Steel is one of the key components of the knife. Basically that's what it is, a piece of metal with handle on it. Obviously good steel is required to make a good
knife. However, just the steel won't do it. Cutlery steel in general is real complicated subject and there are numerous aspects affecting the steel performance. Still, the choice
of the blade material will define knife performance and properties to great extent. On the other hand it's not only the steel that makes a good knife, heat treatment and the right
blade geometry are equally as important. Just the great steel won't make a good knife and vice versa, even the best heat treatment and geometry won't make a great knife from a poor
steel. Although, probably the later would still make a decent knife, albeit frequent sharpenings would be in order. Anyway, let's assume the makers do it all right with the steel(heat
treatment) and blade geometry is also correct. Then we have a wide variety of steels to choose from.
Knife steel as usual is one of the main promotion point of a given knife or an entire production line. I am sure all of us have seen more than enough commercials promoting knives
made out of the next super wonder steel. Actually, if you know a little about the steel, you can still get some useful info out of all that hype.
There is another extreme to that, when the makers won't reveal the steel used in the product. Although that could have different reasons. E.g. if the maker is not revealing the
steel name/composition that can be a clear indication of a cheap, one, most of the times btw. Alternatively, that mystery steel is a good proprietary steel. I still don't
understand what's the point in concealing the steel chemical composition though. Today's science can deduce what is the star billions of light years away composed of, and if some
think a lab can't tell what's in the piece of metal right in front of them, they're badly mistaken.
Alloys are grouped by their general stain resistance properties, simply put stainless or not. Let's mention again, the term stainless doesn't really apply to knives, steels are resistant to corrosion, to various degree, that's all. There is no reason to group the alloys by countries, since in today's world alloys from any country are used in cutlery from many different countries, e.g. Swedish steels are very popular in Japan, other Euro steels are used in US, and after all, even if the steel is produced in one country, that doesn't mean identical alloy is not produced in another country, under different name.
Note
- For more on steel in general, terminology and elements in the steel and how they affect ally properties please refer to Knife Steel FAQ. The goal of this section is to review steels from the perspective of kitchen knife performance. Detailed information on steels including makers, country, technology and other information can be found in the interactive knife steel chart.Prev - Stainless vs. Carbon Steel, Pg. 2 Next - Stainless Steels
Last updated - 09/01/11