Category:Blade Steels

Steel - an alloy of iron & carbon

High & low carbon steel - Steel is considered 'high carbon' when it is 0.5% carbon by weight, or greater

Hypo-, Hyper-, & the Eutectoid - Approximately 0.77-0.83% C is the maximum amount of carbon that will dissolve in iron to form the eutectoid structure pearlite. Steels below that amount are hypoeutectoid, containing ferrite & pearlite. Steels above this are hypereutectoid, containing pearlite & cementite.

Carbon steel - Only carbon and manganese used as alloying elements. AISI naming convention uses 1XXX, where the last two X's is the approximate percent weight of carbon. Ex. 1095 is approximately 0.95% C - the allowable range is 0.9% to 1-03%

Alloy steel - Steel in which other elements are added with the intent to change properties of the steel. Some popular alloy steels include 5160 & 52100 (chromium steels), 9260 (silicon-manganese steel)

Tools steel - Alloy steels used in the production of tooling. Popular alloy steels include O1 (oil-hardening), A2 (air hardening), W2 (water hardening), L6 (low alloy), D2 (die steel), M2 (molybdenum steel), CPM M4 (particle metallurgy high speed molybdenum steel)

Stainless Steel - Steel with 12% free chromium when austenized, allowing for the formation of a corrosion resistant chromium oxide layer on the steel's surface. Popular stainless steels include 440C, AUS8, 154CM, VG-10, S30V

 Steel Producers 

Aichi

Bohler Uddeholm

Crucible

Carpenter

Hitachi

Latrobe

Sandvik

Takefu

 Steel Production Methods 

Air melting

ESR - Electro-slag remelt

EBM - Electron beam melting

Vacuum melting

VIM - Vacuum induction melting

VAR - Vacuum arc remelt

Particle metallurgy - Alloys produced by pelletizing the mixed elements before hot isostatic pressing into a billet. Allows for a more uniform microstructure. Some brand names associated with PM technology include-

Crucible (Latrobe) - CPM

Carpenter - Micro Melt

Bohler-Uddeholm - Microclean

Wootz/bulad/pulad/ukku - Steel formed by slow cooling of the button to develop a dendritic carbide structure visible to the naked eye. Typically around 1.5% C with trace alloying elements.