Which steel for the blade of a Laguiole knife? Coutellerie de Laguiole

Sandvik Stainless steel (Swedish)

A stainless steel is in the European food hygiene standards because it contains a minimum of 13% chromium. A stainless steel is a mixture of carbon and chromium.

A stainless steel blade retains its shine, does not oxidize and does not give taste to the food. It is a steel with a greater hardness than the carbon blade : its sharpness lasts longer.

The first stainless steel blades (35 years ago) did not have an interesting cutting power (440 and earlier). This is no longer the case with Sandvik stainless steels. Our 14C28 stainless blades are hardened to 56-58 HRC (hardness index). It should be noted that for the same hardness, the presence of chromium in a steel makes it more resistant to abrasion.

The cutting edge of our stainless steel blades is therefore more resistant, but on the other hand more delicate to sharpen (it will require adapted equipment and a precise gesture).

We use 2 references of Sandvik stainless steel:

12C27 stainless steel, standard
High quality 14C28 stainless steel with superior cutting edge and sharpening capabilities.

Blades are manufactured in our Blacksmith's workshop.

XC75 Carbon Steel

A carbon steel blade is made up mainly of iron and carbon. It is the traditional blade, the one used in knives of the past. Our carbon blades are hardened to 54-56 HRC.

As carbon blades are not protected by chrome, their cutting edge will tend to wear out faster - in contact with the bottom of a ceramic plate for example. It will however be very easy to resharpen (it was not uncommon to see our grandfathers resharpening their knives on the doorstep of the house...) but will oxidise enormously when in contact with food, at the risk of giving it an iron taste.

On request, we can mount your knife with a traditional carbon steel blade (the one that oxidizes reference XC75). Blades manufactured in our Blacksmith's workshop.

The carbon blades have a matt finish.

Damascus steel

A Damascus steel blade is the result of a forging technique that dates back more than 2000 years.

It is called "laminated steel" (or wrought steel), which is a mixture of different carbon steels. It usually has the following steels: XC75, 45NCD16 and 90MCV8 steels.

Damascus steel is unique because the designs of the steel layers are never identical.

This prestigious steel is manufactured by our Damascus blacksmith. His workshop is in our private museum.

Blade with "Brut de Forge" finish

We offer the rough forging finish on the Sandvik 12c27 stainless steel blade (on quotation for a xc75 carbon steel blade).

This finish gives the blade a nice rough appearance.

After having given the shape of the blade and made a first grinding (beveling of the sides of the blade), our blacksmith (the one of Damascus steel) must perform a manual hammering on each side of the blade.

Throughout the hammering, the blacksmith must keep the shape of the blade (the hammering pushing the metal away).

The grey/black aspect is finalized during the hardening of the blade.

The maintenance of the cutting edge must be carried out more regularly than on a classic blade.