CORROSION OF CUTLERY

Abstract

Table knives were one of the first products to be made in stainless steel. Just before the first world war Harry Brearley, who discovered that steel containing about 14% chromium and 0.3% carbon was highly resistant to corrosion and capable of being hardened, arranged for trial batches of stainless knives to be manufactured. Because this steel's corrosion resistance was greatly superior to that of ordinary steel, it became known as ‘stainless’ or ‘rustless,’ with the result that ever since that time cutlery users have felt defrauded if their ‘stainless’ knives have shown the slightest trace of corrosion under any circumstances. It is now known that under certain conditions the steel will corrode, therefore it is important for cutlers to ensure that their knives have the highest possible corrosion resistance to justify their description—‘stainless.’

Citation

Oldfield, E.A. and Sheppard, D. (1958), "CORROSION OF CUTLERY", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 5 No. 6, pp. 187-189. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb019455