Fallkniven knives with 3G powder steel laminated

[Leo James Mitchell]

I have 3 Fallkniven knives with 3G steel. They are the PXL Folder, TK-2 and the SK-1 Jarl fixed blades. In the picture below you will see the TK-2 and Jarl…the other knife is the Helle Temagami.

Here are my folders and the PXL is the third from the top

3G steel is made in Japan as are the blades for Fallkniven’s knives. 3G powder steel is made in very small batches and as hinted in its name, the components are in powder form and distributed uniformly throughout the batch before it is melted. The whole process is secret and very expensive, which explains the higher cost of the knives using it…each of these production knives is in the 300 dollar plus range. The upshot of this process is a very high grade steel with a structure that lends itself to knife blades with great edge retention, great strength yet fairly easy to sharpen.
I love this steel and my knives with it do indeed retain their edges well. They are extremely sharp and I have found no hint of chipping as one finds with VG-10. The steel is silky smooth and with the softer, flexible laminate steel there is little fear in my mind that I will see any breakage, edge rolling or fracturing along the apex. These are tough blades. Mind you, I never do much to punish them, but they cut and slice wonderfully and see a lot of duty around the kitchen,yard and during outdoor instruction that I give my grandson Owen.
Before I close I hasten to apologize for the chintzy cloth background in the first picture…it is actually the bed sheet on my bed. Tacky eh! LOL!

Leo

[wickededge]

Hey, I remember the PXL Folder and the TK-1 quite well. I had the pleasure of fooling around with those two and really enjoyed working with the steel. Thank you for the education on the steel in those blades! That Jarl is a gorgeous knife.

-Clay

[Leo James Mitchell]

I knew you would Clay and they still are as sharp as sharp can be. I just give them a bit of a stropping now and then, especially yhe PXL folder which is one of my EDC knives. You did a great job on those blades my friend.
Cheers
Leo

[Mark76]

Leo, I understand the 3G steel retains its edge longer than VG-10 and chips less easily. How does the 3G perform in its ability to take an edge compared to VG-10?

Many Fallkniven are not only well-performing, btw, but also beautiful. Love the SK-1!

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Leo James Mitchell]

You have only to ask Clay to hear praises for 3G steel and it’s ability to take a great edge. He did a test awhile back with both my TK-2 and the PXL folder that I had sent to him. He loved working with them and I can tell you that both edges are still viciously sharp even after months of use around here. I have found the same…easy to work with and edge retentive to the max.
BTW the Jarl is even more beautiful in one’s hand and working. A great knife and great to look at too!

Best regards Mark
Leo

Leo, I understand the 3G steel retains its edge longer than VG-10 and chips less easily. How does the 3G perform in its ability to take an edge compared to VG-10?

Many Fallkniven are not only well-performing, btw, but also beautiful. Love the SK-1!

[Phil Pasteur]

Leo,
I really like the Jarl, so much so that I went to the Fallkniven site to see what it might take to get one.
I was interested to learn that the 3G steel is their name for a steel system that uses a SGPS (Super Gold Powdered Steel by Takefu of Japan) core laminated with VG-2 ( or some places list it as VG-10) layers.

It sounds like the SGPS is one of the newer super steels similar to some of the other powdered metal technology steels like Elmax, M390, ZDP-189, and some of the Crucible powdered steels like S30V and S35VN.

The site lists the alloy as being:
C – 1.40
Si – 0.50
Mn – 0.40
P – 0.030
Cr – 15.00
Mo – 2.80
S – 0.030
V – 2.00

Which, as far as I can tell is pretty unique. According to all of the reviewers it is definitely a step above the “regular” VG-10 steel that they use. Do you know how it compares to any of the other “Super Steels”.
Now I just have to figure out if my budget can take the difference in price. I keep telling myself that VG-10 is some pretty good steel
🙂

Phil

[Leo James Mitchell]

Hi Phil
Thanks for the additional info on the 3G steel used in the Jarl. I have one VG-10 knife and it has been my experience that it is an excellent steel for knives,but I have noticed that the blade on my Fred Perrin Street Beat from Syderco has a tendency to chip…I don’t know whether that is typical of VG-10 or unique to my knife perhaps the heat treatment was off. I wish I had more VG-10 knives so I could comment more extensively. I believe I also heard Virtuevoice of YouTube fame say that he too found VG-10 chippy. I don’t know anything about other super steels although I will shortly have a folder made of REX 121 super steel with a hardness of 70…the the custom folder will be made by Farid. BBTW way, you might want to check out Fallknivens Cobalt steel which I think falls into the super steel category. It looks interesting, but I am curtailing my knife buying so I won’t tempt myself…at least not yet!;)
Go for the Jarl my friend…it has it all, beauty, strength, edge retention and flexibility. It does have hefty price doesn’t it, but I have no regrets, although I could have done without the donngle sheath.

Leo

[Phil Pasteur]

Here is something interesting for you
http://zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=SGPS%2CZDP-189%2CCPM%20S30V%2C%20M390&ni=577,410,276,&hrn=1&gm=0

Compares the compsition of some of the particle super steels, including SGPS

Phil

[Author]

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