[TheForge] Oregon fusion blades

[xlch58 at swbell.net]

They state that they are adding Tungsten Carbide to the blade, but the 
process results in the TC being diffused in the blade in the cutting 
area rather than just deposited on the surface, such that sharpening the 
blade does not abrade it away, just reveals more.   I searched the 
patents, but can find nothing.  They (Oregon Cutting Systems) are a 
wholly owned subsidiary of Blount that does have a lot of patents for 
cutting (assignee Blount)  but I can find nothing that seems to match 
this.   It may be they are a licensee of the technology, in which case 
it will be harder to find it, since there is nothing to hang a search on.

Charles

James Binnion wrote:
> Except they say they are not adding a layer to the edge in the blurb.  
> The quote is
>
>
>   
>> The manufacture of these blades includes an exclusive electrofusion  
>> process that
>> makes the cutting edges extra hard and tough. The process does not  
>> add a layer to the blade, it
>> alters the molecular structure of the steel and becomes an integral  
>> part of the blade along its
>> cutting edge.
>>     
>
> This almost sounds like some kind of ion implantation process but that  
> seems like a lot of money for just a lawnmower blade. Of course the  
> information comes from a press release that is full of weasel words so  
> who knows for sure. They claim to have a patent pending which should  
> be searchable on the USPTO database but you need to know something to  
> identify the inventor or patent owner or other info that would allow  
> you to find it.
>
>
>
> James Binnion
> jbin at well.com
>