Hand Forged vs. Stock Removal Carving Knives: Which Is Better?
Woodcarvers seem to be on a constant search for the perfect carving knife.
I understand it.
I've spent a good portion of my life making them.
One question that comes up from time to time is:
Which makes a better carving knife—a hand forged blade or one ground from flat stock?
Since I hand forge my knives, you might expect me to immediately say forged.
But that's not my answer.
A good carving knife can be made either way.
And a bad carving knife can be made either way.
Whether the steel was shaped with a hammer or a grinder doesn't tell you nearly as much about the finished knife as you might think.
What matters is what the knifemaker does with that steel.
What Is a Hand Forged Knife?
Forging means heating the steel and physically shaping it using a hammer and anvil, power hammer, press, or similar equipment.
The steel starts in one shape and is moved toward the shape of the finished blade.
The knifemaker isn't simply removing everything that doesn't look like a knife.
He's moving the steel.
Heating.
Hammering.
Drawing it out.
Changing the width.
Changing the thickness.
Establishing the basic profile.
Eventually, the forged blade is refined by grinding, heat treated, finished, sharpened, and fitted with a handle.
That's an important point:
A hand forged knife still requires grinding.
Forging doesn't mean the finished blade comes straight off the anvil ready to carve.
I wish it did.
There's still plenty of grinding left to do.
What Is Stock Removal?
Stock removal starts with a flat piece of steel that's already reasonably close to the thickness needed for the finished knife.
The knifemaker removes material until the blade reaches its final shape.
The profile is cut or ground out.
The bevels are ground.
The blade is heat treated.
Then it's finished and sharpened.
Instead of moving hot steel into shape with a hammer, you're primarily removing the steel you don't want.
That's why it's called stock removal.
There are some excellent knives made this way.
So Which Method Makes a Better Knife?
Here's the answer I gave years ago, and I haven't changed my mind:
Metallurgically, neither method automatically makes a better knife.
There are excellent forged knives.
There are excellent stock removal knives.
There are also bad examples of both.
I've seen hand forged knives that wouldn't make a particularly good butter knife.
I've seen stock removal knives I wouldn't want to carve with either.
The method used to shape the steel is only one part of making the knife.
The finished tool is the result of everything that happens afterward.
"Hand Forged" Doesn't Automatically Mean Better
I make hand forged carving knives.
I'm proud of that.
But I don't think putting the words hand forged in front of something automatically makes it better.
A hammer isn't magic.
Neither is an anvil.
If the blade geometry is wrong, forging won't fix it.
If the heat treatment is wrong, forging won't fix it.
If the cutting edge is too thick, forging won't make it slice.
If the handle is uncomfortable, forging won't make it comfortable.
The skill of the maker still matters.
A lot.
Deepwoods Tip
When you're choosing a carving knife, don't let one feature make the entire decision for you.
"Hand forged."
"High carbon steel."
"58 Rockwell."
"Scandi grind."
Those things tell you something about the knife.
None of them, by themselves, tell you whether the knife will carve well.
Look at the whole tool.
Why Do I Hand Forge My Carving Knives?
If forging doesn't automatically make a knife better, why do I do it?
Forging gives me control over the steel while I'm creating the blade.
I can move material where I want it.
I can establish the general profile, thickness, taper, and shape before I ever take the blade to the grinder.
And after doing it for years, there's something about working directly with hot steel that I still enjoy.
You start with a piece of steel that doesn't look much like a carving knife.
Heat it.
Hammer it.
Shape it.
Grind it.
Heat treat it.
Finish it.
Put a handle on it.
Sharpen it.
Eventually, there's a tool sitting on the bench that's ready to go into someone's hand and carve wood.
I like that process.
That's why I forge.
The Maker Matters More Than the Method
Whether a knife is forged or made by stock removal, somebody still has to make a long list of decisions.
How long should the blade be?
How wide?
How thick?
How much taper?
What grind?
What edge geometry?
What steel?
What heat treatment?
What hardness?
What handle shape?
All of those decisions affect how the finished knife performs.
The manufacturing method is only part of the story.
A blacksmith who can forge a beautiful blade but doesn't understand how a carving knife needs to move through wood can make a beautiful knife that doesn't carve particularly well.
The reverse is true too.
Understanding the tool matters.
Blade Design Matters
There are a lot of decisions packed into what looks like a simple carving knife blade.
Long or short.
Wide or narrow.
Straight or curved.
Thick spine or thin spine.
Fine point or broader point.
The style of carving determines which combination works best.
A longer blade may be useful for roughing and long slicing cuts.
A short, narrow blade may be better for detail.
An upswept edge may work well on rounded forms.
A straight edge may give you more direct contact and control on other cuts.
Those design decisions affect how the knife works every time you put it into wood.
Whether the blade started under a hammer or on a flat bar doesn't change that.
Steel Matters—But Maybe Not the Way You Think
Another question that gets a lot of attention is steel type.
O1.
W1.
High-speed steels.
Various carbon steels.
Modern alloy steels.
There are plenty to choose from.
Years ago, I joked that M2 high-speed steel doesn't mean you can carve faster with it.
Unfortunately, that's still true.
Steel matters.
But simply choosing an expensive or impressive-sounding steel doesn't guarantee a good carving knife.
A knifemaker can ruin an excellent piece of steel.
And throughout history, people have made remarkably good cutting tools from whatever suitable steel they had available.
What matters is choosing a steel appropriate for the tool and then treating it properly.
Heat Treatment Is Where Steel Becomes a Knife
This is one of the most important parts of making a carving knife.
Heat treatment changes the properties of the steel.
Depending on the steel and the process, the maker is balancing things such as:
-
Hardness
-
Toughness
-
Edge retention
-
Flexibility
-
Ease of sharpening
Too soft and the edge may roll or dull quickly.
Too hard and the blade may become unnecessarily brittle.
The goal isn't simply:
Make it as hard as possible.
The goal is:
Give the steel the properties the tool needs.
For me, that means thinking specifically about a wood carving knife and how that knife will actually be used.
Heat Treatment Isn't a Contest
Knife makers can get pretty deep into heat treatment.
Multiple quenches.
Temperature cycling.
Different quenching oils.
Cryogenic treatments.
Salt baths.
Interrupted quenches.
Differential hardening.
And all kinds of other processes.
Some of those techniques have very specific purposes.
But a complicated heat-treatment process doesn't automatically produce a better carving knife.
More steps aren't necessarily better.
What matters is whether the process is appropriate for the steel and produces the characteristics the maker wants in the finished blade.
I don't care how impressive the heat-treatment description sounds.
I care how the knife cuts.
The Handle Is Part of the Knife Too
It's easy to spend the entire forged-versus-stock-removal discussion talking about steel.
But you're not holding the blade while you carve.
You're holding the handle.
A carving knife handle needs to work with your hand.
Long.
Short.
Fat.
Thin.
Round.
Oval.
Faceted.
Highly finished.
Left a little more natural.
There isn't one answer that's right for everybody.
But the handle influences control, comfort, and fatigue.
A perfectly forged blade with an uncomfortable handle isn't a perfect carving knife.
The knife has to work as a complete tool.
What About the Forged Finish?
Some hand forged knives intentionally leave part of the forge scale or hammer texture visible.
I understand why people like it.
It tells part of the story of how the knife was made.
You can look at the blade and see that it came from a forge rather than a sheet of flat steel.
But again, don't confuse appearance with cutting performance.
Hammer marks don't make the cutting edge sharper.
Forge scale doesn't make the knife hold an edge longer.
Those are visual reminders of the manufacturing process.
The working parts of the blade still need to be properly ground, heat treated, finished, and sharpened.
Handmade Matters for a Different Reason
This is where I think the forged-versus-stock-removal discussion sometimes misses the bigger point.
To me, the value of a handmade tool isn't simply that somebody used a hammer.
It's that somebody was making decisions throughout the process.
Looking at the steel.
Adjusting the shape.
Grinding the blade.
Checking the geometry.
Heat treating it.
Fitting the handle.
Sharpening it.
And eventually deciding:
This one is ready to carve.
That's the part of handmade tools that matters to me.
It's attention.
A good tool should show that somebody understood what the tool was supposed to do.
Can You Tell the Difference While Carving?
If I handed you two well-made carving knives with identical geometry, identical steel properties, identical edge quality, and identical handles—but one had been forged and the other made by stock removal—I don't think the wood would care.
And that's really the point.
Wood responds to the finished geometry and cutting edge.
It doesn't know whether a hammer was involved.
What you may notice are the differences created by the individual maker:
The shape.
The grind.
The balance.
The handle.
The edge.
Those are the things you're actually feeling while you carve.
My Advice
I hand forge my carving knives because I like the process and because it gives me control over how I shape the blade.
It's part of the way I've chosen to make tools.
But I'm not going to tell you that a knife is automatically better simply because somebody hit it with a hammer.
That's not how good tools work.
A good carving knife is the result of a lot of things coming together:
Good design.
Appropriate steel.
Proper heat treatment.
Good blade geometry.
A comfortable handle.
A sharp edge.
And a maker who understands what the knife is supposed to do.
If those things are right, you'll have a knife that makes carving a pleasure.
And that's really the only test that matters.
Pick the right tool for the carving at hand.
Then stop worrying about how it got there and put it into some wood.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are hand forged carving knives better than stock removal knives?
Not automatically. Either manufacturing method can produce an excellent carving knife. Blade geometry, heat treatment, design, edge quality, handle comfort, and the skill of the maker have a greater influence on the finished tool.
What is a hand forged knife?
A hand forged knife is made by heating steel and shaping it with a hammer and anvil or other forging equipment. The forged blade is then ground, heat treated, finished, handled, and sharpened.
What is a stock removal knife?
Stock removal begins with flat steel. The blade profile and bevels are created primarily by cutting and grinding away material before the blade is heat treated and finished.
Does forging make steel stronger?
Forging by itself doesn't guarantee a better-performing carving knife. The steel selected, forging practice, blade geometry, and especially the heat treatment all contribute to the properties of the finished blade.
Why does Deepwoods Ventures hand forge carving knives?
I hand forge because I prefer the process and the control it gives me while shaping a blade. It's the way I've chosen to make carving tools—not because I believe stock removal is incapable of producing an excellent knife.
Does knife steel matter?
Yes, but steel type alone doesn't determine the quality of a carving knife. The steel needs to be appropriate for the tool and properly heat treated. Excellent steel with poor heat treatment can produce a poor knife.
What matters most in a wood carving knife?
I look at the knife as a complete tool: blade shape, length, thickness, grind, edge geometry, steel, heat treatment, handle, and sharpness. Ultimately, the important question is how well all of those things work together when the knife goes into wood.
Is handmade the same thing as hand forged?
No. A knife can be handmade using stock removal, and forging itself doesn't necessarily mean every part of the manufacturing process was done by hand. "Forged" describes how the steel was shaped; "handmade" describes the broader way the tool was produced.
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