Steel grades for swords according to the standard in comparison
There are a number of types of steel for swords. It is sometimes difficult to keep an overview, especially since there are colloquial names, names according to American standards, designations according to German standards, and designations according to EU standards for many types of steel. That is why we are providing you with a table below with which you can identify the most common types of steel for samurai swords and also find out the composition of the respective steel.
You will not find Damascus steel and Tamahagane steel on this table, both of which are commonly used for samurai swords. Damascus steel can consist of all possible types of steel. It is called Damascus steel because of the characteristic pattern, but the composition can vary greatly.
Tamahagane steel is the traditional steel for samurai swords and varies in composition due to the manufacturing method. There are groups of different steels used to make swords. That’s why you hear these terms more often. The most important groups are:
Carbon steel
A steel grade with few alloying elements other than carbon. Steel is used in industry. Among other things in the car industry and is therefore produced in large quantities and is comparatively cheap and fortunately also well suited for the production of swords. With modern production methods, the carbon content can be determined more or less freely.
Spring Steel
Is a designation for types of steel from which springs are produced. This also includes some types of steel from the aforementioned carbon steel category. For the production of springs, the steel must be able to return to its original shape as far as possible after deformation. This is why this steel is often used for swords for cutting tests since the blade can quickly bend if cutting tests are not carried out properly, which happens less often with this steel.
Stainless Steel
Steel, which is very rust-resistant. This requires a high chromium content. This prevents the formation of rust. But it also ensures that the blade cannot be ground out as sharply as with other types of steel. Because of its easy handling, this steel is often used for decorative swords.
Info: How do you decipher steel names like 125Cr2?
Such designations always start with the carbon content of the steel in percent by mass multiplied by 100. In the example 125 CR2, the carbon content is therefore 125 / 100 = 1.25 percent by mass. The chemical symbols of the alloying elements contained follow in descending order with regard to their mass fractions. In the example 125 Cr2 contains Cr.
So the steel contains chromium. In the end there are the respective mass fractions in the same order as the alloying elements mentioned before. If several alloying elements are mentioned, the individual values of the mass fractions are separated from one another by a hyphen, or a mass number is only given for the alloying element with the highest fraction.
To calculate the actual content, the mass fractions must be divided by the following numbers: 1000: boron (B) 100: carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S), cerium (Ce) 10: Aluminum (Al), Curium (Cu), Molybdenum (Mo), Titanium (Ti), Vanadium (V), Beryllium (Be), Tantalum (Ta), Zirconium (Zr), Niobium (Nb), Lead (Pb) 4 : Chromium (Cr), Cobalt (Co), Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni), Silicon (Si), Tungsten (W) In our example 125Cr 2this means that 2 must be divided by the number 4 to determine the proportion: 2/4 = 0.5 percent by mass This means that this type of steel contains 0.5% chromium. Summary: Our example 125Cr2 is a steel with 1.25% carbon and 0.5% chromium.
Additional info: Identification of high-alloy steels
High-alloy steels are characterized by an average mass content of at least one alloying element with more than 5%. Your steel names will be prefixed with a capital X for identification. This is followed by the carbon content multiplied by a factor of 100 and the element symbols of the alloying elements contained. At the end are the percentages by mass of the alloying elements. In the case of high-alloy steels, these do not have to be converted any further! Example: X46Cr13 This is high-alloy steel with 0.46% carbon and 13% chromium.