Question on forging

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Jul 9, 2001
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Consider two (outwardly) similar knives - the stainless version of the famous Randall Model 1, and Cold Steel's Military Classic knockoff. From what I have read, both knives are made from nearly the same stainless steel. Randall uses 440B stainless which they forge, and the Cold Steel knives are made from Japanese AUS8, which is said to be equivalent to 440B, but is factory stamped rather than forged.

Despite being made from similar steels, I would expect the Randall Model 1 to be a far better knife than the Cold Steel knockoff.

Now I am sure alot of the Randall's superiority comes from careful hand manufacture and probably superior edge geometry.

My question, however, is how much difference does the forging of the steel make? I know forging is supposed to improve the molecular structure of the steel, but how much of an improvement does one get?
How much more edge retention and other qualities does the 440B blade have after it is forged?
 
About forging...
Ed Fowler is probably one of the best bladesmiths around. In his book, "the art and science of knifemaking", he shows that forged blades perform better when made properly. If you overheat the steel, the grain of the metal gets bigger and weaker. If you under heat the steel and then forge it, small fractures will be put in the blades structure. The factors here are whether the makers you mentioned had the proper working temperature of the steel and whether or not they regularly annealed and normalized the steel before heat treatment. I have no idea how Randall forges their blades. I know nothing about forging stainless, but I know that any of the 440 a,b,c are heat treated properly, they will perform very well.
If you have anymore questions, email me.
Luke Freeouf
bladesmith
 
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