Could you make a knife from WW2 tank armor?

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I remember there was an interesting story on later war Japanese medium tank where armor could be easily scratched by chisel, somewhere in Shiba Ryōtarō’a book, he served as a tanker during the war
 
I think the video already gave you a lot to go on. I think ironically the armor that was considered 'too brittle' for tank usage might actually make the best knives.
Ideally speaking tank armor was supposed to be not too hard, because you get issues with spalling, cracking etc, so good armor would always prioritize toughness. Hence why bounces and penetrations on good armor tend to have this 'buttery' look to them.
Anecdotally this was a problem with late war tanks when Germany started running out of alloying agents (with stuff like Panthers significantly underperforming as a result in their armor protection), but I also recall Otto Carius complaining about brittle armor being a problem on the Czech tanks they 'inherited'.

I remember there was an interesting story on later war Japanese medium tank where armor could be easily scratched by chisel, somewhere in Shiba Ryōtarō’a book, he served as a tanker during the war
That's kind of what you'd expect though, since a chisel is far harder than armor panels.

So long story short... yes you can make knives out of it - just like you can make knives out of bronze and pure copper. But I wouldn't expect them to be stellar performers... Could probably use it for fancy cladding though.
 
I think the video already gave you a lot to go on. I think ironically the armor that was considered 'too brittle' for tank usage might actually make the best knives.
Ideally speaking tank armor was supposed to be not too hard, because you get issues with spalling, cracking etc, so good armor would always prioritize toughness. Hence why bounces and penetrations on good armor tend to have this 'buttery' look to them.
Anecdotally this was a problem with late war tanks when Germany started running out of alloying agents (with stuff like Panthers significantly underperforming as a result in their armor protection), but I also recall Otto Carius complaining about brittle armor being a problem on the Czech tanks they 'inherited'.


That's kind of what you'd expect though, since a chisel is far harder than armor panels.

So long story short... yes you can make knives out of it - just like you can make knives out of bronze and pure copper. But I wouldn't expect them to be stellar performers... Could probably use it for fancy cladding though.
The interesting part is he said early war light tanks can’t be scratched that easy, and complaint they were sent low quality weapons to do suicide missions, tho it might be early tanks use some sort of face hardened armor while late war tank use homogenous armor
 
The interesting part is he said early war light tanks can’t be scratched that easy, and complaint they were sent low quality weapons to do suicide missions, tho it might be early tanks use some sort of face hardened armor while late war tank use homogenous armor
Could be that armor quality dropped; Japanese were also facing resource shortages later in the war.
But Japanese tanks were a death trap anyway when facing anything other than poorly armed Chinese militias, regardless of what period of the war you're talking about. They're right up there with the Italians when it comes to tank quality...
I think the only successes they had against allied forces were early on in Malaysia when infantry anti-tank weapons were still highly undeveloped and lacking. Western allies basically moved whatever was obsolete for Europe towards Asia because it still worked just fine against the Japanese.
 
Sinn make watches out U-boat/submarine steel so I don't see why not.
Interesting. Unfortunatley Sinn doesn't elaborate on what the "high-strength, seawater-resistant German Submarine Steel" actually is. If it were made from actual recycled sub steel that would be interesting.
This reminds me of the time J.A.Henckels made a limited series of knives using steel from a local bridge built around 1900(?) and that was undergoing renovations. This was about 10 to 20 years ago as I recall.
 
Interesting. Unfortunatley Sinn doesn't elaborate on what the "high-strength, seawater-resistant German Submarine Steel" actually is. If it were made from actual recycled sub steel that would be interesting.
This reminds me of the time J.A.Henckels made a limited series of knives using steel from a local bridge built around 1900(?) and that was undergoing renovations. This was about 10 to 20 years ago as I recall.
https://www.sinn.de/de/Technik-ABC.htm#technikabc_63
Actually they do specify. Basically its the same steelgrade as used for modern sub construction by ThyssenKrupp.
So no actual boat or recycling is involve.

Just like with armor I doubt it'd be any good for making knives.

This thread has more details (though I have no clue about original source or veracity of the information): https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/a-little-bit-of-info-on-the-u-boat-steel.145778/
 
https://www.sinn.de/de/Technik-ABC.htm#technikabc_63
Actually they do specify. Basically its the same steelgrade as used for modern sub construction by ThyssenKrupp.
So no actual boat or recycling is involve.

Just like with armor I doubt it'd be any good for making knives.

This thread has more details (though I have no clue about original source or veracity of the information): https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/a-little-bit-of-info-on-the-u-boat-steel.145778/
Cladding would be cool enough
 
Interesting. Unfortunatley Sinn doesn't elaborate on what the "high-strength, seawater-resistant German Submarine Steel" actually is. If it were made from actual recycled sub steel that would be interesting.
This reminds me of the time J.A.Henckels made a limited series of knives using steel from a local bridge built around 1900(?) and that was undergoing renovations. This was about 10 to 20 years ago as I recall.
https://edelweissimports.com/products/zjah-mungsten-damast-chef-knf/
 
Could be that armor quality dropped; Japanese were also facing resource shortages later in the war.
But Japanese tanks were a death trap anyway when facing anything other than poorly armed Chinese militias, regardless of what period of the war you're talking about. They're right up there with the Italians when it comes to tank quality...
I think the only successes they had against allied forces were early on in Malaysia when infantry anti-tank weapons were still highly undeveloped and lacking. Western allies basically moved whatever was obsolete for Europe towards Asia because it still worked just fine against the Japanese.
Kind unrelated, but Italy and Japanese has quite unique doctrine, one is restricted by mountains and resources, and the other is restricted by oceans and resources, tho in hindsight they should know they are already fighting in North Africa and northern Chinese plain. Even then by 1935 standard both of their tank force are roughly equivalent to other major powers, in the battle of Battles of Khalkhin Gol Japanese medium tanks are still evenly matched with Soviet T-26 and BT series in armor, just lack in fire power and number. But the thing is tank development takes on turbo mode after Spanish civil war, by 1940s you have monsters like KV-1, T-34 already in service, and those would be obsolete in just 2 to 3 years. Japanese, Italy and other minor powers like Romania, Hungary just don't have the industrial capacity to catch on.

For how far the tank design progress, US medium tank went from this to this in 1 year, the former is lighter than a light reconnaissance tank before end of the war
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2_medium_tank
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_Sherman
 
Kind unrelated, but Italy and Japanese has quite unique doctrine, one is restricted by mountains and resources, and the other is restricted by oceans and resources, tho in hindsight they should know they are already fighting in North Africa and northern Chinese plain. Even then by 1935 standard both of their tank force are roughly equivalent to other major powers, in the battle of Battles of Khalkhin Gol Japanese medium tanks are still evenly matched with Soviet T-26 and BT series in armor, just lack in fire power and number. But the thing is tank development takes on turbo mode after Spanish civil war, by 1940s you have monsters like KV-1, T-34 already in service, and those would be obsolete in just 2 to 3 years. Japanese, Italy and other minor powers like Romania, Hungary just don't have the industrial capacity to catch on.

For how far the tank design progress, US medium tank went from this to this in 1 year, the former is lighter than a light reconnaissance tank before end of the war
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2_medium_tank
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_Sherman
That M2 looks like it would be vulnerable to a Boys rifle.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_anti-tank_rifle
 
Kind unrelated, but Italy and Japanese has quite unique doctrine, one is restricted by mountains and resources, and the other is restricted by oceans and resources, tho in hindsight they should know they are already fighting in North Africa and northern Chinese plain. Even then by 1935 standard both of their tank force are roughly equivalent to other major powers, in the battle of Battles of Khalkhin Gol Japanese medium tanks are still evenly matched with Soviet T-26 and BT series in armor, just lack in fire power and number. But the thing is tank development takes on turbo mode after Spanish civil war, by 1940s you have monsters like KV-1, T-34 already in service, and those would be obsolete in just 2 to 3 years. Japanese, Italy and other minor powers like Romania, Hungary just don't have the industrial capacity to catch on.

For how far the tank design progress, US medium tank went from this to this in 1 year, the former is lighter than a light reconnaissance tank before end of the war
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2_medium_tank
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_Sherman
Italy's situation back then was very different from what it is now; they still owned Libya, recently conquered Ethiopia and 'acquired' Albania right before WW2. Especially in the case of Libya it's a place where better tanks would have made a significant difference... along with better everything (better motorization, better machine guns, better leadership...). It's quite possible that had the Italian army been better prepared that the British would have been unable to hold on to the Suez canal.
But yes you're right, they were forced to make choices with limited resources...though most of all they simply weren't ready yet for a proper war. Similar story to the German navy in that regard, for whom the war also started far too early.

With Japan you're right the border skirmishes with the USSR played a significant role in dissuading them from expanding on land and seeking expansion elsewhere, leading to a prioritization of the navy - which still didn't end well. For the USSR the battles were arguably more important since it led to military insights and for example the development of the T-34, but most importantly it led to the treaty that kept their backdoor clear when Barbarossa started. It's funny though that basically both sides concluded that their tanks sucked in that battle.
It's hard to overstate the importance of these relatively forgotten border skirmishes; had they ended with a Japanese victory 1941 and 1942 might have played out very differently.

I think US is actually a bad example of how far tank design had come, since they at least stuck to the same tank for most of the war (mostly for production efficiency and logistical reasons, just like the Soviets). I think Germany is the better example in that regard, if you look at what tanks they went into Poland with (where the majority was ligth tanks like pz1 and pz2) and what they ended up developing (Tiger 2's that were more than 10 times the weight). The Soviets were actually already working on massive tanks even before Spain...although admittedly they were basically trying out everything.
 
That M2 looks like it would be vulnerable to a Boys rifle.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_anti-tank_rifle
M2... BT7, T26... Panzer 1 and Panzer 2... if you look at the pre-war and early war stuff it's all thinly armored tin cans that are all relatively easily penetrated by simple AT rifles that pretty much all armies had (Boys rifle, Panzerbuchse 39, PTRD; its basically all just an upscaled boomstick). Then you get this escalating arms race between tank armor and anti tank weapons that basically has everything growing rapidly larger and heavier.
I think we might actually be in a similar period now where we're seeing rapid evolution of weapons and countermeasures. So for example the war in Ukraine has shown that tanks basically cannot survive in open battle without an active protection system to counter missiles and drones. But once you have one it might shift the pendulum completely the other way.
 
M2... BT7, T26... Panzer 1 and Panzer 2... if you look at the pre-war and early war stuff it's all thinly armored tin cans that are all relatively easily penetrated by simple AT rifles that pretty much all armies had (Boys rifle, Panzerbuchse 39, PTRD; its basically all just an upscaled boomstick). Then you get this escalating arms race between tank armor and anti tank weapons that basically has everything growing rapidly larger and heavier.
I think we might actually be in a similar period now where we're seeing rapid evolution of weapons and countermeasures. So for example the war in Ukraine has shown that tanks basically cannot survive in open battle without an active protection system to counter missiles and drones. But once you have one it might shift the pendulum completely the other way.
My paternal grandmother came from a landholding near Kyyiv. She was thirteen when they fled the revolution. I slowly figured out that she was an amazing person; some of it after she passed.

I’m pleasantly surprised by how today’s Ukraine has stood up to what was generally thought to be the second mightiest military in the world.

My loyalties being declared, I do hope Ukraine succeeds in reclaiming its territory.
 
Italy's situation back then was very different from what it is now; they still owned Libya, recently conquered Ethiopia and 'acquired' Albania right before WW2. Especially in the case of Libya it's a place where better tanks would have made a significant difference... along with better everything (better motorization, better machine guns, better leadership...). It's quite possible that had the Italian army been better prepared that the British would have been unable to hold on to the Suez canal.
But yes you're right, they were forced to make choices with limited resources...though most of all they simply weren't ready yet for a proper war. Similar story to the German navy in that regard, for whom the war also started far too early.

With Japan you're right the border skirmishes with the USSR played a significant role in dissuading them from expanding on land and seeking expansion elsewhere, leading to a prioritization of the navy - which still didn't end well. For the USSR the battles were arguably more important since it led to military insights and for example the development of the T-34, but most importantly it led to the treaty that kept their backdoor clear when Barbarossa started. It's funny though that basically both sides concluded that their tanks sucked in that battle.
It's hard to overstate the importance of these relatively forgotten border skirmishes; had they ended with a Japanese victory 1941 and 1942 might have played out very differently.

I think US is actually a bad example of how far tank design had come, since they at least stuck to the same tank for most of the war (mostly for production efficiency and logistical reasons, just like the Soviets). I think Germany is the better example in that regard, if you look at what tanks they went into Poland with (where the majority was ligth tanks like pz1 and pz2) and what they ended up developing (Tiger 2's that were more than 10 times the weight). The Soviets were actually already working on massive tanks even before Spain...although admittedly they were basically trying out everything.
The Soviet heavy tank programs were interesting, one part of the reason was they actually got duffed by German intelligence’s propaganda, where the ability and number of Neubaufahrzeug were greatly exaggerated, they also hinted some secret new superheavy which got soviets work on multiple KV programs. Very interesting video albeit bit simple
 
My paternal grandmother came from a landholding near Kyyiv. She was thirteen when they fled the revolution. I slowly figured out that she was an amazing person; some of it after she passed.

I’m pleasantly surprised by how today’s Ukraine has stood up to what was generally thought to be the second mightiest military in the world.

My loyalties being declared, I do hope Ukraine succeeds in reclaiming its territory.
Sadly that's becoming ever more unlikely... with the entirety of the west showing a complete lack of urgency in the first year, giving too much credit to Russian escalation threats (which only cements nuclear threats as a corner stone of Russian foreign policy), Europe's arms production taking far too long to pick up speed, and then to top it all off, some treasonous pigs in the US halting military aid for like half a year that really shifted the momentum towards the Russians.
I think the best we can hope for is a scenario similar to the Finnish winter war, with Russia retaining whatever territory it has conquered up until it runs out of steam. If only Haley had been put on the ballot we could have been in a very different situation already.
 
The Soviet heavy tank programs were interesting, one part of the reason was they actually got duffed by German intelligence’s propaganda, where the ability and number of Neubaufahrzeug were greatly exaggerated, they also hinted some secret new superheavy which got soviets work on multiple KV programs. Very interesting video albeit bit simple

Yeah but even without any intelligence from the Germans they would have developed those things regardless. I mean they were even going as far as developing airborne tanks. The reality is they were preparing for war for the entire 30's to redraw the world map, and developing accordingly.
 
Sadly that's becoming ever more unlikely... with the entirety of the west showing a complete lack of urgency in the first year, giving too much credit to Russian escalation threats (which only cements nuclear threats as a corner stone of Russian foreign policy), Europe's arms production taking far too long to pick up speed, and then to top it all off, some treasonous pigs in the US halting military aid for like half a year that really shifted the momentum towards the Russians.
I think the best we can hope for is a scenario similar to the Finnish winter war, with Russia retaining whatever territory it has conquered up until it runs out of steam. If only Haley had been put on the ballot we could have been in a very different situation already.
Now that domestic obstruction has been partially overcome (and believing there will be more later) I hold hope for ultimate success.
 
Now that domestic obstruction has been partially overcome (and believing there will be more later) I hold hope for ultimate success.
A lot of that basically hingest of the results in november. Russia's strategy for the last year has basically been to hold on in hopes of 'US electoral success' cutting off UA's lifeline because they know EU alone will struggle to sustain the UA military.
Hence why Haley's loss in the primaries is so impactful, it immediately guaranteed that Russia would continue the war until the end of this year no matter what.
 
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