From: "Steve Scherrer" <flatpick_at_teleport.com> > Thanks Dave! Seems like I read that the more rust resistant SS is the > softer/ weaker the alloy. es correcto? hence the poor edge holding > capabilities of this *rust proof* knife. Stainless steel is a relatively "granular" metal. This, coupled with some brittleness in certain alloys, leads to an metal that tends not to hold an edge. A crude analogy is the difference between flint and sandstone - one can take a fine sharp edge, the other cannot. This leads to other properties as well. Most stainless alloys cannot be tested easily with ultrasonics. The structure of the metal scatters the sound internally. One thing that frustrates me about most stainless knives is that it's almost impossible to sharpen the knife to what it was like when new. I have a Japanese kitchen knife that is stainless wrapped around a soft steel core. The cutting edge exposes the core and it is what gets sharpened. This knife is the sharpest in the kitchen and is great to use. The core is easy to distinguish visually, as it has a dark color due to a small amount of corrosion that is not worth removing. This is not a knife that you can leave to air dry or it will rust quickly. BTW, Dave's comments on crevice corrosion helps explain why sailboats have corrosion problems on multistrand shrouds and stays. The stainless cable has lots of crevice and the fittings at the end of the cable add even more little cubbyholes for corrosion to occur. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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