Is rc hardness the measure of sharpness / durability?

knosaj

Active Member
Like it says, if something is x hardness in carbon and the same in stainless, will they preform, sharpen, handle the same?

I realize that the resharpening and maintenance will differ as in the case that carbon sharpens easier than stainless.

Thanks for answering these basic questions, or pointing me to a place I can read up.
 
That is a deceptively complicated question and you will find PhD's in Metalurgy arguing this.
expect to get several different answers to this and they may all be correct.

First, carbon steel isn't necessarily automatically easier to sharpen than stainless at the same RC. It depends more on the alloy content.

RC is one scale to measure hardness, nothing more.

Often, a harder blade can demonstrate a longer lasting cutting edge than a softer one but only generally. Lots of steels that are softer will out cut a harder steel.

a harder steel maybe tougher than a softer one.
 
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As Boss dog has stated, This is one of those questions that can have many answers!

The Chromium that's added to stainless along with adding corrosion resistance can also add abrasive resistance which adds edge retention. The finally line of of each Alloy in each steel Like a 440C & O1 carbon along with the heat treat process must be taken in to consideration.

If you ask a Metallurgist a question like yours, You get a reply that starts with, Well that depends? LOL.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
The simple answer to your question is no, the performance will not be that same. No more than 1060 will be the same as 5160 or 1095 will be the same as 52100. Your question takes in a lot of territory, like hardness, wear resistance, strength, toughness, ductility, and how the exact alloy effects heat treatment. And that's probably a short list. A slightly less short answer can be had in books like Metallurgy Fundamentals or Steel Metallurgy for the Non-Metallurgist. Both of those are like 200 page Cliff Notes on the subject. A really in depth answer is more like several semesters study at a university or at least a very thick text book or two or three.

Doug
 
The difference between comparing any two "custom"/"handmade" knives, is the nuances. I have an article on my website, where I try to explain this: http://www.caffreyknives.net/top.htm

So often through the years I have been involved with clients who are stuck on a given Rc hardness, and believe that a knife is "good", only if it possess a certain Rc hardness level. Hopefully after reading the linked article, it will help explain.
 
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