Hand Tools Archive

Wear Mechanisms of edges

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
I have spent some time this AM investigating what is know about tool wear in milling wood. Corrosive wear is a significant factor in machine cutting of wood. What I could not find (nobody would be interested) is whether it would be significant in hand planing. The important variable would be heat, which both accelerates chemical reactions and promotes volatilization of corrosive wood chemicals. Is the heat at the blade tip enough to promote chemical as well as mechanical abrasion?

Why ponder corrosive wear? The steels used in David's work range from highly susceptible to resistant. If searching for the "best" steel should corrosion resistance be considered? I would like to see S30V vs 3V comparison. They have similar abrasive resistance but S30 V is a stainless steel. If corrosion resistance is significant it should show up as a edge life difference in these steels.

What I found was no mention of adhesive abrasion for cutting wood. The physical properties of the materials involved does not predict this mechanism could be a factor. In adhesive wear hard stuff wears soft stuff.

© 1998 - 2017 by Ellis Walentine. All rights reserved.
any means without the written permission of the publisher.