Swiss Army Knife
(Page 4 of 4)
July/August 1986
By Doug Richmond
Knife steels can be divided into two basic categories: carbon and stainless. Briefly, carbon steel is easy to sharpen and holds an edge well under normal use, but tarnishes rapidly—while stainless is harder and therefore more difficult to sharpen properly, but is highly resistant to corrosion and holds its edge longer than carbon.
RELATED CONTENT
Reprint of 1870 article that appeared in The Technologist magazine, which proves that alternative e...
Planting an asparagus and strawberry garden bed to last a lifetime....
The unique majesty of the pronghorn, including indigenous regions, attributes and characteristics, ...
A guide to the plants that complement the greens you want to grow in the garden....
The hardness of knife steel is usually measured on the Rockwell "C" (RC) scale. For general purposes, a knife with a rating of between 57 and 59 RC can be considered a good choice. The metal used in cheap knives may drop below 50 RC.
By far the most common of the stainless steels used for knife making is 440C. In fact, it's the most popular of all knife metals because it performs relatively well under a wide variety of conditions. Other steels are better in specific applications, but none equals 440C's overall performance.
Traditional knife-handle materials such as sambar stag, Brazilian rosewood, ivory, and the like still set standards for beauty, but when it comes to utility, synthetics such as Micarta and Du Pont Delrin are hard to beat. Micarta stands up quite well to common use, but for the greatest strength and resistance to chemical deterioration, the newer Delrin—which was developed for the aerospace industry—is probably the best allaround choice.
Common folding knives can accommodate a wide variety of blades and—as in the Swiss Army knives—other useful gadgets . . . but such implements shouldn't be employed in any situation where a great deal of pressure is applied to the tool: A blade that folds at the wrong time can do serious damage to your hand.
Lockback knives are available in two configurations. Some multibladed variations are equipped with a tab that slips in front of the hilt when the blade is opened. Such an arrangement is helpful, but it doesn't provide a joint as secure as that offered by a true locking knife . . . which engages a single blade firmly within the pivot mechanism.
Stainless and carbon steel blades, natural and synthetic handles, folding and lockback—there has never been more for the discerning knife buyer to choose from . . . and never before have virtually all the choices been so attractive and utilitarian.
Page:
<< Previous 1 |
2 |
3 | 4 |
