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I'm so pleased by this article! I'm a materials junkie. My wine glasses are made of ZrO2 stabilized by Y2O3. My daily work is to convert carbon-bearing gases i
by ridgeguy 2y ago
I'm so pleased by this article!
I'm a materials junkie. My wine glasses are made of ZrO2 stabilized by Y2O3. My daily work is to convert carbon-bearing gases into diamond through plasma chemistry. I've long considered making diamond knife blades, although recent literature searches have put me off a bit, given their demonstration that brittle ceramic blades like Zirconium oxide shed sharp microparticles that I doubt are good for the ingester.
Nevertheless, I have made several small solid diamond blades (~15 cm long) that I've used to cut filet mignon. With load cells attached, the draw force to cut with a diamond blade is <20% of the draw force needed for an equivalent steel blade coated with titanium nitride and overcoated with a thin Teflon layer, about 5% of the draw force required by a custom Japanese knife. I have one diamond blade in my kitchen that I use as a paring knife. It's the very best tool I own.
I'm gratified that our ancestors figured out how to make superlatively sharp blades knowing essentially nothing of the science underlying their work. They were very smart and attuned to the aesthetics of their work.
Thanks again for the post. Materials are endlessly fascinating.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- taneq 2y agoYou can’t just casually mention making your own 15cm solid diamond knife blades, and then not link a picture! Have you checked the edge on your kitchen knife to see if anything’s flakes off it?
- MrLeap 2y agoI am guessing he meant 15mm, right? 15cm is not a small knife. Infact a 15mm diamond knife is pretty massive. The longest diamond knife I'm finding with some lazy searching is about 4mm, and it's 2200$.
- taneq 2y ago15mm isn't much use as a paring knife, so this sounds more to me like "guy who works in commercial research lab sometimes gets to use the equipment for fun".
- abrookewood 2y agoYeah, we REALLY need to see pictures please. I have never heard of a diamond knife before and would love to see what it looks like.
- spockz 2y agoThis sounds amazing. But first you say you have been wanting to make diamond blades only to be put off from it by the concern about flaking very sharp micro particles and then proceed that you have made one and cook with it. Aren’t you concerned about the flakes?
- jajko 2y agoI guess if you use it for very specific cuts where there is no bone or anything hard and nothing more, you can keep it cca safe. To a layman, or expert pro chef layman, good steel is enough, durable, worry free, cheap.
- e40 2y agoAnd coated with Teflon.
- dghlsakjg 2y agoTeflon is t the problem. You can eat Teflon. It’s some of the chemicals formerly used in manufacturing or that it breaks down to when exposed to excess heat that have health effects.
- DannyBee 2y agoTeflon is not very wear resistant itself either. It is very easy to abrade, so seems weird to put it on a knife (the low coefficient of friction is the only thing that protects it)
- DannyBee 2y agoHaving made diamond cutting tools, Diamond is brittle. It will definitely flake and fracture. It sounds cooler than using cbn though I guess. In the end if you want something usable you have to match application to material. There is nothing that is good for everything. I would not use diamond for knives except for fun.
- BiteCode_dev 2y agoDamn it, now I want a diamond knife too.
- NooneAtAll3 2y ago> recent literature searches have put me off a bit, given that brittle ceramic blades like Zirconium oxide shed sharp microparticles that I doubt are good for the ingester so you fear harmful microparticles, so instead you suggest something normal, like > steel blade overcoated with a thin Teflon layer eh?? isn't teflon that scary(tm) substance you must never scratch off your pan or you'll poison yourself? how's that any better than zirconium?
- try_the_bass 2y agoI think that's just for comparison, and not an endorsement of its use.
- squilliam 2y agoTeflon is biologically inert. It's the stuff they use to make it stick to the knife/pan that you need to worry about.
- last_one_in 2y agoWoah. Do you have any pictures or videos? I'd love to find out more.
- jfengel 2y agoDid you also make those YSZ wine glasses? That sounds neat. I couldn't locate anybody selling them on a quick search.
- raylad 2y agoWhat’s the brand name or where do you get those wine glasses?