What are food-cutting blades made from?
I've heard it said:
“Tho’s blades aren't full stainless steel b’cause they're magnetic” and “They can't be real stainless steel b’cause they rust”
Let's get educated!
Stainless steels are classified into four main categories:
Austenitic
Martensitic
Ferritic
Duplex
Austenitic stainless steels are the most common category of stainless steel. They are non-magnetic and are not hardenable via heat treatment but only by cold working (also known as work hardening). They have relatively low strength compared to other stainless steel. They exhibit good corrosion resistance and good weldability.
304 and 316 are austenitic stainless steels commonly used in the fabrication of food production equipment.
Martensitic stainless steels are magnetic, they are hardenable via heat treatment, similar to carbon steels. They have relatively high ductility and toughness, making them easier to form. They exhibit moderate corrosion resistance and poor weldability.
420 is martensitic stainless steel commonly used in food production cutting blades.
Ferritic stainless steels are magnetic and are not hardenable via heat treatment. They have limited toughness and often lower corrosion resistance compared to other stainless steels. One of their main advantages is their high resistance to stress corrosion cracking. Their absence of nickel, however, gives them a lower cost.
Ferritic stainless steels are commonly used in high-temperature corrosive environments.
Duplex stainless steels are magnetic and are not hardenable via heat treatment. They exhibit roughly twice the strength of austenitic stainless steels and possess greater resistance to chloride stress corrosion cracking compared to austenitic stainless steels, albeit less so than ferritic. They exhibit toughness between that of ferritic and austenitic.
Duplex stainless steels are commonly used in the oil & gas and pulp & paper industry.
In Conclusion:
KSW provides blades made of the highest quality 420 Stainless Steel because it can be hardened by conventional heat treating and tempered to hold a sharp edge.
YES, they are Magnetic
YES, they will eventually corrode (rust).
KSW blades are TOUGH
KSW blades are HARD
KSW blades are SHARP
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