber's notch that needed amputation anywas, so this actually saved some grinding time...

Nenad

Frankly, I would wait for some more input from others.
Perhaps a more logical choice of steels would be the ATS-34 or the CPM line of steels.

Well then here we go! Seriously though, I would like to see what some other people have to say on this before we go any further. Randy, did you already send off the blade?

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely support the tungsten idea... And I think that the straight razor users are more careful with their blades than M3's users...

Nenad

I hear that the Japanese are making a true SUPER STEAL at a good piece. Lets look into this. I will see if I have this info.

Mason

Are you talking about VG-10?

Originally Posted by Ruckeriii

I hear that the Japanese are making a true SUPER STEAL at a good piece. Lets look into this. I will see if I have this info.

Mason

I'm not sure what you're referring to, but we would be interested in something that doesn't necessarily have to be a super steel, but would make a better cutting tool. There are plenty of new steels being used for cutlery that meet that description. All you need to do is get on some of the knife sites if you want know about them.

Originally Posted by mgraepel

Are you talking about VG-10?

He might be talking about Hitachi "Super" Blue steel (AS), which is carbon steel. VG-10 is also an excellent steel (one of my favorites for kithcen knives), though not as hard as some of the newer powdered tool steels.