.

[1315]

.

 

[ethompson]

Not sure I've heard of san mai where the cladding is taken harder than the core...

 

[superworrier]

Are you sure you aren't mistaken? XC15 listed here (C15E, 1.1141, C15, AISI 1015, XC15 - carbon steel) has very low carbon, so I highly doubt it could hit those HRCs

 

[Matt Jacobs]

I think your info might be a bit off. Simon Maillet for example uses XC15 as his cladding. This should be pretty soft and very easy to thin. Do you have a specific knife in mind?

 

[1315]

And so I am! Thanks for your patience. (I'll just see if I can delete this...)

 

[Barmoley]

Newest guy on the block here, contrasting the blade components of core and cladding material. Many cores are 58-64 hrc, whereas cladding can run a lot higher. Xc15 shows hrc of high-60's into the lower 70's on the HRC. So how do you thin a blade like this? What are the best stones, plates, or progressions to use, and how do you use them (aggressive plates) to thin without accidentally changing the geometry from inadvertently removing core material?
1315, out.

Sounds like you are mistaken. It would make absolutely no sense to make cladding harder than the core. The core cuts

Some cladding, especially stainless can be pretty wear resistant and be more difficult to thin, but not due to hardness.