Laminated knife steels

M

MagicDot

Joined
Oct 15, 2008
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112
..I've been checking out the Fallkniven line of knives and see that its convexed(?) and laminated.. ..is there special care needed in sharpening a laminated steel knife so as to keep the steel sandwich in the correct proportion?
 
laminated knives are sharpened the same as regular knives, but you probably wont have to sharpen it as often.
 
open the box...use and abuse..repeat as nec... seriously though for a production made knife fallkniven is one of the best things going... laminated and convexed they sarpen and are maintained like any other convex blade..Great knives overall.
 
RescueRiley said:
open the box...use and abuse..repeat as nec... seriously though for a production made knife fallkniven is one of the best things going... laminated and convexed they sarpen and are maintained like any other convex blade..Great knives overall.
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+ 1 :thumbup:



Kind regards
Mick
 
If you decide to get a Fallkniven with SGPS steel core you definitely won't sharpen often as it is a super steel !! There are tutorials that show how to sharpen a convex edge in a few different ways.
 
My Fallkniven F1 with its convex laminated blade is one of the nicest cutting tools I've ever owned. I've never had to do more than put it on a loaded strop to get it back to hair-popping sharp. At that rate, it will last a couple of generations before it gets "worn down." ;)

Fallkniven%20F1.jpg


Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
MagicDot said:
...is there special care needed in sharpening a laminated steel knife so as to keep the steel sandwich in the correct proportion?
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I think it's a geometry issue and you'll always have a clean edge of the core steel due to the widths of the core and the outside layers. One wonders how thin the core should be to maximize strength though. Fallkniven seems to be happy with what they're using.
 
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have no fear, laminated blades as made/used by Fallkniven are solid.

I own an F1 and a PXL. Both are great knives and easy to cut with and are super strong tools. they are the best cutting knives i have had so far.

I use the PXL as an EDC. its very sharp and seems to want to stay that way.

so far the F1 is very handy at the cottage and on hikes in northern Ontario. its almost an EDC in some ways because of its intermediate size and not too great a weight. its also good with a firesteel. :)

all in all, the laminated blades are rock solid form my experience. you can pretty much abuse them at will (subjective, yes). wash them with dish soap, brush lightly with a diamond stone and they are good to go again.

the canadian distributor in BC is willing to do sharpening according to some emails i have exchanged with them. ask them or a similar distributor and see if you can ship yours for 'pro' sharpening whatever that means: http://www.workwearcanada.com/fallkniven/index.cfm
 
Laminated blades are traditional for Japanese knives, actually solid steel blade is rare. This is why Fallkniven have laminated blades even with more or less regular steel in core. I do not see too much benefits from this, except using standard stock and being bit cheaper, but it is not different from use point of view then solid steel, for sure there is not difference in sharpening.

Only sides with softer steel may got scratched more easy.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
nozh2002 said:
Laminated blades are traditional for Japanese knives, actually solid steel blade is rare. This is why Fallkniven have laminated blades even with more or less regular steel in core. I do not see too much benefits from this, except using standard stock and being bit cheaper, but it is not different from use point of view then solid steel, for sure there is not difference in sharpening.

Only sides with softer steel may got scratched more easy.

Thanks, Vassili.
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Using a thinner core for the edge and softer laminate sides makes the knife tougher. It's a little more flexible yet still incredibly sharp.

Also, it's not a cheap process to laminate steel.
 
I played with an H1 with a laminated blade that Cliff Stamp loaned me, and found it easier to sharpen than my F1 with one-piece VG-10 steel. Both would hold up to incredible abuse, IMHO.
 
ipm said:
have no fear, laminated blades as made/used by Fallkniven are solid.

I own an F1 and a PXL. Both are great knives and easy to cut with and are super strong tools. they are the best cutting knives i have had so far.

I use the PXL as an EDC. its very sharp and seems to want to stay that way.

so far the F1 is very handy at the cottage and on hikes in northern Ontario. its almost an EDC in some ways because of its intermediate size and not too great a weight. its also good with a firesteel. :)

all in all, the laminated blades are rock solid form my experience. you can pretty much abuse them at will (subjective, yes). wash them with dish soap, brush lightly with a diamond stone and they are good to go again.

the canadian distributor in BC is willing to do sharpening according to some emails i have exchanged with them. ask them or a similar distributor and see if you can ship yours for 'pro' sharpening whatever that means: http://www.workwearcanada.com/fallkniven/index.cfm
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X2 :thumbup:
 
SShepherd said:
tougher than what?
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Tougher then using a solid hard steel for the entire blade.

Japanese swords and cutlery were designed to be impact resistant and a little flexible. Also remember that at this time stainless steel wasn't a knife steel, and knife (blade) steel was high carbon, thus rust. Laminating the hard high carbon core with a softer stainless steel provided the flexibility and toughness needed while still remaining sharp and strong.
 
Josh K said:
Using a thinner core for the edge and softer laminate sides makes the knife tougher. It's a little more flexible yet still incredibly sharp.

Also, it's not a cheap process to laminate steel.
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In theory yes, but on practice difference is small if ever exists, too many factors contributes to toughness - you may see noss4 tests on how tough fallkniven laminated steel is.

In Japan laminated steel is dominating stock for cutlery and it is cheaper to have laminated then non laminated.

VG10 is not super steel - it is about ATS34 - I can understand in ZDP189 is in core, but VG10 is not very exciting - same as AUS--8 in core in CS knives.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
nozh2002 said:
VG10 is not super steel - it is about ATS34 - I can understand in ZDP189 is in core, but VG10 is not very exciting - same as AUS--8 in core in CS knives.

Thanks, Vassili.
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Are you basing this off experience or your tests?
 
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Josh K said:
Tougher then using a solid hard steel for the entire blade.

Japanese swords and cutlery were designed to be impact resistant and a little flexible. Also remember that at this time stainless steel wasn't a knife steel, and knife (blade) steel was high carbon, thus rust. Laminating the hard high carbon core with a softer stainless steel provided the flexibility and toughness needed while still remaining sharp and strong.
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which it fine in swords.......and actually, japanese swords can be bent pretty easily.

were talking about knives. I don't see the necessity to have a 6" blade thats impact resistant and flexable. The word "tougher" is subjective and means alot of different things to alot of people.

back to the OPs' question, no- sharpen like you would any knife
 
as to nohz comment about cheaper...

I think "way back" in the day when high carbon steel was very expencive, it proably was alot cheaper to make a knife with a laminated blade..you only need 1 or 2 slaves for labor;)
 
Price set differently for knives like Fallkniven and for working knives - like Higonokami. Higonokami gives you premium steel edge - Shirogamy, for $10 price. Only because thin Shirogami core is layered between raw iron and "wrapped" with brass handle. So any carpenter or tailor or gardener or other craftsman able to by bunch of them and use superior cutting ability of high carbon blades for small price. But this is not a big boy's toy but tool which no one even pay attention too much, so price must be low.

I rather have solid blade making sure entire piece is premium steel which I pay for. Because mechanical and sharpening advantages are not really clear to me, but only price (of metal and machining as well) - however for premium knives there is no really difference in price is it laminated or not (probably because blade as well as materials is not most contributor to price). It may have better corrosion resistance if hign carbon stainless covered by low carbon stainless, but this is not really critical for me.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
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