Forged vs Stock Removal: How Knife Blades Are Made and Why It Matters

If you spend any time reading about knives, you'll encounter the terms forged and stock removal used to describe how blades are made. There is a significant amount of mythology around both methods, with forging often presented as inherently superior and stock removal dismissed as a lesser approach. The reality is more nuanced, and understanding what each method actually involves helps you evaluate knives more accurately.

Forging

Forging is the process of shaping steel by heating it and applying force, either by hammer or by press. In traditional bladesmithing, the smith heats a bar of steel in a forge until it reaches a workable temperature, then shapes it by striking it with a hammer against an anvil. The process is repeated many times, with the steel being reheated as it cools, until the blade reaches its rough shape. The smith then grinds and finishes the blade to its final geometry.

The claimed advantage of forging is that the hammering process refines the grain structure of the steel and produces a blade with better mechanical properties than the same steel in its as-rolled condition. This is true to a degree, but the significance of the grain refinement depends on the steel being used and the skill of the smith. Modern high-quality steel is produced with a refined grain structure to begin with, which reduces the advantage that forging provides over stock removal in terms of the steel's mechanical properties.

What forging provides that stock removal cannot is the ability to move steel rather than just remove it. A forged blade can have a distal taper, where the blade gets thinner from handle to tip, that is difficult to achieve by grinding alone. It can have a bolster that is integral to the blade rather than welded or attached separately. These are real advantages in terms of blade geometry and construction integrity.

Stock Removal

Stock removal is the process of cutting and grinding a blade shape from flat bar stock. The maker starts with a piece of steel of the appropriate thickness, cuts the profile of the blade, and then grinds the bevels and geometry using abrasive wheels or belts. The process is more material-efficient in some respects than forging and allows for very precise control of geometry, particularly on thin, flat grinds that are difficult to achieve by forging.

Stock removal is the primary method used by many of the most respected custom knifemakers working today, including makers whose work commands prices comparable to the finest forged knives. The method does not limit the quality of the result. What limits the quality of the result is the skill of the maker and the quality of the steel and heat treatment, regardless of how the blade was shaped.

What Actually Matters

The method used to shape the blade is less important than the steel, the heat treatment, and the geometry. A stock removal blade made from excellent steel, properly heat treated, and ground to a geometry that performs well in the kitchen will outperform a forged blade made from inferior steel or heat treated incorrectly. The method is a means to an end, and the end is a blade that performs well.

At Tanzo Cutlery in Las Vegas, the method used for each blade is chosen based on what produces the best result for that specific design. The goal is always the finished knife, not the process used to get there. View the Collection.