Is Soligen steel any good? ID this knife (pics)

Swedge said:
surgical steel is not made by surgeons? :eek:
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funny-pictures-white-fluffy-omg-kitten.jpg
 
Solingen is the cutlery center in Germany. Most of the knife manufacturers in Germany are located there - Wusthof, Boker etc. The steels they use, for the most part, aren't made in Solingen. The Knives are made in Solingen. The manufacturers in solingen use steels from all over Europe and all over the globe. So as mentioned above, Solingen is not a steel nor is it an indication of quality. it is a city in Germany where most of the cutlery manufacturers are located.
 
Cougar Allen said:
There's a lot of confusion here.... Solingen is a city in Germany with a lot of knife factories, but no steel mills. There is no such thing as "Solingen steel," but some cheap knockoffs made in Asia are marked "Solingen steel" to try to give the impression they're not cheap Asian knockoffs. The same applies to "Swiss steel" and "Sheffield steel."
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Many of the Chinese manufacturers of kitchen cutlery are importing German stainless steel, mostly from from Krups, for producing their products. These are the same steels used by the Solingen manufacturers. They aren't necessarily knockoffs nor are they necessarily of poor quality. Most of them refer to it as German steel rather than Solingen steel. The word Solingen doesn't have any meaning in the kitchen cutlery business at all even though most of the major German kitchen cutlery makers are there.
 
Over the centuries, various cities have gained reputations for good cutlery and blades have been marked to capitalize on those reputations such as Toledo, Sheffield, Solingen, Seki City. All of those towns have made both good and bad blades. Neither are the markings reliable indications of place of origin. There have always been knockoff artists producing fakes.

At most, such markings are useful in rough dating as reputations rose and fell.
 
MustangFootball: you're only thirteen years old; you have a lot to learn in life yet. It is far better to listen and learn--for quite a while--before you start adding. You've been a member for only a few months, and you have well over a hundred posts; just as one example, compare that to my figures. And many of these are immature statements that have gotten you a rebuke before. You earn your reputation on this forum.

Also, in a previous post on another thread, you claimed that you are smart, and that you knew how to use language. Yet you still obstinantly refuse to use correct punctuation, which is most annoying. Your rep keeps going down; is that what you want?

My apologies for the distraction to this thread. The opportunity presented itself, and it was long overdue.
 
Currently Chinese manufactured knives are often advertised as made with imported steels, and in a few cases it's true. Most of the time it's false.

Also, when they're advertised as steels with Western names they are actually made of Chinese steels that are quite different in composition. Sometimes performance is similar even though composition is different. Often performance isn't similar either.

Although plenty of knives that are not cheap knockoffs are made in Asia, they aren't marked Solingen steel (or Swiss or Sheffield). Those markings mean "junky knockoff with dishonest markings." They've been used for decades....

While I'm here, even when a knife actually was made in Solingen that is not an indication of quality. Solingen has a lot of knife factories and they make knives across the spectrum from quite good to very cheap.
 
:D
ASBOB said:
MustangFootball: you're only thirteen years old; you have a lot to learn in life yet. It is far better to listen and learn--for quite a while--before you start adding. You've been a member for only a few months, and you have well over a hundred posts; just as one example, compare that to my figures. And many of these are immature statements that have gotten you a rebuke before. You earn your reputation on this forum.

Also, in a previous post on another thread, you claimed that you are smart, and that you knew how to use language. Yet you still obstinantly refuse to use correct punctuation, which is most annoying. Your rep keeps going down; is that what you want?

My apologies for the distraction to this thread. The opportunity presented itself, and it was long overdue.
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Looks like someone has spent alot time doing their research.Oh look i used punctuation hooray:D.I am guessing you have probably been watching all of my recent posts just so you can jump on me when i miss a punctuation thats really wierd of you.Well there is a reason i should be lead to believe that i am smart i am 7th grader that takes 9th grades classes.I am a member of the honor society.I have a 4.0 gpa.You seem a little uptight this isn't a grammer nazi forum. This is a bladeforum hence the name.You are one of the few many guys on this forum that actaully care about puncution or grammer.
As for adding what i know i was 100% sure that Solingen was a city in Germany i figured that would help some what.As for the rest of the guys that tryed to flame i am sorry for that it wasn't meant to offend anyone i actaully admire that guy for teaching me something i had no knowledge about:thumbup: As for Mr.Comment Stalker guy over here i really do not give a rat's left butcheek what u think about me or what you think i should do to change that well good luck with that because that will happen when my dogs start laying eggs my cow starts hearding dogs and when my horses start growing wool. :D




Sincerly your best friend,
Mustangfootball
 
fellows no use commenting on this immature individual, from his responses one can tell he has emotional instabilities. any communication is totally fruitless so lets all go on down the road. our energies can be better spent in more constructive channels. he needs to go & change his diaper.
 
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
DennisStrickland said:
fellows no use commenting on this immature individual, from his responses one can tell he has emotional instabilities. any communication is totally fruitless so lets all go on down the road. our energies can be better spent in more constructive channels. he needs to go & change his diaper.
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Emotional istabilties that makes total sense starting defensive end on the the state champ team hottest girlfriend you have ever known. More friends than you could dream up when you where at my age. It's whatever:D:D:D
 
Back in post number 6 Obsessed with Edges gave a useful and accurate account of the term "Solingen". As he said some cities in Europe, Sheffield and Birmingham in England, Toledo and the Basque country of Spain, etc. became known centuries back for the production of swords, knives, razors and blades in general. The Spanish conquered much of the globe with blades made of "Toledo steel", which were actually blades made in Toledo.

In Solingen the old feudal knife and sword making guilds were particularly strong. There are both coal and iron deposits in the region of Westphalia and this helped in making the area known for it's steel. German knifemakers broke from the old guilds and spread their knowledge to England and other countries in the 1600s.

This is how, for many generations, a tool made in Solingen or Sheffield or Toledo actually was a mark of quality because they knew how to make steel there and quality products emerged from there.

Solingen is still the home of Boker, Wusthoff, Henckels, Wilkinson, etc.

Cougar Allen is correct though in that the name of the city alone no longer means what it used to. When looking at a knife that is marked Solingen it's important to look at the whole knife. Many excellent blades came out of Germany marked Solingen in the last century. But so did some cheaply made ones. So I would look carefully and not dismiss them all.

Hope this helps some and I encourage folks to look up some of the history of the old berg.

tipoc
 
tipoc said:
Back in post number 6 Obsessed with Edges gave a useful and accurate account of the term "Solingen". As he said some cities in Europe, Sheffield and Birmingham in England, Toledo and the Basque country of Spain, etc. became known centuries back for the production of swords, knives, razors and blades in general. The Spanish conquered much of the globe with blades made of "Toledo steel", which were actually blades made in Toledo.

In Solingen the old feudal knife and sword making guilds were particularly strong. There are both coal and iron deposits in the region of Westphalia and this helped in making the area known for it's steel. German knifemakers broke from the old guilds and spread their knowledge to England and other countries in the 1600s.

This is how, for many generations, a tool made in Solingen or Sheffield or Toledo actually was a mark of quality because they knew how to make steel there and quality products emerged from there.

Solingen is still the home of Boker, Wusthoff, Henckels, Wilkinson, etc.

Cougar Allen is correct though in that the name of the city alone no longer means what it used to. When looking at a knife that is marked Solingen it's important to look at the whole knife. Many excellent blades came out of Germany marked Solingen in the last century. But so did some cheaply made ones. So I would look carefully and not dismiss them all.

Hope this helps some and I encourage folks to look up some of the history of the old berg.

tipoc
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Good post tipoc. Thanks for your kindness. Although I did describe Solingen (to the best extent of my own knowledge), the other enlightening references to Sheffield and other steel/cutlery centers were contributed by other knowledgable members in response to this discussion. I learned some more here, and was prompted to look up some more, on Wiki and other places. Thanks to all who contributed in a positive way.

As you said, there are a lot of cheap knives out there marked 'Solingen', and some very nice ones too. For what it's worth, when I'd initially replied to the OP's original post, I'd just finished, in the 30 minutes or so prior to my posting, touching up & stropping the edge on my Eye Brand large sodbuster, prominently marked 'Solingen Germany' on the blade. Takes a razor-sharp edge. It's a fine example, in it's relative simplicity, of what a so-called Solingen knife has to offer.
 
Added pics. The knife may be junk (or not), but I've had it about 30+ years and used and abused it as a kid. It's held up well.
 
mmcc100 said:
Added pics. The knife may be junk (or not), but I've had it about 30+ years and used and abused it as a kid. It's held up well.
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I think you just contradicted yourself;) I remember the one I had as a kid even had a compass in the handle and some fishhooks, line, and what have you. Now there was high quality,they usually lasted a day but then again could be fun for that day at least.
 
That's actually a pretty good quality knife and sheath it looks like to me.Ive had the flimsy junk ones.This one looks quite well made.
 
Punctuation seems to not be the only problem. He can't space between sentences also. Must be the product of the public education system.
Ah, the hubris of the adolescent youth of our fine land! Thanks, mustangfootball.
Greydog.
 
GREYDOG111 said:
Punctuation seems to not be the only problem. He can't space between sentences also. Must be the product of the public education system.
Ah, the hubris of the adolescent youth of our fine land! Thanks, mustangfootball.
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If you look at his status, under his name, you will that he has been banned. Punctuation and spacing were the least of his problmes. No need to resurrect mention of this particular poster.
 
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