Henckels steel type

K

KenHash

Joined
Sep 11, 2014
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About 16 years ago I bought a 6" utility knife at Henckels factory sale. I know I didn't pay much for it.
It is an International, blade says "No Stain" "31160-160", and Made in Spain.
I found the same model still available although it seems to be made in Thailand now and handle is no longer wood
selling for$35-40.00. Recognizing that this is a low end knife, does anyone know what steel is used? Is 31160-160
a steel type?
Thanks.

21ZNYSBQ7WL_zps2b8ynzo9.jpg
 
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A miracle steel in that it can apparently be heat treated so that the edge will roll/flatten AND chip all on the same knife. :D
 
I wonder why 50% of websites call 4116 garbage while the other 50% praise it.
My personal experience with this particular knife is that it is pretty soft and does not
hold an edge very well.
 
To be fair, the Kramer line is made for 52100 and AEB-L/13C26 and stainless damascus clad VG10. I am not sure what the Miyabi brand line is made from. A review that I saw said VG-10.
 
Yes, the International Series are the very low end for this Maker. I am certain my knife is 53 HRC.
In contrast the Miyabi line is made in Zwilling JA Henckels' factory in Seki Japan and is the only Henckels factory where
80% is hand made. They also have factories in Germany and China that do not approach this degree of human
intervention. The CMV60 core is as you said, their name for Takefu's VG10.
But Miyabi's 7000MCD series uses what they call MC66, which is Hitachi ZDP-189 at HRC66. This stuff blows my Krupp 4116
knife away..lol
 
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It looks like Miyabi uses VG-10 cores for their lower priced knives and SG2 for the "mid" lines aka knives that mere mortals can afford. ;) Those 7000 series knives are darn pricey for factory knives assuming that you can even find them in stock online, but ZDP-189 sure ain't cheap or easy to work with from what i have been told. !!!!! It seems to me that even though the Kramer Essentials line in AEB-L or whatever they are calling it can be a bit rough in the F & F department (the ones that I checked out were a bit rolled over at the spine indicating that the grinder got a little too slack belt happy when convexing the bevels), they may be the best deal in the Henckels lineup. I haven't handled the Misano UX-10 knives, so I don't know how well finished they are but those two seem like they are about as close as you can get to a true apples to apples comparison.
KenHash said:
Yes, the International Series are the very low end for this Maker. I am certain my knife is 53 HRC.
In contrast the Miyabi line is made in Zwilling JA Henckels' factory in Seki Japan and is the only Henckels factory where
80% is hand made. They also have factories in Germany and China that do not approach this degree of human
intervention. The CMV60 core is as you said, their name for Takefu's VG10.
But Miyabi's 7000MCD series uses what they call MC66, which is Hitachi ZDP-189 at HRC66. This stuff blows my Krupp 4116
knife away..lol
Click to expand...
 
Its definitely soft, BUT it keeps my wife from damaging the edge when she refuses to use a board on the granite. It sharpens easily as well. One day i will get myself a VG-10 Santoku. My whole set is Spanish made.
 
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