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Show HN: I built a knife steel comparison tool

(new.knife.day)
133 points p-s-v | 1 comments | 17 May 25 17:13 UTC | HN request time: 0.209s | source

Hey HN!

I'm a bit of a knife steel geek and got tired of juggling tabs to compare stats. So, I built this tool: https://new.knife.day/blog/knife-steel-comparisons/all

It lets you pick steels (like the ones in the screenshot) and see a radar chart comparing their edge retention, toughness, corrosion resistance, and ease of sharpening on a simple 1-10 scale.

It's already been super handy for me, and I thought fellow knife/metallurgy enthusiasts here might find it useful too.

Would love to hear your thoughts or any steel requests!

Cheers!

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LooseMarmoset ◴[17 May 25 19:06 UTC] No.44016291[source]▶
As a knife-maker, may I request 80CRV, 1084, and 1075? They're very commonly-used steel grades in knives.

Also, 440 has a number of grades.

Cool tool!

EDIT: It might also be interesting to point out the manganese levels, and whether the steel is a deep- or shallow-hardening steel. Those factors help indicate whether the steel will form a hamon or not.

replies(2): >>44016487 #>>44016532 #
globular-toast ◴[17 May 25 19:51 UTC] No.44016532[source]▶
Also maybe the steel that Wusthof uses, whatever it is. They don't seem to tell you what is, though.
replies(2): >>44016555 #>>44016782 #
1. Zak ◴[17 May 25 20:30 UTC] No.44016782[source]▶
Wüsthof prints the steel it uses on the blades of many of its knives: X50CrMoV15[0], which is also called 1.4116 and 5Cr15MoV.

It's not in OP's tool, but this article[1] by metallurgist Larrin Thomas includes it. His ratings are 2.5 for toughness, 2.5 for wear resistance, and 8 for corrosion resistance. It is a bad steel for any kind of knife and especially bad at Wüsthof's prices.

[0] https://zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=X50CrMoV...

[1] https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10/19/knife-steels-rated-by...