General Knife Discussion

[adrian44]

• General Knife Discussion

 

[Zanuha]

Laminated steel is any steel that has a core made out of one steel sandwiched between another type of steel. They're all different.
There are a lot of opinions, but top choices are usually CRK, Spyderco, Benchmade, ZT, Lion Steel, Hinderer and SOG.
Dunno about Swedish knives.
See, you can stamp a knife ''Solingen'' if it has been assembled there. You can have the parts made anywhere.

 

[Tsujigiri]

Welcome to the forums! Stick around here and everything will become clear eventually. For the steel; 12C27 is stainless, but it's not anywhere near a top steel for edge retention. It's an older steel that takes a fine edge, but won't keep it for too long. S30V is the current benchmark for stainless steels, but you can certainly do better. As for brands, there are quite a few out there. Some of the nicest high dollar ones are Christopher Reeve, Rick Hinderer, William Henry, etc. The big three production companies are Spyderco, Benchmade, and Kershaw. But there are plenty of other brands out there. EKA is a more obscure one; European knives are usually more expensive for what you get and aren't as common. For good Solingen knives, take a look at Böker (not Böker Plus). But be careful about which model you choose.

 

[sambo.]

My first question is about blade steels. I understand that carbon steel holds an edge better than stainless steel, and that 12c27 is the closest a stainless could come to carbon steel. Is this correct? Where do laminated blades fit? Are they superior or inferior? A list of pros and cons would be appreciated.

not quite.....

carbon steel is generally easier to sharpen than stainless and won't hold it's edge for as long. there are exceptions.

laminated blades are trying for the best of all worlds. for example, Fallkniven uses a laminate of a core of VG-10 steel (known for it's ease of sharpening and edge retention) with outer slabs of 440J (known for it's wear resistance and flexibility).

is a laminate inferior or superior? it all depends on the laminate and how well it's been done. really high end laminates (fallkniven's 3G steel for example) takes and holds a ridiculously sharp edge, but can be a grade A PITA to hand sharpen. the aforementioned VG-10 laminate takes an edge super easy, but won't hold a scary sharp edge particularly well (i'll point out that VG-10 will hold a good working edge for a long, long time).

My second question is about who is generally perceived as making the finest folding knives in the world? Both production and custom.

oh dear lord, that's a question guaranteed to provoke a thousand perfectly viable answers.

i think Spyderco, Benchmade, CRK, Victorinox and Fallkniven (along with a bunch of others) can all legitimatly lay claim to a place at the very pinnacle of production folder manufature.

Someone told me that Eka are the best folding knife makers in Europe, is this correct? If not, who is Sweden's best?

well, if it isn't Eka, it's probably Fallkniven.

and i'll throw the Mora line in there for good measure.

Also, I read somewhere that markings on knives could be deceiving. Someone said that not every knife that has "Solingen" is made in Solingen or even in Germany. Can you elaborate on this? How could I read markings correctly to figure out what made where?

"Solingen" is the home of Boker.

Many of Bokers knives are now manufactured in China, not Germany.

 

[OzarkCreekWalker]

Hi all

I'm trying to get basic knowledge of fine folding knives. Been collecting them for a decade but never really tried to gain appropriate understanding

My first question is about blade steels. I understand that carbon steel holds an edge better than stainless steel, and that 12c27 is the closest a stainless could come to carbon steel. Is this correct? Where do laminated blades fit? Are they superior or inferior? A list of pros and cons would be appreciated.

My second question is about who is generally perceived as making the finest folding knives in the world? Both production and custom.

Someone told me that Eka are the best folding knife makers in Europe, is this correct? If not, who is Sweden's best?

Also, I read somewhere that markings on knives could be deceiving. Someone said that not every knife that has "Solingen" is made in Solingen or even in Germany. Can you elaborate on this? How could I read markings correctly to figure out what made where?

Thanks in advance

Chris Reeve knives and Mcusta (elegant locking knives), Strider knives and Microtechs (tactical locking knives), Great Eastern Cutlery (tradition slipjoints and some locking) these seem to be the popular "luxury" knives
As for Sweden, Falkniven is great, EKA is good too but intended as work knives rather than perfect materials and such

 

[adrian44]

• General Knife Discussion

 

[MT Damascus]

"Solingen" is the home of Boker.

Many of Bokers knives are now manufactured in China, not Germany.

No, Boker is only made in Solingen, Boker Plus is made in Taiwan or China. Seperate entities.