Why is it that many think laminated blades are superior to mono-steel? They look much prettier and I whole heartily agree. I personally love the way they look, but it is an aesthetic thing and has nothing to do with functionality. Laminated blades come about because the steel used to make them has many impurities in it. The steel is folded to drive out these impurities making it suitable for sword making. Users of blades are not interested in how pretty they look but in how they perform. Prior to modern steel making methods this folding process was one of only a few ways to get quality steel. It is my theory that the polishing to show the laminations and other personalities of the steel where done as a form of advertising. The buyer could see the laminations and other activities and new that it was well made. Did they understand the metallurgy behind this? Probably not, but experienced told them that if a blade had these qualities it was a good blade that you could bet your life on. Because they did. If you take a couple of ball bearings (I’m using ball bearings because of the mention in the balisong thread) and forge to shape and heat treat it correctly it will perform as well if not better then any laminated blade. Please note the important concept here is heat treat correctly. The best steel in the world can be made useless if not heat treated correctly. As a side note a ball bearings most likely will be 52100. There is a very informative DVD by Ed Fowler on the high performance knife using this steel. I seriously doubt that many laminated blades would withstand the tests he put the blades through.
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