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In this article I describe what led to my becoming a knife steel metallurgist. I answered questions such as:
Why go to school for so long?
What was so interesting about knives and metallurgy?
Why start Knife Steel Nerds?
Is a metallurgy degree easy to get?
https://knifesteelnerds.com/2018/10/08/ ... allurgist/

Great article. I've always wondered what kind of steels are used in vehicle manufacturing and if it's at all similar to knife steels.

Another great article. Thanks for sharing your life experiences and educational background. You are truly Blessed to have such wonderful children and family. We "knife nuts" appreciate your time in helping us better understand steel composition and qualities. Thank you. :)

Martin,

Thank you for that look into who you are. Panaca reminds me of La Veta where we live. Population 800.

Lovely family!

Regards,

MichaelScott wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 08, 2018 8:41 am

Martin,

Thank you for that look into who you are. Panaca reminds me of La Veta where we live. Population 800.

Lovely family!

Regards,

I had a friend or two at Colorado School of Mines from rural Colorado. There's definitely a lot of similarities between small towns. Differences too of course.

This article is very good, Larrin. I do have one question: What advice do you have to people who love metallurgy and physics and the science of knives but who, while recognizing the need and importance of mathematics, detest all forms of math and are unable to do much of it beyond basic addition, substraction, division, and multiplication, ie, not good at algebra, calculus, trigonometry, or any of that, but, desire to have a successful metallurgy career? Are there ways around the math or is that something they will need to address?

I truly want to thank you again LARRIN for sharing with us some of the pertinent information you've learned about knife steels and metallurgy in general. You've been a great addition to this forum and I thank you for taking the time to become part of the community. I''m going to send you a question that is quite detailed so keep an eye on your personal message box here on the Forum.

Hey being that someone brought up the old supersteel ZDP-189 and it has not been talked about for some time I was wanting to get your opinion on it.

I love the steel myself but for a steel that has all the chromium content I find it sort of weird that it doesn't seem to have a lot of corrsion resistance for whatever reason>> and I'm hoping that you can shed some light on that.

SpyderEdgeForever wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:46 am

This article is very good, Larrin. I do have one question: What advice do you have to people who love metallurgy and physics and the science of knives but who, while recognizing the need and importance of mathematics, detest all forms of math and are unable to do much of it beyond basic addition, substraction, division, and multiplication, ie, not good at algebra, calculus, trigonometry, or any of that, but, desire to have a successful metallurgy career? Are there ways around the math or is that something they will need to address?

I can't solve all problems but I can say a couple things:
1) The majority of math an Engineer does on a daily basis doesn't go beyond high school level math. Usually algebra with occasional geometry or trigonometry.
2) As far as school goes no one is incapable of doing math. Some are going to have to work harder than others. There are many resources out there now such as books, videos, and online resources for learning math. The classroom is not the only place to learn. Some hours/days dedicated to self-learning would likely go a long way toward preparing for taking a course.
3) Community colleges, Junior colleges, online colleges, etc. may have easier programs than Universities. Or at least cheaper.
4) There are different education paths for doing work that is part of, or at least related to, metallurgy. You can get started with welding or machining through technical schools and/or apprenticeships. There are engineering technology programs that are a little less math-focused than a full engineering degree.

JD Spydo wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 08, 2018 10:15 am

I truly want to thank you again LARRIN for sharing with us some of the pertinent information you've learned about knife steels and metallurgy in general. You've been a great addition to this forum and I thank you for taking the time to become part of the community. I''m going to send you a question that is quite detailed so keep an eye on your personal message box here on the Forum.

Hey being that someone brought up the old supersteel ZDP-189 and it has not been talked about for some time I was wanting to get your opinion on it.

I love the steel myself but for a steel that has all the chromium content I find it sort of weird that it doesn't seem to have a lot of corrsion resistance for whatever reason>> and I'm hoping that you can shed some light on that.

I'm going to write an in-depth article on ZDP-189 someday. Reports of ZDP-180 corrosion resistance are a bit mixed. The Hitachi datasheet reports good corrosion resistance in the tests that they performed. Basically it comes down to the Cr:C ratio since there are few other alloying additions. After the chromium is eaten up in carbides what is left over is in solution to contribute to corrosion resistance. The general principles are given in my article on D2 corrosion resistance. D2 with 11Cr and 1.55C has a Cr:C ratio of about 7, which is actually higher than ZDP-189. 440C, 420, and AEB-L (all relatively simple stainless steels) are 17+. It's more complicated than a simple ratio but that might help you get a basic understanding.

Excellent Article! Thanks for telling us what it took to get to where you are.

I like your knife steel articles. So far I have not found them too difficult. They are short and to the point. If I had any complaint it would be that they are not long enough, but they are to the point and not wandering all over the place.

Naperville wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 08, 2018 11:57 am

Excellent Article! Thanks for telling us what it took to get to where you are.

I like your knife steel articles. So far I have not found them too difficult. They are short and to the point. If I had any complaint it would be that they are not long enough, but they are to the point and not wandering all over the place.

It looks like my longest are:
Ranking the Steel Ranking Articles - 3730 words
How Chipping of Edges Happens at a Microscopic Level - 3646
Bainite vs Martensite - 3333

Maybe those are long enough for you. :)

Larrin wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:49 pm

Naperville wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 08, 2018 11:57 am

Excellent Article! Thanks for telling us what it took to get to where you are.

I like your knife steel articles. So far I have not found them too difficult. They are short and to the point. If I had any complaint it would be that they are not long enough, but they are to the point and not wandering all over the place.

It looks like my longest are:
Ranking the Steel Ranking Articles - 3730 words
How Chipping of Edges Happens at a Microscopic Level - 3646
Bainite vs Martensite - 3333

Maybe those are long enough for you. :)

I've been trying to keep up with you on new articles and go back and re(read) everything else. Much can be learned.

Thanks for the article Larrin! Looks like you have a wonderful family. Thanks for giving us a look into your life history. It's so nice to be able to put faces and names to my fellow forum members, instead of just a nonhuman username. :)

The Meat man wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:09 pm

Thanks for the article Larrin! Looks like you have a wonderful family. Thanks for giving us a look into your life history. It's so nice to be able to put faces and names to my fellow forum members, instead of just a nonhuman username. :)

And when anyone changes their avatar it’s like they’re a whole new person.

Larrin wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:11 pm

The Meat man wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:09 pm

Thanks for the article Larrin! Looks like you have a wonderful family. Thanks for giving us a look into your life history. It's so nice to be able to put faces and names to my fellow forum members, instead of just a nonhuman username. :)

And when anyone changes their avatar it’s like they’re a whole new person.

Exactly. :) Takes some time to get used to the new one.

Good article Larrin.

Say, maybe you can "invent" some powder F8 steel for us to make some knives of. The old stuff seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. Not much use for it in industry anymore but I'd like to try it out in knives.

No need to explain. I know the answer. :)

Joe

Always fun to see the path of a fellow materials engineer! It's not always an easy path, but I'm glad you've found it rewarding!

Hi Larrin, it's always interesting to hear of someone's journey to their vocation, thank you for sharing yours.
I appreciate the effort that you put into each and every article and have found them to be a wonderful resource.

The Mastiff wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 09, 2018 1:42 am

Good article Larrin.

Say, maybe you can "invent" some powder F8 steel for us to make some knives of. The old stuff seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. Not much use for it in industry anymore but I'd like to try it out in knives.

No need to explain. I know the answer. :)

Joe

I think there are other steels I would be interested in first but it doesn't hurt to dream. :)

Thank you, this article and the other articles and advice you give is very helpful!