Gu Yijia

WHAT IS A CERAMIC KNIFE ? A ceramic knife is a knife made out of very hard and tough ceramic. It is be known as “the noble knife”. As the product of high technology, it has advantages which a traditional metal knife can not match. Ceramic knives are now generally used as kitchen knives for slicing and paring vegetables and fruit.

Work Flow

Put water, raw materials (ZrO 2 powder together with Al 2 O 3 powder), grinding balls and binders and other additives into the mixer and mix them up uniformly. By means of filtration, the diameter of the feedstock powder can be almost the same and can not be more than 1 μ m which is ”nanoscale ”.

The feedstock powder gets through the spray gun and then goes into the drying tower. The process of spray granulation begins. Then the produced powder is filled in the knife mould.

The process of HIP The HIP( Hot isostatic pressing ) process subjects a component to both elevated temperature and isostatic gas pressure in a high pressure containment vessel. By means of HIP, pressure is applied to the powder from all directions. The simultaneous application of heat and pressure eliminates internal voids and microporosity through a combination of plastic deformation, creep, and diffusion bonding. After HIP, the powder is fixed with the shape of knife.

Sintering Put the knife-shaped powder into the sintering furnace with a proper sintering atmosphere to avoid oxidation. During the process of sintering, the knife will shrink to 75%÷50% of its initial size.

The resultant blade is sharpened by grinding the edges with a diamond-dust-coated grinding wheel. The quality of the grind directly affects the properties of the knife.

The last step is to install a handle. There are generally three types of material : plastic(ABS), wood and ceramic. The one that is normally used is plastic handle, followed by the wood handle which has good touch feeling. Ceramic handle is seldom used for its fragility. After that, a ceramic knife is finished.

THE PROS —— VS metal knives SHARPNESS - The materials that make up a ceramic blade is very hard. It’s the second hardest material, right after diamo nds. After it’s sharpened, it can keep it’s razor sharp edge and will not wear out. If you ever do need to shar pen it, most of the manufacturers will sharpen it for free. Manufacturers of metals knives will never offer yo u that service since they need to be sharpened so often. ODORS - Ceramic material is not very porous at all. This keeps the blade from transferring odors from one food ite m to another. You can cut something spicy, give it a quick rinse and then cut something else. The spiciness w on’t transfer to the next food item.

SANITARY - Ceramic blades are very dense, with very little pores. Just like your face, the less pores there are, the less dirt and grime can get into the pores. A quick rinse in warm water will get your ceramic knife a lot clean er than a thorough scrubbing on a metal knife. WEIGHT - Ceramic material is very light weight. The lighter the weight, the less strain on your arms and shoulders. Y ou can rip through all your cutting like a pro. RUST - No metal means no rust. Ceramic knives will not corrode in harsh environments. They are resistant to strong acid and caustic substances.

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