Knife steel vs heat treatment

[fletcher]

The 0.6 - 1.0% C content of HCS gives us pearlite. The content of 1006/1008 is many times less. With so much less carbon, what is the resulting crystalline structure? Is there a name for that?

The microstructure is predominantly ferrite with small amounts of pearlite - pretty much pockets of it scattered about. As the carbon fraction goes down, the amount of pearlite diminishes (or in some cases is just cementite) until carbon is about 0.008% by weight. Below this, the structure is ferrite at room temperature.

 

[Pete D.]

Hard?

The microstructure is predominantly ferrite with small amounts of pearlite - pretty much pockets of it scattered about. As the carbon fraction goes down, the amount of pearlite diminishes (or in some cases is just cementite) until carbon is about 0.008% by weight. Below this, the structure is ferrite at room temperature.

How hard/brittle is that?

 

[hso]

http://www.sonic.net/~blade/Info___...Heat_Treating/principle_of_heat_treating.html

 

[Pete D.]

hard#2

HSO - thanks for the link. It was/is a good read.....I did not see that It told me how hard ferrite is.
Pete

 

[Pete D.]

hard#2

HSO - thanks for the link. It was/is a good read...mostly discussing HC steel , not the low carbon stuff ((0.08-0.1 C%)).
I did not see that it told me how hard ferrite is.
Pete

 

[hso]

I think ferrite itself is around 200-300 Brinell, but by itself that's not reflective of the steel that the ferrite is part of. That's 60-67 Rockwell.

 

[buckfynn]

We could go down the road of type of steel vs heat treatment vs blade geometry but would just open up another can of worms in this discussion.