Fallkniven Laminated Northern Lights Blade

K

Kallisti

Joined
Apr 9, 1999
Messages
226
Hi all

I've just stumbled across the new(?) Fallkniven Northern Lights 10" - made from VG-10 sandwiched between 420JP. Sounds very interesting. Does anyone have any experience of it?

Kallisti.
 
i think for the MSRP they want, they could use a little better steel
than 420j2 for the lamination, looks to me like they are just trying
to fleece people, by keeping prices up and using mostly junk steel
in the blade. if i wanted 420j2 i could just get a united cutlery piece.




just my 2 cents..
 
tony,

420j2 is a good choice for what they are using it for. The core of the knfie is VG10, which is sandwiched between 420J2SS. the 420j2 is strong and very corrosion resistant. The actual cutting edge is VG10, so you're going to get VG10 cutting power with added strength and added corrosion resistance.

I think Cold Steel uses the same steel for the "bread" of their laminate sandwich, with AUS-8 often forming the meat.
 
AISI 420 stainless steel has a max carbon percentage of 0.15%, and is quite soft and weak compared to cutlery grade stainless (1/2 to 2/3 the tensile strength). I would be curious as to the RC hardness they are using in the laminate. On the webpage in the above they state a 35% gain in lateral resistance to bending as compared to pure VG-10, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me, as it would be weaker since the majority of the steel is AISI-420.

-Cliff
 
Cliff,

Wouldn't the 420 be stronger, as in tensile strength?

I realize it is a soft steel with a low RC, but doesn't that make it a tough steel at the same time?
 
Tensile strength increases in a linear manner with hardness thus AISI-420 is far easier to bend than say 440C, however it is though is as you note a very ductile and tough stainles steel. What I would be concerned about is lateral strength through the body of the blade and the tip, as well as edge resistance to impaction and rolling. A critical point would be how thick is the VG-10 core.

-Cliff
 
When I was about 14 I bought a laminated Mora blade mail order under the name "Norse King". The marketing hype was that you could bend the blade 90-degrees due to the laminated blade. When I got it I was disappointed to learn that the blade bent more easily than other blades that I had and would not spring back to straight after modest bending. The Swedes may just have lower expectations for stiffness and accept the consequences of lamination with 420J2. If the blade is thick enough it may not bend much easier than a zone hardened blade.
 
Hi,

If it behaves just like my Helle Eggen lamitated blade, the outer soft layers will devellop deep scratches almost instantly when you use the blade.
Not that it will keep the VG-10 core from staying sharp but the blades sides will soon look like they had a very crude and rough satin polish job.
The 420J is just so soft, probably because they needed to harden the VG-10 center core to a workable hardness leaving the side slabs in an extremely soft state.

Best Scouting wishes from Holland,

Bagheera
 
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