123456 you can rest assured that tn\he questions you asked have already been answered by manufacturing facilities the world round. you are wasting your time asking these questions on this forum. there have been thousands of books written on tool steels get up to modern times & research these---m390,elmax, 3v , 4v, k294. watch the videos of the chopping contests. your revelations wo'nt surprise any metallurgists of the last 20 or 30 years. i answered your question earlier.cranky72
