Soft clad or not?

[branwell]

I know a ton of high end knives are a hard core with a soft cladding. Got to say, I’m just not convinced. Compared to a hard mono steel or hard core, hard cladding, soft cladding can feel muted and are prone to bending doing things like crushing garlic. That said, my everyday Gyuto is soft clad lol. You know how it is. Shoemaker has no shoes, but what do you guys think. What's your preference?

 

[user 16756]

I really like it, personally.

When I crush garlic I tend to use a metal bench scraper anyway; it's a generally handy tool so I dont mind having it within reach most of the time.

For me there is something really special about a nice natural stone kasumi finish and I just feel like soft iron is the absolute best for that.

 

[@ftermath]

Haven’t given it much thought but I certainly prefer stiffer knives. I’ll have to spend some time pondering this now.

 

[LostHighway]

I have no strong preference between mono steel and clad knives. Softer cladding makes thinning easier, much easier in the case of highly wear resistant steels and I haven't had issues with my clad knives being overly easily bent. I do dislike very soft stainless cladding that gets scratches and wear marks if you look askance at it but most iron cladding IME is fine. Some of my clad knives feel slightly muted and some don't, I don't find it to be a large or notably pervasive issue.

 

[Bigbbaillie]

I have never had experiences with bending on any of my clad knives so you probably shouldn't listen to me. But if you are bending your knife from normal use in a noticeable and undesirable manner, I feel like it couldn't be that hard to bend it back to shape.

Doesn't it also cut down costs a little bit for knives made with more expensive carbon steel? Cause I kinda like that idea too.

 

[Corradobrit1]

Clad knives can be just as stiff as monosteel/Honyaki. All depends on the grind, and more importantly the HT and quench. I have both honyaki and high HRC water-quenched clad knives and they feel similar on the board with little to no flex.

 

[Slim278]

My understanding is, clad knives are easier to manufacture. Less grinding on soft material and easier to straighten post heat treat than mono. Also should be easier to straighten if you do end up bending your blade.

 

[HSC /// Knives]

Clad knives can be just as stiff as monosteel/Honyaki. All depends on the grind, and more importantly the HT and quench.

I don’t agree with this at all. It has primarily to do with the thickness of the hardened core steel

 

[HSC /// Knives]

My understanding is, clad knives are easier to manufacture. Less grinding on soft material and easier to straighten post heat treat than mono. Also should be easier to straighten if you do end up bending your blade.

I much prefer working with laminated steels, softer cladding.

 

[WPerry]

I learned on KKF that crushing garlic is the job for a nice, smooth rock, so I grabbed one at a beach. Problem solved.

 

[Bigbbaillie]

Idk, I have crushed garlic cloves with a white #2 Ginga (240mm) that's 1.7mm at the spine with no problems.

 

[BillHanna]

I learned on KKF that crushing garlic is the job for a nice, smooth rock, so I grabbed one at a beach. Problem solved.

Life Hack: Throw your Garlic Rock in your stock pot for the added minerals *forehead tapping gif*