Helle knives(quality,performance,pros,cons)?

L

lonestar1979

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Mar 2, 2014
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I have a 75 yrs anniversary Helle fixed blade made out of triple laminated stainless that I have reground from scandi to full convex grind and love how the knife performs,how it sharpens up and keeps the edge.This steel gets super scary sharp in no time and keeps edge very well.Fit and finish could be better,sheath is very good,but I love how this knife performs now.What are your experiences with Helle knives,and especially with their triple laminated stainless?
 
They're exceptionally well made, comfortable, and reliable. Highly recommended in that genre.
 
Helle knives are among the top Nordic knives. I have several and have used several of their blades to craft my own knives. Their laminated stainless is top notch steel.

Rich
 
I've got a Helle Symfoni that was my go-to wood knife before I bought a custom puukko. It's still going strong, but the pouch sheath loosened up some.
 
These laminated stainless blades are really good,I'd love to know what is the core material for those,whatever it is holds excellent edge.
 
lonestar1979 said:
These laminated stainless blades are really good,I'd love to know what is the core material for those,whatever it is holds excellent edge.
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Quote below is from the Ragweed Forge site: https://www.ragweedforge.com/helle/corespec.html
"I'm occasionally asked what type of steel is used in the core of the Helle laminated blades. It is blended especially for Helle, and does not correspond to any of the standard types. For the technically minded, the composition is:
C-0.7%, Si-0.70%, S-0.002%, P-0.19%, MN-0.44%, Ni-0.28%, Cr-14%, Mo-0.52%.

The non-laminated blades are Sandvik 12C27.
C-0.6%, Si-0.4%, MN-0.4%, CR-13.5%
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So, a little more carbon in the laminated stainless core, than in their non-laminated Sandvik 12C27 blades, itself pretty darn good, which should be pretty good for edge holding.

Also from the Ragweed Forge site ( https://www.ragweedforge.com/helle/h-blades.html#corespec ):
"Most Helle blades are made of triple laminate stainless steel. The center portion is of high carbon stainless steel* , hardened to 58-59 HRC. This is the harder part of the blade that holds the edge. The outside layers are tough 18/8 stainless. This makes a blade that can be sharpened to a very fine razor edge, and yet is not brittle. It is also easier to resharpen because much of the steel being removed is softer than it would be otherwise."
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I have a Helle Dokka folding lockblade in the same laminated stainless, and I agree, it sharpens up to a very nice edge. I haven't worked it hard yet, so I can't speak to it's durability in harder use. But I wouldn't be too worried about it, just the same. Should be pretty good.


David
 
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I have a Helle BraKar, one of their large models, with laminated bladesteel, and a few more have also passed through my hands when I have recommended them to friends who have asked me to advise them on a nice knife as a gift.

The 18/8 cladding layers are the same steel that decent quality flatware (table knives and forks) is made out of: very stainless, very tough. It has a good deal of nickel in it, too: 8%. In theory, the cladding should allow the core steel to be run a little harder than a monometal blade, and still retain good toughness. The core steel is fairly similar to AEB-L/13C26.

The BraKar is a very pleasing knife to look at, handle, and use. If I was to pick one thing to improve, I'd like a little more grip security at the butt end of the handle. The edge sharpens to 'scary sharp' quite easily, and the sheath is quite nice.

I use mine when fishing for gummy sharks to cut the sharks behind their head and bleed them out, and it works great for that and has never showed any rust, with basic maintenance and cleaning.

I have no problem recommending them for real world use.

If you do a basic search, they've made a nice video, showing their factory and production process in Norway.
 
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Edge holding for these is very good,and durable,as I was cutting old carpet ,hard plastic and bunch of other stuff without any damage,and it sharpens up in seconds.the core is probably harder ,and it holds edge way better than 12c27-13c36 that I tried out from Kershaw,opinel and few other manufacturers.
 
lonestar1979 said:
Edge holding for these is very good,and durable,as I was cutting old carpet ,hard plastic and bunch of other stuff without any damage,and it sharpens up in seconds.the core is probably harder ,and it holds edge way better than 12c27-13c36 that I tried out from Kershaw,opinel and few other manufacturers.
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Yeah, it's a very well balanced steel IMO. Good to hear about your experience with it, L lonestar1979 . Thanks!

Let's get a few pics of these superb working knives into this thread!

My BraKar:

67P5SWI.jpg

oSGC1nF.jpg
 
They're super working knives,super easy to sharpen but hold edge well and don't rust.I'd love to have more knives in this steel.
 
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