Chef Knife Blades and Materials - Part I

Chef Knives are divided into four main categoriesCobalt, Molybdenum and other elements.
by the types of material used to make them.Some names of the "Super Steel" blade materials
The prices of a cooks knife are usually consistentare VG-10 which is a compound of iron, carbon,
with the amount of work put in to produce theCobalt, Vanadium, Molybdenum that is only
blade, and the material value.available in Japan or ZDP-189 which is made by
Now I say usually because there are many brandHitachi Japan.
names that will ad a significant amount of moneyThe best Chef Knives are made of Carbon Steel
to the cost of the knife.which is folded over itself several time, it can be
The chef knife materials are:from just 2 folds and up to 800 folds.
1. Carbon SteelWhat comes out of these folded blades are what
2. Stainless Steelwe call today "Damascus Steel" which is a chef
3. Laminatedknife that shows the layers of steel and carbon
4. Ceramicon the blade.
There are also two main ways for making theMost knife blades use 16 or 33 folds, the better
blade for the knife:and more expensive ones can use 67 folds and
1. Forgedup.
2. PressedWhat each fold does is give the chef knife more
Carbon Steel Chef Knife Blade:steel fibers and that gives it flexibility and durability
Carbon Steel is an alloy of Iron and approximatelythat no other material can give.
1% Carbon.Some brand names that use this type of chef
It will produce a very sharp edge that will hold forknife blade technique are Spyderco,
a longer time.Kershaw, Sakura, Kyocera, and more.
Most "Super Steel" Knife Blades that are forged inThe next segment will be about Stainless Steel
the far east (mostly Japan) are made of CarbonChef Knife Blades.
Steel alloys which may include Chrome, Vanadium,