Do knives get old too?

D

DangerZone98

Joined
Dec 7, 2019
Messages
3,278
Tl;dr: Does knife steel weaken over time?

Paper falls apart since the cellulose makeup breaks down into its glucose subunits. We have Father Time and entropy to thank for that. My question is, does something similar happen to high end steels? Let’s say a Paramilitary 2 in M390. If the knife is used rarely and oiled regularly, will it still have the same degree of toughness, edge retention, corrosion resistance, a thousand years from now? Ten thousand years from now?
 
As soon as you're born you start dying.

Knives don't die, they wear out or are improperly cared for and deteriorate.

A well kept knife will last indefinitely, but as we have seen, a well used knife, that is frequently sharpened will lose mass and become less useful.

Age itself is not the enemy of a well maintained knife.

best

mqqn
 
If someone look over the blade for a thousand years, yes, I bet it too will cut just fine. However, I doubt anyone will be interested in using that artifact, when everyone is chasing the latest model of light saber or self-reparing knife.
 
DangerZone98 said:
Tl;dr: Does knife steel weaken over time?

Paper falls apart since the cellulose makeup breaks down into its glucose subunits. We have Father Time and entropy to thank for that. My question is, does something similar happen to high end steels? Let’s say a Paramilitary 2 in M390. If the knife is used rarely and oiled regularly, will it still have the same degree of toughness, edge retention, corrosion resistance, a thousand years from now? Ten thousand years from now?
Click to expand...

Quite frankly, who cares? None of us will be around to see it or worry about it. Did you stumble on some secret we should know about? o_O

If I were some type of vampire, mummy, lich, whatever - seeking out a PM2 in M390 would not even be a blip on my radar.
 
AntDog said:
Quite frankly, who cares? None of us will be around to see it or worry about it. Did you stumble on some secret we should know about? o_O

If I were some type of vampire, mummy, lich, whatever - seeking out a PM2 in M390 would not even be a blip on my radar.
Click to expand...

No secrets here, bud. Just a product of curiosity while jotting down notes for a university lecture.
 
A couple of my knives are centurions. They are in excellent condition.
Some of my 50-60 year old knives were not cared for and/or abused, by precious owners, and are worn out or broken.
The steel and other metals used to make a knife do not break down to dust over the millennia(s). If it did, we would not have steel, brass, aluminim, whatever. It would have all become dust long before "humans" existed.
Celluloid will break down, and some (but not all) "natural" handle materials might break down, depending on climate, and given enough time.*
I believe the oldest folding knife ever found dates to the Roman Empire. Admittedly, lying in the dirt/mud for 4000 years or so did not help it. However, it still exists. You can tell what blades and tools it had (even though they will never open again) and portions of the bone or stag used for the handle is still intact.
Obviously, we will never know the name of the Roman soldier (likely an officer) who dropped it during some march.

* Consider: Mammoth Ivory and Teeth are used for knife handles. Mammoths have been extinct for no less than 10,000 years. I think a couple custom knives have small pieces of dinosaur bone or teeth used on the handle. Them critters have been extinct for millions of years.

I have no idea how long it will take an acrylic, G10, and Micarta to break down. If a plastic soda bottle or 6 pack ring, and Styrofoam take no less than a thousand years to break down, my guess is the more advanced "plastics" will take considerably longer.
 
Last edited:
As Kansas once sang...

"Nothing lasts forever but the Earth and sky..."

But for your question: don't worry about it...you and your kids, and your grand kids, and your great great grand kids will all be outlived by even a poorly maintained knife.
 
Here's one from the Stone Age
bo16.jpg
 
Metal, unless it is exposed to corrosive elements, could very well last forever. A properly oiled carbon steel blade, or better yet, a properly oiled stainless blade (just to be double sure) that it is not used, will last forever. Handle material, maybe not. Steel, for sure will.

HOWEVER as others have stated, if you use a knife, sooner or later will need to sharpen it. If you use it a lot, you will sharpen it a lot. And will eventually wear out the whole blade.

There is another thing that may kill metal pieces which is metal fatigue. But this is something that happens to metal pieces stressed over and over. Even whithin their elastic limit (before plastic deformation), the structure will weaken and cracks will appear. Eventually it will break.

A knife is not something that will be stressed (bent) over and over in the same spot, so I think we can discard this cause of death.

Mikel
 
The blade steel is only one part of the knife, especially for a folder. The blade may last almost indefinitely, but other parts may degrade over time.
 
If left to the environment, most steels will eventually rust. That's why we don't have a lot of ancient steel swords hanging around. Luckily, that's a chemical reaction between your knife and the environment. There are ways to prevent it. With proper care, your knives could last for generations.

Assuming they get used, edges do fatigue and wear away. Sharpening removes material. So there is a limit there. It's pretty long though. How many people here have inherited a well-used EDC blade? Someone will probably decide to retire it before grinding it into oblivion.

As far as physics go, entropy is a fact of the universe. Everything breaks down eventually. Even our sun will eventually burn out. Try not to worry about that. ;)
 
Kaizen1 said:
"The Sword Of Goujian Is 2,500 Years Old And Works Just Like New

Despite the damp conditions of the tomb it was found in, the Sword Of Goujian is still razor sharp after resting for 2,500 years."
Click to expand...
Beat me to it.
Metals are not held together by organic material. The structure will not deteriorate on it's own.
For that matter, a lot of the traps in the Qin Emperors tomb would still be functional of not for their organic parts - wood, leather, bowstrings.
 
Ourorboros said:
Beat me to it.
Metals are not held together by organic material. The structure will not deteriorate on it's own.
For that matter, a lot of the traps in the Qin Emperors tomb would still be functional of not for their organic parts - wood, leather, bowstrings.
Click to expand...

It's not a matter of metal vs. organic. The sword in question here is bronze. Bronze has different chemistry than iron or steel. Storage conditions still matter but bronze doesn't "rust" like iron or steel. So why don't we have bronze blades in our EDC knives?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top