Why don't more companies use 3G/SG2/SGPS in their knives?

A

Azraelsblade

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May 21, 2014
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Pretty much what the title says. It/they seem like a good steel family so why is this not being utilized beyond what Fallkniven produces?
 
I've been asked to make knives using this steel in the past, but I've also had trouble getting any from secondary sources.
 
Azraelsblade said:
I am familiar with the knife steel app, as well. I know that part. However your input does not help answer the main question.
Click to expand...

And we were supposed to know that how, exactly?

hhmoore hhmoore 's reply was very informative...but if you knew that stuff already you could have said it at the outset instead of being rude after someone tried to help you. :thumbsdown:
 
One thing I didn't make clear (posting for those who don't care to follow the links, or might miss the information), the statements in parentheses were quoted from the pages for the steels referenced.
Also, the page for SG2 indicates that it is used by Fallkniven, Shun, and a few other makers
Kobelco and Tafeku are both in Japan, which could be part of why this steel is not more widely used. That is, of course, speculation on my part...and probably not truly helpful in this thread; so I'll exit, thinking happy thoughts.
 
They're not more widely used because there is no excitement or buzz surrounding them. There are a ton of great steels, so that factor simply isn't enough.

"Brand" recognition is still present with steels.

A knife in 3G isn't as exciting as a knife in Maxamet, or the CPM SXXV series--particularly the higher ones, etc.

Good a steel as it may be, 3G does not add value to the product
 
Beansandcarrots said:
They're not more widely used because there is no excitement or buzz surrounding them. There are a ton of great steels, so that factor simply isn't enough.

"Brand" recognition is still present with steels.

A knife in 3G isn't as exciting as a knife in Maxamet, or the CPM SXXV series--particularly the higher ones, etc.

Good a steel as it may be, 3G does not add value to the product
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Maybe not with the EDC crowd, but kitchen guys (chefs or otherwise) seem to really like the steel.
 
SG2 is used a lot in production kitchen knives as the next step up from VG10. I have three kitchen knives with SG2 cores.
 
hhmoore said:
Looks like they are all the same steel, not a "family"; but I could be wrong.
Kobelco Steel - R2
Known Aliases:
Takefu - 3G, Takefu - MC63, Takefu - SGPS, Takefu - SG2
(3G(Takefu) - Fallkniven's one more alias for SG2 steel.)
(SGPS(Takefu) - Fallkniven uses SG2 under SGPS name)
(SG2(Takefu) - Apparently Kobelco Steel R2 steel is supplied to Takefu, which then sells it under SG2 name.)
Click to expand...

3G is actually Fallkniven's own name for a VG2/SG2/VG2 laminate with the SG2 at the core. Hence "3G".
They also offer what they call Laminated SPGS which is the same but with 420j sides.
I'm not sure if Takefu is even exporting R2/SG2 as they only recently started exporting VG10. If so that would certainly contribute to it's not being used by many makers. In the cooking knife world R2/SG2 is very popular as a high end powder steel.
 
Probably that there are equal or better steels for more affordable price and that are better available for the knife compabies? Lot's of reasona there.
 
Looks like regular ol' economics to me. SG2 has never been widely available at a good price, and including one in a production knife means raising the production cost of the knife - and, thus, the final cost of the product. Just try to convince a company to switch to a relatively unknown and low-demand steel and then make an expensive product out of it. It's just bad business. Knife companies want to sell you knives, and they have to strike a balance between their production costs and what they can charge consumers.

Aside from that, powder metallurgy has blown most of the older super steels out of the water. You want a ridiculous steel? Spyderco can get you Maxamet for $150. If you want them to do SG2, you'll probably pay considerably more and get an arguably inferior steel.
 
I have had a bunch of SG2 knives from Kershaw and Falkniven. It's a decent enough stainless that sharpened well that was somewhere around Elmax in wear resistance, maybe a bit less than S30V but IMO the grind would make a bigger difference than the steels composition between them. It did seem to have a nice grain and was pretty easy to sharpen. I believe Falkniven stated the hardness to be rc 62. Kershaw never said what they ran it at. I thought it a decent steel but nothing very different from S30V or Elmax when it comes to use.

Joe
 
I had a shun elite I believe it was in sg2 and I was pretty unimpressed with the knife. It was probably grind issues. I won the knife so it didn't cost me anything but there was nothing abou the knife that stood out as more impressive than anything else on the market. Maybe other knives have a better
 
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