Do you consider yourself to be fairly knowledgeable in cutlery, particularly in metallurgical aspects of Japanese cutlery? If so, then the following questions are for you:
1. Why are all kitchen knives made of SRS13 or SRS15 alloys clad in much softer stainless steel? For a couple of weeks, I've been hunting around for cutlery in either SRS13 or SRS15. Every such knives were found to be clad in much softer stainless steel. Whatever the reason, it can't be for scratch resistance because cladding in a much softer material will only make it more scratch-prone. So then is it for corrosion resistance? If the cutting core was made of corrosion-prone alloys such as YXR7, Shirogami, Aogami, or some other form of high-carbon steel, then I can understand the reason behind the cladding. But both SRS13 and SRS15 are considered to be corrosion resistant stainless steels, much more so than its brittle counterparts such as ZDP189. So why the clad?
2. What exactly is the difference, if any, between SUS405 vs ANSI405? Google search didn't provide much of an answer. Are they both same stainless steel but made by the same/different manufacturers under different standards/conditions? Whatever they are, they appear to be popular cladding material for many of Japanese kitchen knives.
1. Why are all kitchen knives made of SRS13 or SRS15 alloys clad in much softer stainless steel? For a couple of weeks, I've been hunting around for cutlery in either SRS13 or SRS15. Every such knives were found to be clad in much softer stainless steel. Whatever the reason, it can't be for scratch resistance because cladding in a much softer material will only make it more scratch-prone. So then is it for corrosion resistance? If the cutting core was made of corrosion-prone alloys such as YXR7, Shirogami, Aogami, or some other form of high-carbon steel, then I can understand the reason behind the cladding. But both SRS13 and SRS15 are considered to be corrosion resistant stainless steels, much more so than its brittle counterparts such as ZDP189. So why the clad?
2. What exactly is the difference, if any, between SUS405 vs ANSI405? Google search didn't provide much of an answer. Are they both same stainless steel but made by the same/different manufacturers under different standards/conditions? Whatever they are, they appear to be popular cladding material for many of Japanese kitchen knives.