Forged vs stock removal

ADBrown

ADBrown

Joined
Nov 14, 2021
Messages
758
Please forgive my ignorance as I wade into this discussion, but know that my motives are pure. Further, forgive me if this has been asked and answered.
The short question is: Is my money better spent on a forged blade or on a blade that has merely been cut/ground away to resemble a blade. My heart tells me that forging ( being the most romantic of the two) is one borne of the travails of heat, hammering, quenching, etc., whereas the stock removal method utilizes a homogeneous slab of metal that is merely cut- to- fit. I don’t mean to disregard the issues of tempering, hardening in either pursuit — but which produces the most desired outcome? I have further questions, but will wait until I hear the opinions of others before asking. You guys are a phenomenal resource. Thanks in advance.
 
Fixall said:
Performance will be the same. Buy what you like. Aesthetics are the only real reason to go with a forged knife (and is a perfectly valid reason).
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To more precisely frame the question, are forged knives more inherently subject to internal structural faults than those whose blades are manufactured from a more cohesive and homogeneous structure? For example is a blade forged from two different metals (sheath and core) possibly less structurally sound than a blade formed by the stock removal process of say 1095?
 
Don't forget that even a forged blade will have undergone a fair amount of stock removal by grinding before it obtains its final shape. And some - many, actually - of the modern "high end" steels don't lend themselves well to forging in the first place.
 
IMHO the two biggest variables in a blade are the heat treat and the grind.
The vast majority of users will not be able to tell any difference in steels. Forged or rolled. If there is any.
A forged knife is old school cool but a crappy grind or heat treat on the best steel in the world still makes for a crappy knife .
 
ADBrown said:
To more precisely frame the question, are forged knives more inherently subject to internal structural faults than those whose blades are manufactured from a more cohesive and homogeneous structure? For example is a blade forged from two different metals (sheath and core) possibly less structurally sound than a blade formed by the stock removal process of say 1095?
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All steel is, at some point forged. If done correctly then forging doesn’t offer any advantage or disadvantage in regards to structure. The main practical reason to forge as a maker is to save waste because instead of shaving away extra steel you can shape it through the forging process.
 
ADBrown said:
Please forgive my ignorance as I wade into this discussion, but know that my motives are pure. Further, forgive me if this has been asked and answered.
The short question is: Is my money better spent on a forged blade or on a blade that has merely been cut/ground away to resemble a blade. My heart tells me that forging ( being the most romantic of the two) is one borne of the travails of heat, hammering, quenching, etc., whereas the stock removal method utilizes a homogeneous slab of metal that is merely cut- to- fit. I don’t mean to disregard the issues of tempering, hardening in either pursuit — but which produces the most desired outcome? I have further questions, but will wait until I hear the opinions of others before asking. You guys are a phenomenal resource. Thanks in advance.
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Some of the worst knives I've ever seen made were forged, some of the worst knives I've ever seen were stock removed, buy the maker not the method.

Keep in mind if you limit yourself to only forged knives you are limited to easily forgeable steels so the steel selection will be very limited. It is very difficult to forge and anneal steels that have stainlessness and more cutting edge retention, those that try may not know what they are doing and may be making an inferior product, so, you'll have to confirm they have the ability to control temperature with a digital read out(thermocouple with controller for a klin,furnace,salt pot, fluidized sand), not by eye or a handheld laser thermometer.

The forging process doesn't improve the steel either. The steel is already hot roll forged and annealed when it comes in bar stock, there is no such thing as "edge packing" the steel.

Forging wrecks havoc on the microstructure and requires thermal cycling after forging to get the steel set up to harden. If the forging person you're buying a knife from doesn't know this, RUN.

One of the biggest benefits for forging are the beautiful pattern welded damacus steels, laminates, and integral bolsters. Some folks find the "brute de forge" look very romantic while others feel it looks like a sloppy unfinished knife.

My advice is just go with your heart, but don't try to justify it as forged = more performance, it doesn't.
 
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ADBrown said:
To more precisely frame the question, are forged knives more inherently subject to internal structural faults than those whose blades are manufactured from a more cohesive and homogeneous structure? For example is a blade forged from two different metals (sheath and core) possibly less structurally sound than a blade formed by the stock removal process of say 1095?
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They don't leave it in the forged condition when they sell you the knife. After forging, they thermal cycle it which may include normalizing, grain refining and annealing.

After thermal cycling it is then hardened, tempered, ground, finish ground, sanded, handle scales fit, glued, finished, sheathed and sharpened.
 
ADBrown said:
An outstanding work that addresses the question at hand. Thanks for the wonderful addition!
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Thank you for a very important and scholarly look into the metallurgy of both the billet steel and the forged steel in the formation of edged weapons, and whether one had advantages over the other.
 
I was once with your doubts (and I still am sometimes…😂), but my conclusion after years of (some) reading and lurking around in fóruns is the following: there are much more ways to ruin a knife forging it than making it from stock removal. If the stock removal blade is made from good steel cut in the right orientation/direction (parallel to the rolling direction) and well heat treated, then there is no forged knife that is better (in the same steel and blade geometry) than that stock removal knife.
 
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