MORAKNIV Steels information

"100 years ago good steel was expensive but also brittle after heat treatment and an expensive knife was easy to break making it worthless. Someone figured that using the expensive steel just for the edge and not for the rest of the blade would make a superior knife as well as cheaper to produce. The grinding stones of that time also had a tough time grinding and sharpening those very hard blades and less hard steel at the edge made it easier to grind. 

There have been different ways of making laminated blades and old hand-forged blades have a "wavy" hamon line while modern steel mill rolled laminated steel has a straight line. The laminated carbon steel made a cheaper blade as at this time material was expensive and labor was cheap. 

So we ended up with a more durable and bend-resistant blade that would not easily break, a much better price/performance affordable knife that also was easy to re-sharpen. This was when the good trustworthy and reliable image of MORAKNIV started."

By Thomas Morakniv Source

Laminated carbon steel is more than five times as expensive today as ordinary carbon knife steel so now things are the other way round.

Until the 1950s, most of the forging was done in-house. After this period all the local knife producers stopped forging. I can only speculate why this append, but for sure technology and cost (reducing) were some of the main factors.

All the spring hammers were substituted by large punching machines.  The spring hammers were now replaced by punching machines that punched the blades out of large rolls of laminate steel

Somewhere around 70/80, the usage of a single steel blade begins to be standard. I suppose that once again an economic reason may be behind this change, by then, high carbon steel was less expensive, so would make sense to produce the affordable blade, only from one steel instead of the more complex process (and expensive) of laminating the two sheets of steel.

Laminated versions are still available but more expensive versions or specialized models like the woodcarving N.106 or N.120.

Steel information from the current production (see online here)

Steel	carbon	Chromium	Molydenum	Vanadium	Cobalt	Nickel	Manganese	Silicon	Hardness HRC
C75 (Triflex)	0.70-0.80						0.60-0.90	0.15-0.35	58-60
C100	0.90-1.05	-	-	-	-	-	0.30-0.60	0.15-0.35	58-60
O1 (Laminated)	0.85-1.00	0.40-0.60		0.30		0.30	1.00-1.40	0.5	56-65
12C27	0.60	13.5	-	-	-	-	0.40	0.40	57-59
14C28N	0.62	14.0	-	-	-	-	0.60	0.20	55-62

View a description of each component at the end of the article 

Stainless steel (S)

The type of steel and heat treatment makes them extremely strong and long life. They also have a very high resistance to moisture, which otherwise can make the blades rust. Stainless steel stays sharp for much longer than carbon steel and is far less sensitive to rust.

All the Stainless steels are supplied Swedish company Sandvik. Both 12C27 and 14C28N are "recycled steels.  To make the recycled steel they used old steel, that is melted to make new steel. The base material for the steel, non recycled , is Iron ore and the other components like carbon, nickel, chromium, etc ...

Contrary to what many believe, Recycled steel doesn't mean inferior quality steel but exactly the opposite. The mix has less impurities and the final result is much more predictable then the steel made from ore. 

Morakniv makes a deal with a local recycling company to recycle our scrap from the blade stamping process. This waste is sorted into stainless steel or carbon steel (including laminated carbon steel). To what steel mill that scrap is then sold on to is not in our control and is decided by the recycling company. In other words we don´t know if our stainless steel scrap gets recycled back to Sandvik or to someone else.

Waste from the grinding process that also contains chrome from the stainless steel is sold to a recycling company that recovers the chrome. This would otherwise be an unfriendly waste product for the environment.

12C27 - Most of the knife blades are made with this stainless steel, hardened to HRC 56-58 Info. 

14C28N - Garberg stainless uses the steel hardened to HRC 56-58 info 

Carbon steel (C)

C100 - 1% carbon -all the knives are made from single steel Info. 2,5mm blade thickness is usually hardened to 58-60HRC and blade thickness over 2,5mm hardened to 56-58HRC, giving them the best possible sharpness at an affordable price. When used, knives made from above these steel grades eventually achieve a dull grey finish. However, this will not affect the quality of the blade, but rather improve the resistance to corrosion. Carbon steel is easy to sharpen but requires more maintenance when exposed to a moist or corrosive environment. Make sure to keep the blade clean and dry. For example, fruit acids immediately leave pots on the blade. Our carbon steel has a carbon content of 1%.

The C100 is somewhat comparable to Japanese white-paper steel and 1095

In a video from 2017, Thomas Eriksson refer that the Carbon steel used by Mora is C100 (UNI) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oivi7D3ML-M)

All the carbon steel are supplied comes from Germany, from C.D. Wälzholz GmbH 

Trifflex
The Triflex (C75) differs from regular carbon steel in the way the outsides are tempered softer than the center/edge. The differential hardening is archived by de-carbonized (this is done by the steel supplier, therefore before the hardening process) to a depth of 0,1 mm so when heat treated the "skin" stays soft and will not be affected by the hardening process.

The steel was bought from Oxelösund and sent to Luleå for decarbonization.

The Trifflex was introduced in the 1980s and by Frosts as an alternative to the laminated steel, because laminated steel did not work very good with injection molding. Thickness could vary a lot between 2,5 to 2,9 mm and tis was very frustrating for production. The first model to received this still was the Frost Viking and the 700 series.

This steel was only used by Frost and later by Morakniv, until 2013. The process was discontinued because the supplier went out of business and no one else could supply the steel coils.

Laminated carbon steel

"In 1923, the Swedish steel mill Vikmanshyttan began to manufacture compound steel WH101, which they successfully welded together for many different purposes, not least for all the knives with inlaid steel that were manufactured in Mora, read more here.

Their production of WH101 was discontinued about 50 years later and after that, it was probably only Frosts knife factory that continued with laminated carbon steel, from European steel suppliers. First from German steel mills and later from France. KJ Eriksson knife factory discontinued the use of laminated carbon steel around 1974 and continued its woodcarving knife range with carbon steel blades, what we knife manufacturers call “whole steel” and which in Frosts catalogs has an “H” in the item number to clarify the blade properties. When KJ Eriksson later bought Frosts knife factory and formed Mora of Sweden AB, it was KJ Eriksson’s woodcarving knife range that had to give way to Frosts wider range. But the use of woodcarving knives with carbon steel blades might not be such a bad idea after all?" 

Source: https://morakniv.se/en/morakniv-stories-en/woodcarving-morakniv

This steel grade is unique for knives from Morakniv. The core of the blade is made of high carbon steel (O1 info) surrounded by a softer alloyed steel layer. A high hardness, HRC 58-60, can be achieved through hardening, and the result is a knife blade with superior toughness and cutting-edge retention. Thereby it reaches maximum sharpness and long life. The blade can also be bent into a predetermined shape, which makes knives with this kind of blade appropriate for woodcarving. The laminated steel's core has a carbon content of 1% and its sides < 0,2%.

All the current laminated is steel supplied from France.  

In around 2022 the laminated knives were out of stock for a long period of time. In 2023 they were back in stock with a new laminated. Its little harder steel, because of the increased chromium content. 

Boron steel - EN 10025-5

The ax contains boron steel, 52-54 HRC. Boron steel oxidizes as readily as other carbon steels and should be cared for accordingly, i.e. as advised for carbon steel and laminate steel (see above).

Heat Treatment

By Thomas Eriksson: "We use the same carbon steel in Robust (C) and Clipper (C), however the heat treatment and grinding angles differs. As carbon steel always is more brittle compared to our Swedish stainless steel we anneal (temper) it some more to reduce its brittleness.

The total edge angle for blades over 2,5mm thicknes is usually 27° and 23° for blades 2,5mm thick or thinner.

The Clipper-series has a 2,0mm thick blade. The carbon steel Clipper has the same heat treatment as the Basic 511 and Pro (C). The stainless steel Clipper has the same heat treatment as Basic 546, Pro (S) and so on.

The thicker bladed knives as Companion (C) HeavyDuty, Bushcraft (C) BlackBlade, Garberg (C) BlackBlade and so on are more annealed to reduce its brittleness as it is more likely that those knives will have a tougher life and exposed to more bending force and abuse." Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Morakniv/posts/2065386947148157/ 

Historical usage 

Thomas Morakniv wrote in this Facebook post 

"... The carbon steel at that time was delivered to us from Bångbro Stripsteel in Sweden but I guess that already by then C100 steel was used...

KJE from 1968 and on  up to the 1980s, their Carbon steel according to SIS1870 from several different suppliers.

Stainless steel from Uddeholm AEBL-steel (razor steel) and later on Sandvik 13C26 followed by 12C27, 12C27Mod, and then back to 12C27 again. After 2005 there was coordination regarding steel alloys when KJE bought the last part of Frosts and moved the Frosts production into KJE's factory."

"I believe that stainless steel knives began to be manufactured in the late 50s at KJ Eriksson.

The material was Uddeholm AEB-L. When I started in 1967, we used Uddeholm AEB-L. Maybe the Sandvik material came a few years later around 1970, not sure. Both materials were razor blade materials and fairly equivalent with little difference in the analysis.

 The Sandvik material that came first was Sandvik 13C26. Later, perhaps around 1980, came Sandvik 12C27 and Sandvik 12C27 Mod, both refined variants of 13C26 with higher Cr content for better corrosion resistance. I believe both of these materials had lower carbon content than 13C26 but the hardness could still be achieved by alloying small amounts of molybdenum (I think)."

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Very interesting post on blade forum a user by the name of DePaul

"The SS line of Frosts sports Sandvik 12C27, HRC 58-59. The carbon steel Frosts uses is Uddeholm UHB 20C (eq. to AISI 1095), cold rolled and heat treated to 59-61 HRC. Other carbon steel used: German C.D. Wälzholz-Brockhaus GmbH CK 101 and CK 95, cold rolled, HRC 60.

The laminated steel core in models from Frosts is made of Uddeholm 2140 (eq. to AISI O1), HRC 60-62. The outer layer is AISI 420J2.

The standard SS from KJ Eriksson (no longer existing) is Sandvik 12C27M (Modified), HRC 58. The Co changed names and the steel used nowadays is Sandvik 12C27.

KJ's carbon steel was Uddeholm UHB15LM (eq. To AISI 1778) and DIN CK 75/80 (eq. to AISI 1080), both steels HRC 58. Since the Co changed names, these steels have been replaced by Uddeholm UHB 20C (eq. AISI 1095) and C.D. Wälzholz-Brockhaus GmbH CK 101 and CK 95."

Steel component 

Carbon (C) - Hardness, Edge Retention.  You’ll find carbon in every form of steel.  Essentially, it’s the element that turns the basic metal iron into steel and plays a huge part in the hardening process.  Generally, with increased levels of carbon, you get harder steel, improved tensile strength, edge retention, and overall resistance to wear.  Knife steels are typically described as “high carbon” if they contain more than 0.5% carbon and these are generally what you want to look for in knife steel.  However, if manufacturers go over the top with too much carbon it can make the steel brittle and also increases proneness to corrosion.

Chromium (Cr) - Corrosion Resistance.  Adding chromium to the steel it increases the resistance to oxidation and corrosion in general.  To be classified as “Stainless Steel” there should be at least 13% chromium (you’ll see others quote 11% or 12% but 13% is a safe bet).  Chromium is the key driver for carbide formation which lowers brittleness but also adversely impacts edge retention.  In addition to improving the resistance to corrosion, chromium also improves hardenability and tensile strength.   Still, every steel is going to corrode if left out in the elements for a prolonged period.  Note also that too much chromium can reduce toughness.

Molybdenum (Mo) - Toughness.  Molybdenum will increase toughness which reduces the likelihood of chipping.  It also allows the steel to maintain its strength at high temperatures which helps with how easy a blade is to produce in the factory.  Like chromium, it is a driver of carbide formation but is used typically in small relative quantities.

Nickel (Ni) - Toughness.  Some manufacturers have chosen to add small quantities of Nickel to increase toughness and strength, especially at low temperatures which basically limits distortion and cracking during the quenching phase of heat treatment.  Many knifemakers claim it also reduces corrosion but that is often disputed.

Vanadium (V) -  Toughness, Wear Resistance.  Vanadium is another element similar to Molybdenum that promotes carbide formation (the hardest of all) and it adds wear-resisting properties to steels.  Perhaps more importantly, vanadium produces a very fine grain during the steel’s heat treatment process which improves overall toughness.  Some of the ultra-premium steels contain relatively high levels of vanadium and allow for a super sharp edge.

Cobalt (Co) -  Hardness.  Adding very small amounts of cobalt can allow for quenching (i.e. rapid cooling to achieve hardness) at higher temperatures and tends to boost the effects of other elements in the more complicated steels.  It is not a carbide former in itself but certainly does promote the achievement of overall hardness.

Manganese (Mn) - Hardenability, Strength, Wear Resistance.  Another key element that assists with the hot working properties making the knife more stable during quenching.  Manganese will contribute to increased hardness as well as tensile strength and resistance to wear and tear.  As with anything that increases hardness, too much and the steel will be too brittle.

Silicon (Si) -  Hardenability, Strength.  Silicon adds to overall strength similar to the effects of Manganese, making the manufacture of the steel far more stable.  However, the real value of Silicon is in de-oxidation and de-gasifying to remove oxygen.  Oxygen is unwelcomed in steel production because it leads to blowholes or pitting.

Source http://www.zknives.com/knives/steels/steelelements.shtml 

Edge Angles

Source: https://morakniv.se/en/morakniv-stories-en/edge-angles. The text was written by Thomas Eriksson

"A guideline for our Craft and Outdoor knives is that most knives up to 2.5 mm blade thickness usually have a total edge angle of 23 degrees, about 11.5 degrees per side.

Blades thicker than 2.5 mm usually have a total edge angle of 27 degrees, about 13.5 degrees per side. Most of our knives have the True Scandi Grind that includes the typical micro bevel of a total edge angle of about 35-45° which is about 0.05 – 0.5 mm high to make the edge less fragile and with better edge retention.

Looking at knives such as a Companion or Mora 2000 with the bare eye, we cannot see the micro-bevel line as the polishing rounded off all the lines. If you look at our knives with a 90-degree sharp angle for fire starters, the micro-bevel line appears all the more clearly.

We also have a knife-edge called Scandi Grind Zero that has no micro-bevel and therefore has a slightly more aggressive and friendly edge to woodcarving but is in need of more maintenance. Scandi Grind Zero can be found on our woodcarving knives 106, 120, and 122 as well as the stainless steel knives Pro Precision and Carving Basic.

If we look at the food industry knives, the total edge angles are everything from about 25 degrees all the way up to 45 degrees, depending what the knife is intended to be used for."

Above: On the left bevel of slight used 511; on the right vintage Fost N.2. Photos by Pekka Ellonen

References and sources

MORAKNIV website
Thomas Morakniv
Blade Forum

http://www.zknives.com/