The Mechanical Properties and Microstructure’s Study of the Big Knives of Folk Wisdom of Knife Forging Community in 4 Provinces of Thailand

Abstract

The knife forging is considered to be the wisdom conveyed by the ancestors of each community in every region of Thailand. This is an important to the way of life of the farmers. The objective of this research was to study the mechanical properties and the microstructures of the big knives from four provinces such as Nan, Nakhon Ratchasima, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya and Songkhla provinces. The results of the study shown that, the hardness of the big knives of Songkhla province was higher than Nan, Nakhon Ratchasima and Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province. In case of impact strength, the impact value of the big knives of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province was higher than Nan, Nakhon Ratchasima and Songkhla province. After hardening, the hardness of the big knives of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province was higher than Nakhon Ratchasima, Nan and Songkhla province. The impact value of the big knives of Nan province was higher than Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Songkhla and Nakhon Ratchasima province. The microstructure of the big knives before hardening at nearly the edge of the knife and deeper consisted of pearlite matrix and some of ferrite. After hardening, the microstructure at nearly the edge of the knife was martensite, deeper consisted of martensite matrix and some of ferrite.