Forged vs Stock Removal Knives

Larrin

Larrin

Joined
Jan 17, 2004
Messages
5,015
I’ve added my view on a longstanding debate: forging vs stock removal. I answered questions such as: Is all steel forged? What is the difference between “grain orientation” and “grains” in steel? Does forging lead to better strength or toughness? Which steels benefit the most from forging? What reasons are there to forge knives? https://knifesteelnerds.com/2019/07/22/forged-vs-stock-removal-knives/
 
Thank you for your valiant attempts to educate the great unwashed readers of this forum. I'm sure that your efforts and the similar efforts of others will assist the users/purchasers of edged tools/weapons in swinging more weight when communicating their wants to manufacturers. Education is a great thing! Thank you.
 
I read most of the article. I am still not sure if the question of forged vs un-forged was answered other than to explain what that means relative to knives. My guess is that you can't generalize as to which is better relative to knives.
 
22-rimfire said:
I read most of the article. I am still not sure if the question of forged vs un-forged was answered other than to explain what that means relative to knives. My guess is that you can't generalize as to which is better relative to knives.
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In effect, basically all knives are made from forged steel due to the way the base stock is produced and there's little practical difference in performance between the two. Forging is mostly of an advantage in terms of the 3D complexity it enables a tool to have with less use of material. The difference between production methods is more important in other sorts of products, but with knives the difference is negligible.
 
There is a guy on the Mountain Men History Channel show that was or is trying to make his own steel for knives from raw ore. I question whether his efforts even if successful in smelting the ore and forming a bar whether the steel produced would be very good and free from impurities that result in less desirable qualities relative to knives. Now a days, a knife is generally more than just a thin piece of iron or steel shaped into a knife with a cutting edge.
 
22-rimfire said:
There is a guy on the Mountain Men History Channel show that was or is trying to make his own steel for knives from raw ore. I question whether his efforts even if successful in smelting the ore and forming a bar whether the steel produced would be very good and free from impurities that result in less desirable qualities relative to knives. Now a days, a knife is generally more than just a thin piece of iron or steel shaped into a knife with a cutting edge.
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It wouldn't be as good as modern cutlery grade steels whatsoever. But if done right it could make a usable tool. It would just be much lower grade starting material compared to modern factory-produced graded steels.
 
22-rimfire said:
I read most of the article. I am still not sure if the question of forged vs un-forged was answered other than to explain what that means relative to knives. My guess is that you can't generalize as to which is better relative to knives.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry I don't understand. To summarize what you said:

My article didn't explain what forging does except "what that means relative to knives." But your guess is that the answer can't be generalized.

I don't know what you are saying. Of course I explained what forging means relative to knives. That's the whole point of the article.
 
I liked your article. Don't think by what I said that I am being particularly critical of you or the article.

I think the point of the article was to say that simply because something is said to be forged does not automatically make it better than a knife made by stock removal. That is an important point.
 
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