Solingen Steel?

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Feb 25, 2001
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I've been shopping around for a new stockman, and stumbled upon the knives with Solingen steel. Is this a particular type of steel, or just any steel made in Solingen, Germany? Is it stainless, or a carbon steel. How does it compare to the common American steels used by Case, Camillus, Shrade, etc.?

If it helps, I've been eyeing a certain Hen&Rooster stockman.
 
No steel made in Solingen for the past 100 years I am sure that most of the steel used in knives marked "Solingen" is made is Sweden, that is good because the Swedes have a rep for making some of the best tool steel in the world. A. G>
 
AFAIK, there is not such a thing as a standard Solingen steel. The different companies use whatever thay can lay their hands on and what is suitable for their specific aims.

Many companies use the german steel DIN14.110. This steel is if not the same then very similar to 440A. Further, they use a wide range of other DIN-steels. On the other hand, IIRC, they also use different steels from Ugine (France), Krupp/Thyssen (Germany), Böhler (Austria), Bonpertuis (France) and Sandvik (Sweden).

This procedure goes for most of the brands. So, I would say; there is not such a thing as a homogeneous Solingen steel.

Regards!
 
Hey A.G.,

What type of steel do you think is in those Bruckmans you are selling? It comes up to a good edge whatever it is.

Just curious. :)


Steve-O
 
Solingen is a place. It is a place in Germany where the largest concentration of knife manufacturers in that country are located. Sheffield in England, Seki in Japan, or perhaps Portland, Oregon in the U.S. are other cutlery centers. Like all the other cutlery centers, steel isn't made there. The manufacturers are using the name to help market their products. Nearly any type or quality of steel might be used in Solingen and referred to as Solingen steel.
 
Couldn't tell you what kind of steel is used in the knives your looking at. But I did just sharpen a very old trout and bird type knife that was marked solingen. It seemed fairly wear resistant and took awhile to get the bevels started. Once you got to a certain point though it was very easy to form a wire edge, I don't think the steel was overly hard. It doesn't seem to be a match for the newer steels on the market, but at least in the knife I worked on it seemed like it was decent.
 
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