NICE and SHARP

Every Blade Deserves a Nice and Sharp Edge

There are 3 methods of manufacturing knives: stamping, forging and multi layering. All can produce excellent knives.

STAMPED KNIVES

As the name implies, the knife is stamped out of a sheet of steel just like you would use a cookie cutter.

On most stamped knives, the blade is ground down to taper it from the spine to edge and from the tip to heel.

Manufacturing methods improved in recent years and stamped knives, which were once thought to be inferior to forged knives, no longer are necessarily inferior.

The better stamped blade knives can have bolsters or finger guards, previously only seen on forged knives. Henckel and other companies such as Global and Furi create stamped knives that rival forged knives. Using special manufacturing techniques, the metal can either be the same throughout or dissimilar for tang, bolster, handle and blade. The 3 components are then welded together and put through a heating and cooling process similar to forged knives to control the hardness.

Inexpensive stamped knives are usually lighter and usually don’t have the same balance and feel as forged knives. They tend not to hold sharp edges long. Most lack a bolster / finger guard.

FORGED KNIVES

These knives are made by heating the steel until it is soft and hammering it. During the hammering process the blade is tampered by heating and cooling to control the durability and hardness. This tempers the steel changing the grains of the steel and increasing hardness. Forged knifes are usually heavier and less flexible than stamped knives.

MULTI LAYERED STEEL

High end knife makers use multi layers of steel to create very hard blades that will take a very sharp edge yet remain flexible. These knives can consist of a center core of very hard steel which is layered on both sides with softer steel. The hard core steel is only exposed at the sharpened edge. One knife maker uses a center core of very high carbon steel (AUG10) layered with 18 alternating layers of High Carbon and Low Carbon steel on each side resulting in 37 layers. If you want a knife like this, check out The Japanese Knife Company, but be prepared to pay $400+ for a single knife.

Last Updated: Dec-07