AFRICA knife, handmade by studio master Pavlo Honcharenko, steel N690™ 60 HRC

SPECIFICATIONS:

The name of the knife is AFRICA knife, handmade by studio master Pavlo Honcharenko, steel N690™ 60 HRC
Knife type: Fixed blade
Brand: Pavlo Honcharenko's Handmade Knives Studio

Blade material: Blade - Martensitic alloy steel N690 produced by Vohleg-Uddeholm Gmbh&C corporation
Steel sheet: 1-piece, forged, mounting handle is embedded in epoxy glue
Blade sharpening angle: Sharpened at 34-35 degrees
Triggers: Direct
Reduction: 0.1-0.2 mm
Blade hardness: 61 HRC
Overall length:  275 mm
Blade length: 140 mm
Blade width:  31 mm
Blade thickness: 40 mm
Length of the handle: 135 mm
Handle thickness: 32 mm
Total weight: 370 gr
Grinding of the blade: Finish of the blade - longitudinal manual satin 600 grit
Bolster and back material: Carbon
Handle Material: Carbon, Stabilized Elk Horn, Neuselber, Stabilized Sycamore Suville, Mosaic Tie Tube. Strap made of leather cord 3 mm, beads - stainless steel
Handle color: Black
Impregnation of the handle: Yes
Handle finish: Polishing
Hole for a shoelace (for a lanyard): Yes
Strap: Strap made of leather cord 3 mm, beads - stainless steel
Scabbards: Sycamore wood carving (Nordic elm). 4.0 mm genuine calfskin leather (Italy), treated with appretura to protect against water and impregnated with protective solutions, fat-wax impregnation, stitched with waxed thread. Manual embossing of the invoice. Finish (Apretto) with apretura. The pendant is removable, the insert is made of buffalo horn, the beads are stainless steel

Model: AFRICA knife, handmade by studio master Pavlo Honcharenko, steel N690™ 60 HRC
Model number: 132
Country of birth: Ukraine
Craftsman: Master Pavlo Honcharenko, Ivankiv, Ukraine ("Knives handmade by Pavlo Honcharenko")
Best use: Hunting, cutting, cutting
Knife condition: new
The price is indicated together with the scabbard.

A sharpened knife is not a cold weapon.

Our knives are very sharp, so open and use very carefully. We are not responsible for injuries related to the use of our knives.
Our products are intended for legal use only by responsible buyers. We will not sell our products to anyone under the age of 18.

Availability changes regularly, upon confirmation of your order, we will inform you about the availability or when the product will be ready. The product may differ slightly from the one shown in the photo.

Features of steel N690

Martensitic alloy steel N690 is produced by the corporation Vohleg-Uddeholm Gmbh & Co. , which has its enterprises in Austria, Germany, South and North America. The second name of the alloy is Austrian cobalt stainless steel. Due to its high quality and operational characteristics and advantages, it is successfully implemented in many countries of the world for the manufacture of knives and other purposes.
Steel is produced by electroslag smelting technology. It has a uniformly distributed carbide structure of the crystal lattice in the absence of harmful impurities. As a result of heat treatment and forging, the impact toughness of the material increases without loss of hardness. The presence of alloying additives in the chemical composition of steel ensures resistance to corrosion.

Field of application
Steel is recognized as a good material for the serial production of long and tactical knives, the technical characteristics of which allow operation in difficult and extreme conditions. Blades made of N690 steel are able to withstand not only longitudinal, but also strong lateral loads when acting on bends and twists.
Due to its resistance to corrosion and aggressive environments, steel is used in the manufacture of diving knives, harpoons for spearfishing and other sports equipment.
This steel is used in the manufacture of knives by such well-known European brands as Vokeg, Spyderco, Vepshmade and Echthema Ratio. The manufactured blades have excellent cutting properties, are strong, durable, sharpen well and hold an edge. The presence of alloying elements in the composition ensured high corrosion resistance while maintaining plasticity. If necessary, there is a possibility of thermal hardening up to 60 NKR.

The technical and physical characteristics of the alloy allow it to be used in mechanical engineering for the manufacture of tools, milling cutters, drills, bearing parts, and critical components operating under high mechanical loads. The steel is highly wear resistant and can be heat treated.
Resistance to the effects of moisture and chemicals allows the use of steel in the food and pharmaceutical industry for the manufacture of cutting tools and grinders. At the same time, the ecological purity of the material and the complete absence of impurities are taken into account.
ANALOGUES
According to its composition, steel N690 is a close analogue of Russian steel 95X18, German X102SgMo17, Japanese / (3-10 and A115-10, French 2100СО17, American 440 С. In Sweden, an analogue of Sandvic 12С27 is produced.
STORAGE
Steel N690 contains:
■ 1.08% carbon (C), which gives the material hardness and increases strength;
■ 17.3% chromium (Cg) to obtain anti-corrosion properties, increase wear resistance and change hardening conditions;
■ 1.1% molybdenum (Mo) to reduce brittleness, increase plasticity and resistance to high temperatures;
■ 0.1% vanadium (V) to increase metal elasticity and inertness to the action of aggressive environments;
■ 1.5% cobalt (Co) increases heat resistance and improves mechanical properties;
■ 0.4% manganese (Mp) increases hardness;
■ 0.4% silicon (5|) to improve alloy stability and increase wear resistance.
The presence of cobalt in the chemical composition of the metal makes the crystal structure of N690 more uniform and resistant to mechanical loads.

PROS AND CONS OF N690 STEEL FOR KNIVES
The use of Austrian N690 steel allows the production of high-quality stainless knives for various purposes. Due to its physical and technical properties, the material is well processed, capable of heat treatment, is not subject to corrosion and is sold at an affordable price.
5*ee1 N690 is one of the best alloys for making beautiful wear-resistant blades. Simple sharpening and long-term preservation of the sharpness of the edge make use simple and convenient. You will never regret buying or making a knife from this steel.

Types of deliveries
The high quality of Wohler N690 steel is ensured by the use of a unique rolling technology developed by the manufacturer. Metal sheets are subjected to repeated hot processing with rolling in the longitudinal and transverse directions. After that, the material is cold cut into strips.
N690 steel is supplied to the rolled metal market in the form of steel strips with a thickness of 3-5 mm, a width of 20-50 mm and a length of 250 to 1000 mm, especially for the manufacture of knives. The cross-section of the strips is rectangular or with a prepared longitudinal bevel, which eliminates the need for blacksmithing when making the blade. The steel may or may not have previous heat treatment.
All of this is very convenient, as it does not require operations to cut large sheets, allows you to accurately determine the amount of required material and reduces the amount of waste.
Strips are sold individually. The price depends on the geometric dimensions of the product, thickness and types of preliminary factory processing. For the products of the metalworking industry, the supply of a sheet with a thickness of 2-8 mm of the size declared in the contract is carried out. If necessary, you can order any analogue of steels of type N690. Sheet metal is sold by weight.

CARBON - KNIFE HANDLES FROM THIS PREMIUM MATERIAL

One of the most prestigious and expensive materials for knife handles, in addition to titanium and expensive types of wood, is a type of carbon fiber, the so-called "carbon". The material is valued for its exceptional lightness, strength and aesthetic beauty.

Carbon (from the English carbon - carbon) is a polymer material with a composite composition, made of interwoven carbon fiber threads. These threads are made using epoxy resins. The average density of the material is from 1450 kg/m³ to 2000 kg/m³. The main difference between carbon and other polymers used in the manufacture of knives is its very low weight. It is the weight, together with exceptional strength, that gives carbon an advantage over other handle materials: G10 polymer, micarta, FRN plastic, etc. At the same time, according to specific strength characteristics, carbon exceeds structural steels. The main qualities of carbon are high tensile strength, resistance to high temperatures, aggressive environments, slight expansion when heated, high electrical conductivity. Another important feature of carbon is its natural black color obtained during production, which gives it a noble and elite look.

The basis of the material consists of carbon fiber threads with an average thickness of 0.005-0.010 mm in diameter. Carbon fibers are produced as a result of a complex process of heat treatment. The main fiber (polyacrylic, viscose) is first subjected to air oxidation at a temperature of 250 °C for 24 hours. As a result of oxidation, ladder structures are formed (polymers whose macromolecules are stitched in pairs by regular chemical bonds). Then there is carbonization (the process of enriching the threads with carbon), which takes place when the fiber is heated in nitrogen or argon at temperatures from 800 to 1500 °C. Carbonization results in the formation of graphite-like structures (alotropic modifications of carbon). The process of heat treatment ends with graphitization (the formation of graphite in materials in which carbon is contained in a dissolved state or in the form of carbides), it takes place at a temperature of 1600-3000 ° C in an inert environment. Due to the war of graphitization, the amount of carbon in the fiber is brought up to 99%. In addition to ordinary organic fibers, special fibers from phenolic resins, lignin, coal and petroleum pitches can be used to obtain carbon threads.

Carbon fabrics, in turn, are obtained by weaving threads or ribbons. In the production of these threads, carbon roving is used as a basis - a bundle of thin continuous threads of carbon fiber with a thickness of 3 microns, formed by carbon atoms. After interweaving, they form a carbon fiber frame. The amount of carbon fiber in a thread is estimated by the number "K" - the number of thousands of elementary carbon fibers. The thinnest and most expensive carbon fiber is 1K, the most common carbon fiber is 3K, there are also carbon fiber threads with K = 6, 12, 24, 48. The fabric made of threads can have a variety of weaving patterns (herringbone, mat, weaving, etc. ). To give the fabric even greater strength, carbon threads are laid in layers, each time changing the angle of the weaving direction. The layers are fastened with the help of epoxy resins. This structure of carbon makes it possible to reinforce the fiber with additional elements that strengthen its structure and provide different colors and surface textures. These materials can be different threads, sequins, polymer materials of different colors.

The main methods of manufacturing carbon plates are:

• Pressing , in which the fabric is laid out in a form previously lubricated with a so-called anti-adhesive, designed to reduce the adhesion of surfaces to each other. They can be soap, wax, etc. The fabric is then impregnated with resin, and its excess is removed in a vacuum (vacuum forming) or under pressure. After polymerization of the resin, the product takes on a finished look.
• Vacuum  infusion allows you to create a laminate package by stacking fabric layers on top of each other and applying a vacuum discharge under the layers. Then a binder is fed through the valve and under the action of vacuum it fills the voids and permeates the carbon fabric.
• Vacuum forming is the gluing of layers at high temperatures and then the effect of vacuum to form the volume of the product. This method is one of the cheapest.
• The method of winding , which consists in winding the impregnated roving on a previously prepared form. After winding the required number of layers, the form with the wound fabric is placed in a heating oven and polymerized.
• The SMC/BMC method  consists in placing the fabric in a mold heated to operating temperature. The press mold is closed, as a result, under pressure, the material spreads into the cavity of the mold and hardens. At the end of the cycle, the product is removed from the mold, and its final machining and painting is carried out.

Carbon fiber is used in various fields. In particular, in aviation and rocket engineering, in the production of car and motorcycle body parts, household appliances and high-tech research devices. And for about 20 years now, carbon has been widely used in the production of knife handles of the medium and premium segments. At the same time, on fine knives, carbon can be both in the form of overlays on steel liners, and in the form of a single material of the handle, fixed with screws through bonks.

Carbon, which goes into the production of knives, in addition to its main characteristics of strength, should also have a rather attractive appearance. It is this factor that increases its cost, complicating the production technology and requiring the highest quality raw materials. The most expensive and high-quality resins and more expensive equipment, including chemical reactors (autoclaves), are used for gluing the layers. In addition, carbon is sandblasted to increase hand grip, which also increases production costs. It is also necessary to remember that working with carbon requires mandatory protection of respiratory organs and special rooms with good ventilation, and this also leads to an increase in the price.

The color palette and texture of the carbon used on the knives can be varied. Among the types of carbon, the following are used:

Mosaic carbon,  which can be both plain and multi-colored. Such carbon is used for radius spacers on knives with complex multi-section handles. Several dyeing techniques can be used in this carbon.

Marble carbon  is a chaotic interweaving of carbon threads, each of which reflects light differently, which allows it to shine from different viewing angles.

Carbon Lightning Strike  ("lightning strike") with a copper thread in the form of a mesh woven into the carbon fiber throughout its volume. Externally, it is similar to the one used in the fuselages of American planes to protect against lightning strikes. This is a thin carbon, 3.2 mm thick twill weave. It has a deep and bright pattern.

Like any expensive and at the same time difficult to manufacture material, carbon has a number of disadvantages. In the production of carbon plastics, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the technological parameters, in case of violation of which the strength properties of the products are sharply reduced. Ultrasonic defectoscopy, X-ray and optical holography, as well as acoustic control can be used to control the quality of products. Without them, the manufacturer works "by touch" and may not notice hidden defects. Another serious disadvantage of carbon plastics is their low resistance to shock loads. It is also necessary to remember that carbon eventually fades and can significantly lose its main advantage - an attractive appearance. However, despite these shortcomings, carbon is rightfully a premium material for the best knives.

WHAT ARE MICARTA AND G10 AND HOW THESE COMPOSITE MATERIALS DIFFER FROM EACH OTHER

Micarta is an electrical insulating material consisting of a polymer film (based on cresolaldehyde, phenolaldehyde, xylenolaldehyde resin or resin from a mixture of phenolic raw materials). It is glued with the help of various electrically insulating papers, fabric (mainly linen) or other materials of a similar structure. Mycard is registered as a trademark of Paper International. Getinax is considered its Russian counterpart. This is a high-grade textile production textolite. Its color depends on the resin and material used for gluing. If you change the color of these components, you can get different and often quite fancy color compositions. But if we are talking about combat knives, then black, brown and olive-green colors prevail in this regard.

Micarta on a linen base has a more attractive optical effect when grinding the fibers. After grinding, the surface can be polished or sandblasted. In the first version, the surface will be silky. It is pleasant to the hand, smooth and warm to the touch. And in the second - it is rough and has a matte shade, in addition, it is securely held in the hand.

Main characteristics of Micarta:

• increased water resistance;
• excellent resistance to temperature changes;
• strength to mechanical processing;
• dense structure that does not absorb odors;
• the microrelief of the material does not slip in the hand even on a wet surface;
• tight fit to the blade, which leaves absolutely no gaps and prevents product residues and harmful microorganisms from accumulating.

Micarta is a relatively soft material and requires careful manual handling. Therefore, it is used in the production of handles for expensive knives. Most Western firms use mikart to manufacture the handles of combat and tactical knives that are supplied to the army. Improper use of mikart can lead to scratches.

G10 is a light, hard and stiff material with a textured surface that is used in the manufacture of handles for both folding knives and fixed blade knives. It is created from a fiberglass-reinforced, pressure-immersed compound. G10 is characterized by good strength and moisture resistance. This material can be painted in different colors and even in layers.

After the finishing stage of the handle or pads made of G10, the surface often turns gray and dull. To restore the colors to their former brightness, simply wipe the surface of the handle with oil. The finished G10 cover or handle can be sandblasted. As a result of the impact of the sand grains, the resins are compacted, stuck inside and reveal the structure of fiberglass. Such a rough surface contributes to a better grip and does not slip even when wet.

G10 and Micarta have a similar composition and external similarity. But the first material is not as flammable as the second. In terms of tensile strength, Micarta, unlike G10, is considered a weaker material. But still, it withstands very serious loads.

____________________________

For decades, Micarta and G10 composite materials have been undisputed leaders in the knife industry, in particular for the production of handles of various complexity. The materials are distinguished by their availability, ease of production and processing, as well as high strength, wear resistance and unpretentiousness in maintenance. Both materials are composite, based on polymer resin, which is supplemented with layers of different types of captive fabric.

Micarta-G10-Сomposite-materials-photo-2

Micarta material is an electrical insulating material consisting of a polymer film (based on cresolaldehyde, phenolaldehyde, xylenolaldehyde resin, or resin from a mixture of phenolic raw materials). It is glued with the help of various electrically insulating papers, fabric (mainly linen of natural or artificial origin), or other materials of a similar structure, there are also options made of fiberglass and carbon fiber. The color of the material depends on the resin and fabric base used for gluing. Micarta is a relatively soft material and requires careful manual handling. Therefore, it is used in the production of handles for more expensive knives.

Micart is registered as a trademark of the American company Industrial Laminates / Norplex, Inc. (Norplex-Micarta). Its domestic analogue can be considered a material called "Getinax", which is mainly used as a basis for printed circuit boards. The material also has a sheet pressed structure, which consists of a paper base with the addition of phenolaldehyde or epoxy resin impregnation.

Linen-based micarta has a more attractive optical effect when sanding the fibers. After grinding, the surface can be polished or sandblasted. In the first option, the surface of the material will be smooth, silky, warm and pleasant to the touch. And in the second, the material becomes rough and has a matte shade, besides, it is securely held in the hand and does not slip.

Main characteristics of Micarta:

• increased water resistance;
• excellent resistance to temperature changes;
• strength to mechanical processing;
• dense structure that does not absorb odors;
• the micro-relief of the material does not slip in the hand even when the surface is wet;
• tight fit to the blade, which leaves no gaps at all and prevents food residues and harmful microorganisms from accumulating.

G10 material is a light, hard and fairly stiff composite material with a textured surface, which is mainly used in the manufacture of handles of both folding pocket knives and knives with a fixed blade. This material is created by placing several layers of fiberglass, thoroughly impregnated with epoxy resin, in a special vacuum press, where, under the influence of compression and heat, the resin finally hardens, preserving the structure of the fiberglass.

The G10 material is characterized by good impact resistance, wear resistance, moisture resistance, as well as ease of processing and maintenance. The material can be painted in different colors, including in layers. The surface of G10 can also be polished to a glossy state, or have a rough anti-slip structure, under the influence of a grinding machine or sandblasting.

Key features of the G10:

• high stability of basic properties during temperature fluctuations;
• withstands high shock loads, compressive and tensile loads;
• high overall hydrophobicity and resistance to chemicals;
• weighs relatively little, in relation to the overall strength and density;
• low electrical conductivity;
• can take different forms.

Composite materials G10 and Micarta have almost the same composition and external similarity. At the same time, the G10 material has higher fire resistance, although it is not a non-flammable material, it has higher compressive, bending, impact and tear strength, and it is also simpler and more economical to manufacture. At the same time, G10 is inferior in terms of "stickiness" in wet conditions, and also, tactilely, it feels less "natural".

Heat treatment. What is good and what is bad.

As a rule, when buying a knife, a typical customer will definitely ask two questions:

1. What steel is the knife made of?
2. What is the hardness?

That is, even a non-specialist somewhere in the depths of his soul understands that iron glands are different and can be processed in different ways. The latter, however, is obviously not for everyone.

Very often you can see statements like "I just bought a knife with 95X18 - it's a complete threshing floor, it crumbles on sausage, it's dull on oil." And then - "But you're driving, I've sorted out my three boars and at least henna." In general, the degree of user satisfaction with a knife is an extremely multifaceted issue, but it also includes steel and its maintenance. Which can be different. Sometimes strongly.

So what is heat treatment and what is it eaten with?

Well, it is already clear from the name that this term describes many methods of processing materials based on changing their structure (and, accordingly, properties) under the influence of temperatures. Often when applied to the finished product, this is often referred to as "tempering", although the actual tempering is only one of the stages. Sometimes, including hot deformation, all this is called TMO (thermomechanical treatment), which is mostly fundamentally incorrect. Heat treatment usually includes several stages (sometimes several dozen). They all have different goals and different modes. Adding to the confusion is the fact that in the theory of heat treatment and in practice quite often individual processes have different names depending on the purpose and place in the technological cycle. We will not go into the slums, we are rather interested in the main stages and their regimes from the point of view of the impact on the final result.

I think that it will be easier to analyze it on the example of a typical blade production technology (with an indication of the main technological processes), which is used by the vast majority of Russian (and global) manufacturers. Consider a typical scheme used by private craftsmen and small-scale manufacturers.

(Forging)
1. Normalization (sometimes + high leave)
(cutting blanks)
2. Annealing or TCO.
3. Hardening with MKO
4. High vacation
5. Hardening
6. Cryo treatment
7. Resultant vacation
(Rough grinding)
8. Vacation after grinding
(clean grinding and proofing)

In the event that it is processed by cutting, there may be additional vacations (or dropped).

Let's consider the influence of individual stages on the properties and quality of products.

1. Normalization (sometimes + high leave) - allows you to bring the structure of the steel "to a common denominator" from which you can dance further, relieve tension, grind the grain, in some cases remove the carbide mesh or obtain the necessary hardness for processing. It is carried out in the form of heating to temperatures above the temperature of phase transformations (often to temperatures that cause significant dissolution of carbides) and cooling in still air. At the same time, many steels are able to be roasted and obtain high hardness - in this case, a high release is added.

2. Annealing or TCO – Allows to grind the grain, reduce the hardness to minimum values ​​(for processing by cutting or cold deformation), remove residual stress. It is carried out by heating to temperatures slightly above the temperature of phase transformations (in some cases - the intercritical region) and slow cooling to the temperature at which pearlite decomposition ends. It is often beneficial to replace annealing with thermocycling - repeated heating-cooling cycles to temperatures above/below the phase transformation temperatures, respectively. Such processing allows you to significantly grind the grain to a greater extent and, as a result, to obtain noticeably the best fur. Characteristics.

3. Hardening with MKO. It allows to significantly reduce the leash and warping of parts, thanks to the closing of micropores, in some cases, it slightly increases the hardness and fur. Steel indicators. It is performed as "soft" quenching from the intercritical region, as a rule, by cooling in oil.

4. High vacation (from the point of view of maintenance theory - pre-critical annealing) - relieves tension after fur. processing, which prepares the structure of the steel for hardening, in some cases reduces the hardness of the steel to minimum values.

5. Hardening - The main stage of maintenance. It consists in heating to temperatures above the phase transformation temperatures and, as a rule, causing significant dissolution of carbides, which create the necessary saturation of the solid solution with carbon and alloying elements, and rapid cooling (at a speed above the critical), which fixes this solid supersaturated solution.

6. Cryotreatment - cooling the product to low temperatures (usually -78 - 196C). It is intended to enable a more complete transformation of residual austenite, which increases hardness, resistance to crumpling and reduces the risk of austenite transformation during operation, but may reduce viscosity.

7. The resulting vacation - forms the final properties of the blade. Heating is usually carried out to relatively low temperatures (sometimes medium temperatures). When hardening on Tue

8. Vacation after grinding - relieves grinding stresses and sometimes stabilizes the austenite formed during grinding.

Not all stages are always necessary, some can partially or completely replace each other - it all depends on the steel and the technological cycle. In the case of the purchase of semi-finished products, a significant part of maintenance has already been done at the enterprise - manufacturers.

Maintenance stages are usually divided into preliminary and resulting maintenance. The resulting MOT forms the properties of the finished product (as a rule, this is all, starting from the last high-temperature stage - hardening), the task of MOT is to ensure the necessary technological properties and prepare the structure for the resulting MOT.

Of course, it is the resulting maintenance that most affects the "basic" properties of the steel, but it is the maintenance that often allows you to "squeeze" the maximum of what it is capable of from the steel.

Of course, there are no free cakes. As maintenance becomes more complicated, labor costs, equipment loading, etc. increase. Which inevitably leads to an increase in the price of products. Often reusable. Therefore, it is too optimistic to look for diamonds in the middle of the thicket. On the other hand, trying to squeeze the maximum can lead to such costs that the product acquires the status of "exclusive" with a corresponding price. We have to stop somewhere. Where exactly - each manufacturer decides for himself. More precisely, where his target buyer stops.

Let's consider the main options.

1. Shackled, heated in a furnace until bright yellow-hot, put in oil. I held it over the coal for 5 minutes - that's all... In this case, it is quite optimistic to count on at least an average result for this steel. With great experience, everything is possible...

2. Gave it to "some thermist" from the defense plant. What and how he did with the railway - this is a big secret... The result - from complete abomination to very good, although with a noticeable advantage of the first. Everyone decides on personnel.

3. There is a stove, there is a "data sheet", there is a strip of bourgeois steel. Knowledge and understanding of what and how - no. If you don't mow particularly hard, you can get a good result. Especially with modern steels - they are usually quite error tolerant.

4. The same + minimal ideas about what, where and why. As a rule, by accumulating and understanding one's own and other people's experience and personal responsibility, it is possible to obtain consistently good results.

5. Have a clear understanding of the subject and/or vast personal experience. Plus interest in the result and personal responsibility. These are prerequisites for obtaining stable results that are significantly above average. The author's maintenance schemes often allow you to squeeze much more out of the steels than what is expected of them.

6. Blades - champions also require some luck.

Let's consider the main errors during maintenance and their impact on product quality.

1. Insufficient hardness - as a rule, the result of underheating during hardening (rarely - overheating) or excessively high relaxation. In moderate forms, it is found on inexpensive knives as a compensator for overly simplified maintenance.

2. Excessive hardness and fragility of "Perecal". But here everything is more complicated. It is often not a question of high hardness, but of overheating during hardening (or not carried out PTO), when the steel gets too large a grain. Actually, hardness is not the only indicator of the quality of maintenance - the same hardness can be reached in different ways and with different results. So statements like "A knife higher than 58HRc is as fragile as glass" should be taken with healthy skepticism.

3. Carbonless layer. In the absence of protective atmospheres/coatings or vacuum equipment, there is almost always. When etched, it usually looks noticeably lighter than the background. With proper planning of the technical process, this layer is removed, but in some cases (for example, when hardening a thinly reduced workpiece or performing a knife with "chisel" sharpening without removing the decarburized layer), it can appear on the RK, with the saddest consequences for the latter. Sometimes it can cause errors regarding the hardness - there it will be noticeably less than on the body of the blade and RK.

4. Cracks. They can appear at various stages of production, most often during forging, hardening or grinding. It is an unconditional irreparable marriage. The sale of such a blade (with the exception of VERY rare cases on multilayer swords or damascus) is a direct indication of the manufacturer's attitude to the matter. Crazy attitude.

5. Floods and warping. At long range they are practically inevitable, at short sword they are permissible to a certain extent.

In conclusion, some real stories about different knives.

1. During tempering, blacksmith A screws several dozen blanks with hairpins, throws them into the furnace, and goes to drink vodka. After a few hours, he returns, throws the "sandwich" into the oil tank, and goes to drink vodka. He doesn't take vacations - why is there anyway 58...

2. For many years, blacksmith B has been forging X12MF at temperatures 50 degrees higher than optimal. To a reasonable question about the reasons - "I always do this, people don't complain."

3. Enthusiast B decided to carry out cryoprocessing by quenching the pre-heated workpiece in liquid nitrogen. On the offer to first find the value of the heat of vaporization for liquid nitrogen in two days, he thoughtfully expressed "Bah."

4. Blacksmith G forges each workpiece differently. At the same time, he himself does not feel them and does not systematically collect reviews. Looking for a person...

5. When tempering EACH blade, in addition to the author's maintenance and testing for hardness, master D always controls breakage - just in case. This is a request for a responsible attitude to the matter, which manifests itself in other issues and finds its mark in the price of the products.

So, choosing a MOT, you choose a MANUFACTURER. Different masters may have different views on maintenance, but a responsible and self-respecting and consumer manufacturer will never sell a product with properties below a certain minimum. And in the case of marriage (which does not happen), he will make every effort to resolve the situation.

 G10 fiberglass

Glass textolite G10 is a material for creating knife handles. Glass textolite G10 is a composite material based on fiberglass and epoxy resin, used to create knife handles.

In the production of G10, fiberglass is soaked for some time in epoxy resins, after which the product is placed under a press for a long time.

As a result, we get a very strong, moisture-proof and impact-resistant material. G10 is a material that is excellent for processing and painting. G10 - used in their products by the vast majority of knife manufacturers and authors.

As an example, we can cite such companies as Spyderco, Benchmade, and among the authors who like to work with textotextolite Bob Terzuola, Duane Carillo and Mick Strider. In addition, almost all Emerson knives have G10 handles.

Before mounting G10 on the liners, the material is sandblasted and then impregnated with oil. G10 - the material is very tenacious and provides, apparently, a reliable hold of the knife in the hand. The disadvantages of the material include the rather aggressive attitude of knives with a G10 handle to trouser pockets.