Usually you need an alloy made up of several metals to achieve a recipe that checks all the marks for the ‘ideal’ metal for any given project. Pure cobalt, however, is almost a dream metal all to its own combining the desirable properties of being very hard, non-toxic and highly resistant to corrosion. Unfortunately, it’s also quite pricey. This puts the metal tinkerer in the ironic position of needing to create cobalt alloys not to improve their characteristics but rather to save on costs by diluting in other ingredients that aren’t so expensive. Iron, chromium and nickel end up being these stand-ins which end up yielding some form or other of “cobalt steel”.

Even though when all is said and done cobalt steel is usually 95% or more of these filler ingredients it is still a prized alloy for making tools out of; especially those where you need a minimum of wear and tear.

Also unfortunate for cobalt is that some 90% of the world’s supply is locked up dead in the middle of Africa’s least politically stable regions; meaning that every ounce extracted from the earth comes with a tab in blood, sweat and tears. Our supplier, based in China, gives assurances that the origin of their metal is domestic. Hmmm…. maybe, maybe not.