COMPOSITE UTILITY KNIFE BLADE, AND METHOD OF MAKING SUCH A BLADE

摘要

A composite utility knife blade (10) and method of making such a blade involves butt joining a tool steel wire (44) to a front edge of an alloy ste el backing strip (34). The wire (44) is electron beam welded to the backing str ip (34) to form a composite strip (46) defining a first metal portion (20) form ed by the alloy steel backing strip (34), a second metal portion (22) formed by the tool steel wire (44), and a weld region (28) joining the first and secon d metal portions (20, 22). The composite strip (46) is then annealed, and the annealed strip is straightened to eliminate any camber therein. The annealed composite strip (46) is then hardened such that the first metal portion (20) defines a surface hardness within the range of approximately 38 Rc to approximately 52 Rc, and the second metal portion (20) defines a surface hardness within the range of approximately 60 Rc to approximately 75 Rc.