What is Steel?
Iron is one of the most common metals in the earth’s crust. It can be found almost everywhere, combined with many other elements, in the form of ore. In Europe, iron working dates back to 1700 B.C. From the time of the Hittites to the end of the Middle Ages, the preparation of iron remained the same: alternating layers of ore and wood (or charcoal) were heated until a mass of molten ore was obtained, which it was then necessary to hammer while hot in order to remove the impurities – and thereby obtain the raw iron, ready to be forged. The forge was set up a few steps away from the hearth where the metal was prepared. Originally a simple conical hole in the ground, the hearth became a furnace, the “low forge,” and was gradually perfected: from a few kilograms at first, the quantity of iron that could be obtained had risen to 50 to 60 kilograms by the Middle Ages. Moreover, small quantities of steel, i.e., iron enriched with carbon, were manufactured from the beginning. This material pro
Steel is the most common metal alloy in the world. In its simplest form, it consists of iron and varying amounts of carbon. Because both iron and carbon have been well-known since ancient times, steel has been produced in one form or another since well before the birth of Christ. Some of the very earliest steel was made in the eastern regions of Africa, around 1400 BCE Iron is the major component of steel, with carbon being a distant second, at between 0.2% and 2.14%, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective way to alloy iron, but other metals can be used to augment the carbon and to give the metal certain properties. The metal known as cast iron is actually steel that has a very high carbon content, which gives it a lower melting point and greater castability. Steel is well-known for its strength, which is given to it precisely by the alloying elements. When iron is in its solid metal state, the iron atoms form a crystal lattice structure. While this structure is fair
Steel is a metal composed of iron plus varying amounts of carbon as well as other elements such as chromium, nickel, molybdenum, zirconium, vanadium, tungsten, and so on. Different types of steel – that is, steel with different properties and characteristics – are produced by adjusting the chemical composition and adapting any of the different stages of the steelmaking process, such as rolling, finishing and heat treatment. As each of these factors can be modified, there is potentially virtually no limit to the number of different steels that can be made. Currently there are over 3,000 catalogued grades available (chemical compositions) of steel, not counting those created to meet custom demand, ranging from basic grades (such as for railway tracks) to sophisticated high-alloy and stainless grades for specialised applications.
“Basic” carbon steels are simple alloys of iron and carbon. Most are a little over 99% iron, and a little less than 1% carbon. Some steels have small percentages of other elements (vanadium, chromium, etc), but most of the great properties of steel come from the two chief components, iron and carbon. Most stainless steels (typically containing over 1% carbon and anywhere from about 10%-20% chromium) tend to be brittle. There are softer grades, but these don’t hold an edge worth a shit. These are only used for blades because they are easy to work with, and they don’t readily oxidize. If you’re looking for a pocket knife for casual duty (cleaning under your nails and picking at zits), go for stainless. If you’re looking for a hard duty blade that won’t fail you, there’s no stainless that I can see adding up to a good carbon steel blade. Simply put… stainless is great for soup spoons… bad for blades. I will discuss stainless no further in this article.
