Any advantage of Forged vs stock removal?

[hardheart]

Ironic, isn't it? In a couple short decades we've suddenly gone from the vast majority of bladesmiths doing their utmost to make hand-forged blades as clean and crisp as possible (as has been done for centuries) to some stock-removal guys purposely putting hammer-marks on their blades and/or subjecting them to all manner of chemical treatments to give them a "forge finish" or scaly look.

Makes sense in a way. The old steel bloom out of the melt was pretty rough and needed a lot of work to make flat, smooth, and clean. Now that steel comes flat, smooth, and clean, the way to show extra man hours is to make it look rough. As long as the appearance doesn't alter the performance, I guess either works well enough as an exercise in artistry.

 

[james terrio]

There is also die-forging.

True, lots of mass-production blades are drop-forged. For instance, zillions of stainless kitchen knives with integral bolsters are forged that way.

Well the maker I will be using does his forged blades out of 1084 and his stock removal from 1095, O1, or 5160 so I think I will go with removal because unless I am completely wrong 1095, O1, and 5160 are better steels than 1084.

They're all good steels in their own right. :thumbup:

As long as the appearance doesn't alter the performance, I guess either works well enough as an exercise in artistry.

Agreed!

 

[VolundoftheForge]

Random off-topic question, but does anyone know if W2 is a more brittle or tough steel at around 58-59 HRC? Compared to say 5160 or 1095.