Solingen steel vs Krupp steel

[Frogprince]

Wolfgang,

The published DIN steel standard for SA blades that I have is: DIN 1611, St. 70. 11. And for the scabbard fittings it’s a (steel) sheet metal with a classification: DIN 1611, St. 34. Which is not from a source document so I cannot vouch for its accuracy. As for the HJ knives, a period document that I believe is early (and difficult for me to read in Fraktur) seems to indicate a chrome-steel with a chrome content of 13.0 - 14.5% and .4 - .5% nickel (Krupp’s 1912 stainless patent was for a 18/8 CrNi steel known as V2A-stahl). With another later (and much more realistic IMO) published HJ standard for an oil tempered crucible steel with a .7 - .9% carbon content, silicon .2 - .3%, manganese .3 - .4%, phosphorus .02% (max.?), and sulfur .02% (max?). In other words - something that I think is roughly comparable to an AISI 1080, that is a little light on the manganese. PS: I agree, and just to set the record straight it was not the Japanese that I was thinking about and they do manufacture a number of first class products (with the challenge being to get the point across without unnecessarily offending anyone).

Larry,

A very interesting topic IMO just by itself, here is a really short preview with lots of shortcuts: Solingen “back in the day” (not in decades but centuries) had most of the necessary ingredients for iron/steel making locally using the forests as a fuel source. But one of the big attractions in Solingen was the water power which was used to power the machines, and it morphed into more of a place to make a finished product. With the iron/steel industry itself morphing from the more primitive steel making methods to mass production. Needing lots and lots of fuel, using coal which was much better for making steel. And that is without getting into the quality of the iron ore and coal, and the different locations. With the topic really IMO being even more complicated, but I think it’s fair to say that the German Army considered it something of a “coup” to acquire the POLDI steelworks in Czechoslovakia, favoring the steel there for machine gun barrels if memory serves me correctly.

Best regards to both, Fred