Impressive work. I've always wondered how it's possible to "decompile" steel types. For example, one of my everyday use knives is a Kabelmesser pocket knife (WW2). It's probably from Solingen, although there's no logo on it. I really like it because of the high-carbon steel, but I have no idea what specific type of steel was used, as I don't see much of such steel these days.
It's not hard, just expensive. You need to pay a lab to do it, and the testing is very much destructive most of the time.
Show HN: I built a knife steel comparison tool
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Re: Show HN: I built a knife steel comparison tool
#12Anyone else like ceramic knives? I have a couple paring knives. Super sharp but very brittle.
They're great for minimizing oxidation along cuts. E.g. cutting iceberg lettuce and avoiding having the edges turn brown. They're also very lightweight, which is nice for some things, while being bad for others. I'd never use them the way I do my workhorse chef's knife, but there are certainly tasks I prefer them for. Dicing lots of hot peppers comes to mind, oddly enough, as does some very precise and relatively tedious knifework like making very even matchstick cuts for carrots/radishes/etc (the large one has a very wide blade, which is great for this, and is lightweight enough to reduce fatigue).
Overall, I can see why folks like them. It's not really the "no need to sharpen" point. It's more the "lightweight and very thin" part, along with a non-oxidizing edge.
I'm still kind of opposed on principle, I suppose, but I do use the set we were gifted fairly often, despite having some very nice steel cutlery that I'm very fond of. I can't blame anyone for buying them now that they're priced more reasonably than they used to be.
Re: Show HN: I built a knife steel comparison tool
#13I think the AI intended for you to edit out this part?
Re: Show HN: I built a knife steel comparison tool
#14> [Maybe attach the screenshot here if HN allows, or link to it] I think the AI intended for you to edit out this part?
Re: Show HN: I built a knife steel comparison tool
#15Anyone else like ceramic knives? I have a couple paring knives. Super sharp but very brittle.
Also - paring knife, not pairing knife.
Re: Show HN: I built a knife steel comparison tool
#16(Ah, the raw data is available https://github.com/seattleultrasonics/Quantified-Knife-Proje... has a "Blades" tab which might be enough to correlate.)
Re: Show HN: I built a knife steel comparison tool
#17Re: Show HN: I built a knife steel comparison tool
#18It would be nice with an example on how knife steel properties work. I assume there are balanced tradeoffs.
Re: Show HN: I built a knife steel comparison tool
#19> [Maybe attach the screenshot here if HN allows, or link to it] I think the AI intended for you to edit out this part?
Shhh, I like those placeholders as dead giveaways that content was AI-produced. Don’t call too much attention to them or we’ll lose this way of identifying slop :)
Re: Show HN: I built a knife steel comparison tool
#20> [Maybe attach the screenshot here if HN allows, or link to it] I think the AI intended for you to edit out this part?