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I have some Mora Knives with Sandvik Steel, Stainless and Carbon. These steels are amazing. What do you all think? I prefer the Sandvik Stainless but the carbons are good, too. They seem to have the right and perfect balance of edge-holding with cosmetic looks and overall performance and economics.

I like it. I have a Mora and a Helle Jegermester. The Helle is just exceptionally sharp out of the box. And yes, they do look very nice as well.

I've got a Mora Scout, stainless, and it's probably the best value knife I own. Paid around $14-16 for it.

dewildeman wrote:I've got a Mora Scout, stainless, and it's probably the best value knife I own. Paid around $14-16 for it.

That Mora Scout is one of the best knives ever produced.

SpyderEdgeForever wrote:

dewildeman wrote:I've got a Mora Scout, stainless, and it's probably the best value knife I own. Paid around $14-16 for it.

That Mora Scout is one of the best knives ever produced.

There used to be a magazine dealing with survival and primitive living I subscribed to years ago called "Wilderness Way">> they had a big article once on Frost-Mora knives using Sandvik steel and they said that for the very inexpensive price they were without a doubt the very best knife for the price you could obtain. If I remember right most of those Frost-Mora knives were made with 3 different steels

Years ago I used to do work for a wealthy guy who was an explosives expert and made a lot of his fortune in that business>> and he told me years ago that the Swedes made some of the best steel on the planet>> I do remember him saying that Sandvik was one of them

The Sandvik steels commonly used in knives 12C27, 12C27M, 13C26, 14C28N, 19C27 are actually all steels designed for knives which are intended to hold a low angle, high sharpness edge. They vary a little in terms of corrosion resistance, wear resistance, apex stability depending on what you want to maximize. They are essentially the stainless equivalent of steels such as White Steel, 52100, etc. .

Cliff Stamp wrote:The Sandvik steels commonly used in knives 12C27, 12C27M, 13C26, 14C28N, 19C27 are actually all steels designed for knives which are intended to hold a low angle, high sharpness edge. They vary a little in terms of corrosion resistance, wear resistance, apex stability depending on what you want to maximize. They are essentially the stainless equivalent of steels such as White Steel, 52100, etc. .

So Cliff I want to make sure I understand you correctly :) Is this what you're saying>> is that line up of Sandvik steels you listed are maybe let's say slightly above average but not necessarily anything to write home about? There have been a couple of knives I used at one time that had I believe that second one you mentioned ( I'm fairly certain that's the one) and one of this guy's knives with that steel was a fish fillet knife and I thought it did all right so to speak and did better than other fillet knives I've used before>> and I do think it was better than most stuff you can get at Rip-Mart.

It does indeed seem kind of strange to me that their steels are not known for good corrosion resistance because in that part of the globe where they make those steels it's a harsh, cold, wet environment from what I've been told. Also when I was in the tree trimming and tree maintenance business a few years back some of our better saw chain we used was either Carlton or Sandvik. And both of them did quite well>> I know that's an "apple versus orange" comparison but it did well for our Stihl chain saws and it did better than Stihl's own saw chain.

Also is Sandvik the only Swedish steel company that makes cutlery steel? Because that's usually the only one I ever hear knife people talk about. I do find your comments very interesting and informative Cliff :)

Love it. I have a Kershaw 1870 OLBLK in my pocket right now that was the only thing that could push the Caly 3.5 I had been carrying every day for over four years out of my pocket. The thing about this steel that makes it so fantastic is that its the steel used in high end straight razors. This gives you the ability to put a wide thin straight razor edge on a knife without chipping unlike some steels that are too hard and brittle.

JD Spydo wrote:Is this what you're saying>> is that line up of Sandvik steels you listed are maybe let's say slightly above average but not necessarily anything to write home about?

I don't know what it means to say a steel is above average, no steel is above average in all properties, hence why they are all made. Even in knives, the steel which makes a good knife for one task can be a pretty poor choice for another.

13C26 is a razor blade steel, it has extremely high compressive strength (64/65 HRC at maximum) and near maximal apex stability, the corrosion resistance is also very high. 12C27M is so corrosion resistant it is dishwasher safe, it is slightly weaker than 13C26 (~2-3HRC points) with a slightly lower abrasion resistance. 19C27 has the same compressive strength as 13C26, more low stress wear resistance, less apex stability and less corrosion resistance.

Also is Sandvik the only Swedish steel company that makes cutlery steel?

Almost every steel company makes cutlery steel, as pretty much every company makes some version of the basic carbon or tool steels which are designed/intended for cutting tools. Some companies specialize in certain steels, Sandvik has a strong cutlery following which could be due to the marketing vs the actual specific tonnage of steel produced.

Note for example how much more well known Crucible became over night with marketing in the small shop knife industry - but did the actual tonnage actually shift that dramatically? Just think about the amount of steel in an excavator compared to a folding knife, or even in industrial knives vs pocket knives.

I don't have any of the numbers, it would be interesting to see if what is well known and discussed on the forums actually indicates some kind of correlation with the amount of steel made by various companies.