Instead of re-typing and taking the time, there are some ridiculously long posts on the following thread about "why" steel will or won't do certain things.
And how to have better expectations for what it can or can't do.
Dogfather Ding You have to keep in mind that with different types of steel there is always a balance of properties.
Hardness, toughness, wear resistance, corrosion, etc.
More often than not, something has to be sacrificed to achieve high results in one or sometimes two catagories.
Typically, high toughness = lower wear resistance & higher wear resistance = lower toughness.
If you add up scores in each column for totals, some steels are going to have higher total scores, but then there is the hardness factor.
Most steels will perform (behave) differently at different hardness levels. So, ideally, you have an idea what the "tool" is intended to do and harden accordingly.
Ideally, you want a steel blade fairly hard to help hold an edge. However, if the blade is too hard, it can be brittle and lead to chipping or breaking if impacted a certain way.
For most blades, it is better to have edge damage in the form of rolling vs. chipping and breaking. But, all this is just part of balancing act.
Also, if you have blades with high hardness and high wear resistance, you typically have a blade that is VERY hard to sharpen and typically very brittle. Tungsten Carbide typically has a hardness level WAY higher than any knife steel and it is MUCH higher in wear resistance than most knife steels, but it is brittle and will chip and break. It is not ideal for a knife that takes any type of heavy torque.
Hammers and similar impact tools are on the opposite end of the spectrum. They are hard enough to bang with, but not so hard as to chip or break. Nails are intentionally softer. Nails do vary quite a bit in hardness by the way.
Cement nails are quite hard.
Some steel are better all around than others. But, in the end, the goal is still to find which steel works best for it's intended typical "knife" use.
SR-77 is one of the toughest steels for "knife use".
It is not the most wear resistant, but at the proper hardness, it holds a respectable edge.
The compromise with "wear resistance" is generally directly related to effort associated with grinding (making) the knife and sharpening the knife.
SR-77 is reasonably easy to sharpen.
Conversely, you can add Vanadium or Tungsten to a steel to achieve higher wear resistance, but you "generally" sacrifice some toughness and you make the knife very hard to work with and sharpen.
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There have been multiple posts over the years about somebody damaging their knives because they beat on something with it they expected the knife to destroy.
Vitreous Porcelain commode most recently came back up over on Swamp Rat forum at Bladeforums. Ironically, the Swamp Rat made Crash Rat (axe) was made of SR-77.
However, Porcelain is VERY hard. A commode has a significant thickness of VERY hard material. Consider glass about 1" thick. It will break, but it is VERY hard - Harder than steel!
You can break a commode with a sledge - even though the sledge is not as hard. The difference in this case would be the Porcelain is brittle and will shatter if enough force and hardness hits it. Theoretically, the sledge would take a little dent in the process. But, the shape of a sledge and toughness allow it to generate a blow without breaking and the damage to the sledge would be minimal by comparison.
A sledge made of SR-77 would even be better as it would deform less than a typical sledge. But, a sledge out of sufficient yet cheaper steel can be bought for $20 - $25 and get the job done. Why pay $100 for a sledge to do the same job just because an SR77 sledge would deform slightly (relatively) less.
Now consider a knife. A knife has a VERY small AND relatively skinny weekly reinforced (because of the thin grind) contact spot when you hit something like a rock or porcelain commode. Since the contact spot is small, more force is generated to that very small spot. Makes the small spot easier to damage. Much more reinforcing steel around any given spot of a tool shaped like a sledge or anvil give it great strength to resist breaking and deformation - but sledges and anvils don't cut very well!
Since a knives edge is so small, thin, and weakly reinforced, the balance of toughness and wear resistance becomes much more significant in a knife than compared to a sledge.
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