Quality of damascus knife steel and rehandling knives.

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Randydb

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Sep 27, 2014
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I may have this in the wrong forum but.... I have read a couple threads where people talk about redoing handles on quality knives.

There are two damascus kitchen knife sets that go on sale for 65% off a couple times a year at Canadian tire. A Lagostina set is$1700 regular on sale for $500. The other set is a Henckels $1300 that goes on sale for $450.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/search-results.html?searchByTerm=true&q=damascus

I have been trying to find some info on what the cores are made of. Best I can find is that the rockwell rating for the Lagostinas is around 58 and the Henckels is 61.

I found one site where it seems possible that the Henckels are SG2. But I don't know if that is a different blade.

Would it be worth my while to pick up one of these sets and put new handles on them when they go on sale? I bought a couple Zhen blanks with vg 10 cores to put handles on for my brother who is a Chef. But now I think I would like to do some kitchen knives for my house. If those Henckels go on sale again would I be doing okay to pick them up and then put my own handles on them?

Randy
 
Hey Randy, those Henckels look nice but I'd bet they would be hard to rehandle. They look like through tang integrals.

The Lagostina look like they might be a bit simpler to put new handles on. They have pretty plain handles to begin with, so I bet you could do something special with them.

Another alternative, Jantz sells damascus kitchen blanks. At least that way you will know the steel type.
http://www.knifemaking.com/mobile/Category.aspx?id=28
 
Frank Niro said:
A better way to go with better Damascus.
Frank
Click to expand...

Do you mean buying the Knifemaker blanks Frank?

I was just wondering about these other ones because I could get quite a bunch of damascus blades for a very good price if they were pretty good quality steel. I could only get 3 or so blanks from Knifemaker for $400 cdn. Usually I run a couple searches and I have the info I want. These ones are not so easy. Maybe I will have to go to the store and read the package.
 
If you can do the whole blade from billet then perhaps buy the Damascus billets. I can think of Mike Norris and Chad Nichols as me makers of quality stainless Damascus. On the other hand I am also aware of the fact that Jantz knife supply is selling some quality Damascus , can't remember if stainless or not, in finished blades these are of great quality as well.
Frank
 
Frank, I am just at the beginning stages. I have only put handles on blanks so far. I am looking around for a 2x42 or I may build a 2x72 weldless. I am just reading a lot right now. I have a 1hp motor on an old jointer that I haven't used in 12 years. Enough experience in life that I expect I could build a belt grinder successfully.

I just want to know if I would be getting a reasonable blade in these other ones that I could rehandle my own way.

Long term goal is to have a grinder a year from now and make a few of my own knives that I could send out to be HT. My short te
 
The Canadian tire knives are Rc58. I run my kitchen knives at Rc62+. Most store bought edges are 0.020" or wider and I go under 0.010". That is a huge difference is n hand, even if it sounds like not much on paper.

A knife is a tool first, and art second. The Damascus in the Canadian Tire set is pretty bland as wall. Not trying to be a downer, but in the end, you probably won't be that satisfied with regandling lower quality knives anyway. Have you considered getting blanks made by a Knifemaker and finishing them?
 
You may be able to find a maker that will grind one for you and let you do the handles, if that's what your wanting?
 
The Henckels are rc 61 from what I can see. I was just figuring if they were quality steel I could save a bit and have fun doing handles. It seems from the responses here it probably isn't worth my while. Spend a bit more...get some cool damascus blanks and do handles.

Randy
 
Randydb said:
The Henckels are rc 61 from what I can see. I was just figuring if they were quality steel I could save a bit and have fun doing handles. It seems from the responses here it probably isn't worth my while. Spend a bit more...get some cool damascus blanks and do handles.

Randy
Click to expand...

I had to check the Rc#. It is Rc61. :thumbup: the other set is Rc58.
 
The Henckels I have at home (not Damascus) are ground VERY thin. They are great slicers. Not sure about the type of Damascus steel they use, but if they're ground like my normal stainless ones, then they are likely good cutters. However, the handles do look more complicated on the Henckels. It would be much more difficult than just knocking some rivets off and putting your own scales on.
 
Randydb said:
I may have this in the wrong forum but.... I have read a couple threads where people talk about redoing handles on quality knives.

There are two damascus kitchen knife sets that go on sale for 65% off a couple times a year at Canadian tire. A Lagostina set is$1700 regular on sale for $500. The other set is a Henckels $1300 that goes on sale for $450.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/search-results.html?searchByTerm=true&q=damascus

I have been trying to find some info on what the cores are made of. Best I can find is that the rockwell rating for the Lagostinas is around 58 and the Henckels is 61.

I found one site where it seems possible that the Henckels are SG2. But I don't know if that is a different blade.

Would it be worth my while to pick up one of these sets and put new handles on them when they go on sale? I bought a couple Zhen blanks with vg 10 cores to put handles on for my brother who is a Chef. But now I think I would like to do some kitchen knives for my house. If those Henckels go on sale again would I be doing okay to pick them up and then put my own handles on them?

Randy
Click to expand...
I own these knives and am very pleased with them. I bought them over a year ago and have just sharpened them recently. It didn't take much to get these knives hair popping sharp and I have the bald spot on my forearm to prove it. They are VG10 with 66 layers.
 
Bergero said:
I own these knives and am very pleased with them. I bought them over a year ago and have just sharpened them recently. It didn't take much to get these knives hair popping sharp and I have the bald spot on my forearm to prove it. They are VG10 with 66 layers.
Click to expand...
This would have been my guess. Zwilling owns myabi and they use vg10 cores as do many Japanese knives. I'm surprised they arent marked as double Henkel given the price point. VG10 is usually hardened to 61 but be aware that it can be very chippy.
 
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