TR73 Steel

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Hello,

I was just given a kniife. the blade says its made from TR73 Surgical steel but also made in Pakistan.

What can you tell me about this material or knives from Pakistan?  You can be brutally honest if necessary.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

[Lin Rhea]

Pakistan knives have a terrible reputation. That's all I can really say.

[Bladepeek]

I think they are probably like the ones made in China. There are a few very good knives coming in from China, Pakistan and India, but most of them are made to American specs with American QC. The ones I've seen for sale in hardware stores are worth almost as much as they are charging for them, which is usually less than $9.

If this is one of the good ones, congratulations. I'd say sharpen it up and start slicing. If it holds a decent edge, then it was probably made right. For what it's worth, I googled TR73 and the only references I could find was a protective process for metals used to reinforce concrete.

[tomsm44]

Try Bing.  I find it to do much better than Google.  I found knives for sale by a company called Timber Rattler that are advertised with both TR73 and TR84 surgical steel blades.  Bad news is that most of them sale for around $15 - $30.  Doesn't necessarily mean that it's not a good knife, but not a great sign.  Like stated above, try it out and see.  If it performs well, who cares what it costs or what steel is stamped on the blade.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Thanks for the responses.  They were exactly what I expected.

It is a Timber Rattler knife. I have a feeling my dad picked it up at an auction somewhere.  Chances are, it will be given to a kid as its much larger than what I would carry on a deer hunt. Besides, the kid will be ecstasic.

[Bladepeek]

Matt, I found those with Google too. They say nothing about the steel, though. I was trying to find a description of TR73 steel (whatever that may be) and couldn't find anything at all. Usually you can find a list of contents & percentages of the various elements in the steel. In this case I find nothing. Google (or Bing) ATS-34 or RWL34, Stellite, W2 or whatever. If you look hard enough you can find the percentage of carbon, Vanadium, chromium, etc, and usually some kind of recommended usage for the steel. In this case I came up with zip.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Its probably a marketing Gimmick.

Why else would they need to write "surgical Steel" on the balde?

[Lamey]

Im going to be very frank, and to the point... Ive seen ALOT of knives from India, and one of my best friends/mentor actually spent considerable time in India with the largest knife producer in that country.  

He left after much hard work, just shaking his head in frustration as no matter what he taught them about steel, forging, heat treat etc... they went back to the same old crap methods of making crappy knives... and this was the "best" factory over there.

[Bladepeek]

Lamey, I can believe that. There was a guy making knives in a little Coca Cola tin can shack beside the road in Viet Nam. He used whatever jeep/truck springs he could find and seemed to know a thing or two about heat treating. His fit and finish were non-existant, but the blades were well forged and held a decent edge. The problem would be knowing who is using decent steel and treating it properly and who is using stolen water pipe and hasn't a clue.