Hi
On 2017-08-19 01:21, Thomas Conroy via OldTools wrote:
> In any case, the manufacture of cast steel in America would have brought its
price down sharply, and would mark the point when laminated blades gave way to
all-cast-steel blades.
Interesting info on dating of Crucible Steel.
Stanley was still using laminated blades in 1935. I have one laminated
blade made when they were stamping batch numbers on blades that dates
from 1941. The change then could be associated with the diversion of
steel into armament production.
So, while cost was a factor, it is possible that the advertising value
of laminated blades meant they were being produced decades after the
ready availability of good quality steel.
One other factor on laminated blades is the grinding effort - which
Stanley advertised as much reduced. Before powered grinders were common,
reduced grinding time when using stones may have been an important
factor for some tool users.
The failure to resume production of laminated blades after the war may
have been a result of much greater cost of production of laminated
blades once tool steel production really got going.
Brent
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Brent Beach
Victoria, BC, Canada
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