What material makes the best knife? This needs careful explanation. The carbon content of steel isn't simply a matter of the higher the better. Steel used for swords has two basic properties: hardness and toughness. Hardness determines how hard the knife can cut, while toughness determines its flexibility-how far it can bend without breaking.
Unfortunately, these two properties are somewhat mutually exclusive. Higher carbon content in steel results in higher hardness, making the knife sharper, but also more brittle, potentially chipping upon contact with hard materials.
Conversely, wrought iron, with its low carbon content, has high toughness, making it less prone to chipping and even capable of bending to a certain extent without breaking. However, it lacks hardness and cannot cut very hard materials. Therefore, a truly good knife must combine the advantages of high-carbon steel and wrought iron. In ancient times, the best method was folding and forging, meticulously layering high-carbon steel and wrought iron together.
This method resulted in a knife that combined the sharpness of high-carbon steel with the toughness of wrought iron. Swords forged using this technique were considered the finest of the finest in ancient times. Although the technique was invented in China, the forging techniques in Iran (ancient Persia) were later perfected, hence the name Damascus steel. Because the steel is forged using a folding process, it has a beautiful, layered pattern on the surface, hence the name patterned steel.
The knife you mentioned selling online is made of high-carbon steel, which is basically a very ordinary knife, probably cast directly in an ironworks. Such knives look very sharp, but they are fragile and easily break. To find a good knife, even if you can't find Damascus steel, you should at least look for one made using a clad or laminated steel technique (where the blade is made of wrought iron in the middle and wrapped with a layer of high-carbon steel; this technique is simpler than folding forging), or one that has undergone high-tech quenching treatment. However, such knives cost at least a thousand yuan, and genuine ones are not easily found online!
