Steel Alloys
Because of a lack of coordination between Katy's parents and my parents, I now own ten of the Wüsthof Classic steak knives I mentioned in my previous post. Which is a wonderful thing, as they're excellent knives, and I think I'm going to keep all ten of them, but I have a concern: they're not all the same.
They're quite the same in terms of packaging, naming, appearance, and all that jazz, but when it comes down to the composition of the steel in the blades, there are three alloys represented in the ten knives.
X50 Cr Mo 15
X50 Cr Mo WV15
X50 Cr Mo V15
I can parse some of these alloy designations. Some of the letters are the symbols of chemical elements: Cr means Chromium, Mo means Molybdenum, W means Tungsten, and V means Vanadium. Beyond that, I'm not really sure. What does the X mean? What about the numbers 50 and 15? Do the compositions have any impact on the longevity of the alloys? What do tungsten and vanadium add to the alloy that chromium and molybdenum don't have?
If you happen to know anyone with a background in metallurgy, I'd greatly appreciate your asking that person. Everything I can find on the Internet is either too technical for me or doesn't really explain anything. Help!
Back to Mensa Sudoku for me.