Difference Analysis on Physical and Chemical Properties of Common Cutters

The physical and chemical properties, such as microstructure, chemical compositions, X-ray diffraction and Rockwell hardness, of 17 commercial stainless steel cutters samples from 4 different factories were investigated. The results showed that the porosity for samples from factory B and C was larger than that of samples from factory A and C cutters; and for samples from factory C there were a large number of pores which is elongated instead of round shape as shown in samples from factory B. Regarding the uniformity and stability of Cr and Fe content, samples from factory A were best and they were worst for samples from factory C. For most of samples, there were two phases. However, samples from factory D only had the main phase Cr1.07Fe18.9. The kitchen knives and chopping knives from the factory A, B and C had the second phase, which is contributed to the hardness of samples; the fruit knives and scissors only had the main phase. The uniformity of Rockwell hardness in different parts of samples from factory A was best, while samples from factory C were worst.