Why not a chrome plated blade? Best of both worlds.

[wildromanian]

I would think you would have the best of both worlds. You would have the corrosion resistance of stainless coupled with the east sharpening of carbon steel. What could be more perfect?

[philco]

There are some knives, particularly some of the high end tactical knives that do have multiple layers similar to what you are describing. The outer layer is a stainless steel and the inner 'sandwiched" layer is a carbon steel that sharpens up better. Some swords are constructed that way as well.

Phil

[gmusic]

Here's a blade that's laminated, carbon core with white steel outer. I don't know the composition of the "white steel" , but it's stain resistant. Murray does a lot of knives in this manner.

[Hukk]

White steel is a high Carbon steel and Hitachi has one called Shirogami 1 and is 1.3% or 1.4% Carbon and .2% Manganese. Can get 64 to 66 RC - I suspect brittle at that high though. I think white steel is used in Japan for Katana and other swords.

Here are a couple links.

http://www.agrussell.com/Steel_Guide/a/73/

http://members.home.nl/b.ollivier/html/SteelChart.htm

[justold52]

Here is one 3 layered blade I have. I think she answers all you want in a knife like you asked.

Many of Helle knives are made this way.

Helle Safari HE 35 Curly Birch 3 layers SS Norway 9 1/2

[knife7knut]

I would think you would have the best of both worlds. You would have the corrosion resistance of stainless coupled with the east sharpening of carbon steel. What could be more perfect?

Back in the 1930's or thereabouts some of the cheapest import knives were chrome plated and they didn't hold up very well.Probably the reason for this(and this is strictly speculation)is that the process was not done properly.
True chrome plating requires using a copper plate as a first coating to bond the second layer(nickel)to the steel.This is then plated with nickel and finally the chrome which is why it is usually referred to as,"triple chrome plating".
Chrome plating actually has very little corrosion resistance as evidenced by the rust buildup on early style bumpers.And the biggest reason chrome plating looks so good is the base surface has to be mirror polished.Any imperfection in the surface will show up in the final product as the plating is very thin.
Another problem is that once the edge is put on by sharpening it allows moisture to creep in under the plating creating rust under the surface and the plating to peel.
There is a process called,"hard chroming" whereby metal is deposited on a surface(usually a crankshaft journal)by a metal spraying process.This is a relatively thick application and applies surface hardness only;not corrosion resistance.
I have a friend in Florida who owned an aerospace business and holds several patents on what are usually called,"nanocoatings".These are microscopically thin layers applied to metal(usually on the order of about 10 to 100 nanometers{millionths of an inch})to promote wear resistance.These were primarily applied to transmission and rear axle gears or any surface where there is a high incidence of friction between metals.I suppose these could be applied to knife blades although the machinery required to do this is incredibly expensive.The problem I can see in doing this to a knife blade is it would make it virtually impossible to re-sharpen without removing the coating first.
Same situation in making a blade with a super high Rockwell hardness:It may hold an edge for a long time but is impossible to re-sharpen and can be extremely brittle and susceptible to breakage if a load is applied the wrong way.
In short;everything is a compromise.

[justold52]

VERY well said knife7knut WOW

I wish I could put words on paper that well. And you are RIGHt too.

[justold52]

I saw this on the bay.

I just want to show you all what a chrome plated blade would look like after mother nature gets to her....

If you look close you can see stuff flacking off the blade.

[wildromanian]

There is a process in the gun world called Metal Life and also called Armaloy by the companies that do this to mostly pistols. The finish looks like stainless steel not bright nickle and it is an industrial chrome finish that penetrates the pores of the metal and does not add much if any thickness to the surface. It is very corrosion resistant and yes it is not cheap. I have not checked lately but I believe it is now in the $200 plus range but this includes the pistol tear down and re-assembly.

I would imagine that one who did not care about price could have this done to his knife if it was made of carbon steel. The only part that would rust would be the edge of the sharpened blade, assuming one was skilled enough not to goof up and slip when sharpening the blade which would put scratches on the flat of the blade where rust would also form. Naturally the knife would have to have the scales or handles removed first before the process was done which adds to the cost of the operation.

[rmfnla]

My experience with Armaloy is that it is electroless (chemical deposition) nickel, not chrome.

The reason it is not shiny is the gun is bead-blasted before the plating process.

Plating in general is a not-great idea for knives since sharpening the edge will always remove the coating (as knife7knut said so well).

[Hukk]

I think chrome plating got real expensive a couple decades ago. The hot rodders got hit hard by new environmental laws that shut down a lot of plating shops. Used to be cheap in California - no longer though.

[knife7knut]

I think chrome plating got real expensive a couple decades ago. The hot rodders got hit hard by new environmental laws that shut down a lot of plating shops. Used to be cheap in California - no longer though.

That is so true Hukk;essentially because of EPA and OSHA regulations.Most had to do with the chemical stripping agents(nitric and sulphuric acids).Fumes were also a big problem.Most plating shops didn't do just chrome(which requires copper and nickel plating before chrome)but also cadmium irridite(sp?)which is highly carcinogenic.Add to the fact that plating tanks use silver anodes which deteriorate rapidly and are horrendously expensive and it quickly becomes cost-inefficient unless you raise prices drastically.
Most of the brightwork on new cars today is actually a vacuum metallizing process using aluminum in a vapor state which allows non ferrous materials(including plastic)to be plated.I have a friend who designs and builds these machines and they are DEFINITELY not cheap.Vacuum metalizing is also not a very durable process and is usually done on the inside of a plastic piece.Real chrome on a new car is very minimal.
Industrial hard chroming is still done but as said before is more of a molten metal spray process and not for decoration.

[rmfnla]

Cars these days also have a lot of stainless in lieu of chrome, which IMO is a step in the right direction.