How are knives made out of silver different than conventional knives?
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Written by: Melody
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How are knives made out of silver different than conventional knives?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “pure silver knife“
About Melody
You can find silver blades in very chic fish knives, where an edge is not needed.
Silver knives were in fashion in England in the XIXth Century to eat fruit, because the acidity of fruit would not rust the blade. Let me point out there wwere NO stainless steel knives back then.
Having read SImon Moore´s book on Fruit Knives, at this time I dont clearly recall if the blades were made of silver or just covered with a thin layer of it.
Regarding the question itself, a silver knife would be a) more expensive than a steel knife; b) would not hold an edge, because silver is a soft metal; c) intrinsecally dull.
Hope this helps.
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Before the development of stainless steel silver was about the only metal you could get that didn’t rust or have ugly corrosion reactions. Most tableware silver was Stirling or similar grades of silver alloy, and has copper in it (7.5%) which gives it a bit of hardness. The black tarnish on silver is easily polished and is normally not noticed if the silver is used regularly because normal cleaning removes it. Silver table knives were not intended for heavy cutting and knives that were intended for serious cutting were usually hard iron or steel.
The history of the available metals is a bit weird. Up until the late 1800s aluminium was about twice the price of gold, Melchior metal (german silver) didn’t exist, bronze and brass turned food green, and regular iron rusted quickly. Hard steel was just as prone to rusting as regular wrought iron and was an expensive higher technology product.
So the lack of other good cheap alloys made silver a good choice for tableware.
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Frequently, “silver” knives are plated carbon steel. It was very common to do this as silver will tarnish but won’t oxidize or rust as carbon steels will. Older carbon steels will pick up patina after just one cut through a tomato. Carbon steel will also impart a slight flavor on foods, depending on its level of patina, so many fruit testing knives had silver blades. For these reasons silver plating was a pretty fantastic option if you had the funds.
I have never seen a solid silver knife, typically they are very heavily plated carbon steel. Carbon steel is a colloquial term for non-stainless steels. Materials like H1 and beta c titanium would make the old silver knife users jealous as they can’t rust and have great edge retention.
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See Alberto’s answer; silver bladed fruit knives were common once. I recently found one at a thrift store. It was over 100 years old. It had some tarnish on the blade. The proof marks were clearly visible, and identify it as being made in 1911 (IIRC); in Sheffield England; sterling silver, and the makers mark W•N
Because it isn’t iron or steel, it won’t corrode; though it will tarnish. It’s a thin blade, easily bent. It’s not good for much besides fruit, but it’s practical for that.
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Most if not all sterling silver table knives, etc. have steel blades. The other utensils are all silver, but the knives have silver handles.
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Silver never seen one but I would think that silver is to soft to hold an edge?
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Silver knives are murder on werewolves- but they are heavier than and don’t hold an edge like good old steel.
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