What are case knife blades made of, A case knife is nothing but a normal table knife, used by us all during our meals. During the earlier days, inns would not provide extra cutlery and utensils to the people who opted to stay with them. This meant that the travelers had to carry everything they required. And the knife happened to be one of the must-carry items of these travelers. This modified version of the foldable knife came to be known as ‘case knife,’ something that was easily portable for the travelers. It later came to be known as ‘Pocket knife’ later, owing to its size – small enough for one to easily slip into the pocket!
Now the thing about case knives is that they have to be compact. However being compact is not a quality that we look out for in a knife – a knife has got be sturdy, durable and able to cut through whatever we put it through — this means that the case knife has to be made of a material that’s sustainable and strong. So what exactly goes into the making of these case knife blades? Let’s have a look.
The stainless steel used in blades undergoes a hardness test and a scratch resistance test too – to ensure that that the quality of the blade is not compromised at all. Every kind of knife blade has its own requirement on the hardness and scratch resistance scale, which has to be met as per the standards.
Generally used materials:
The most commonly used materials to manufacture knife blades are:
Chrome Vanadium:
This was the first material utilized to make blades. The properties of chrome vanadium are what make it mostly used in making knife blades – anti-rust, easy sharpening are two primary qualities making the usage of chrome vanadium in the making of blades rampant. Also, this material doesn’t allow the blade to discolor and protects it against pitting.
ATS34:
A perfect mix of carbon and stainless steel, this allows the blade to be sturdy and a tough nut to crack. And that’s also the reason why ATS34 is used to make case knife blade.
TruSharp surgical steel:
This material is more resistant to rust and easy to maintain a compared to chrome vanadium, but it doesn’t hold the edge or sharpen as well as blades made from chrome vanadium do.
