Knife Engineering: Steel, Heat Treating, and Geometry Paperback – 16 July 2020

If you are interested in metallurgy and specifically knife steel metallurgy this is essential reading.It covers all aspects of knife steel composition, characteristics and real world performance with ratings , charts and graphs including test results to enable the layman to make an informed choice of which steel would be optimum for a given task. For professional knife makers this is the go to reference book to improve your product, with excellent data on blade geometry, hardness, toughness and edge retention.It lays out in an easy to understand way the key principles of knife blade design , how to select the appropriate steel, ideal heat treatment for balanced hardness and toughness and grind ability.

I have been interrogating Larrin's website for a few months and the wealth and bredth of knowledge within his site is staggering. What this book does is lay out that content in an easy way to understand and, most importantly in a structure and format that takes you on a knowledge journey so that you don't need to keep referring back and forth.For anybody that is interested in why certain steels behave in their certain ways or, why one type of steel seems to perform better or worse dependent upon its use etc., then this book will be a fascinating read for you.Superb!

This is the full version and not the truncated Australian version that the publisher decided to shorten without the authors consent.At 428 pages this is very comprehensive and well written. Often I find PHD’s can produce text that start off fluidly and soon stray into PHD level script. Dr Larrin Thomas communicates consistently and at a level I can understand.I wasn’t aware of this book or Larrin until Onur Caglar diesineveryfilm YouTube and Instagram recommended it. I ordered and was pleasantly surprised by the wealth of subject matter from a highly credible expert. Check out knifesteelnerds on Instagram.

I have not read this book from cover to cover but have instead used it as a reference for specific steels and for garnering information on certain topics. Larin knows his stuff and continues to develops his theories. Highly recommended

Cracking book full of useful information broken down into terms the layman can understand! Also written by an absolute Gentleman!!

The Magnum Opus of accessible knife steel information.

OK. Doesn't go into as much depth as I would have expected from a PhD. And the temperatures are all in imperial units. Welcome to the 19th Century.

What a great book, much needed and timely. I constantly refer to this book and Larrin's website for reference on the steels I use. Fabulous.