From the beginning, our classic knives were used for all sorts of everyday tasks, and when the blade was ground down that much that it had become a significant narrower blade, it was even better suited for all kinds of whittling and woodcarving. However, it was not until the late 1950s that we noticed that special knives intended for whittling and woodcarving was included in the knife catalogs from Mora. If we go back in time to when the knife production in Mora was in its infancy, each knife forger had to weld his own inlaid steel and the variation between different blacksmiths and local knife manufacturers was certainly noticeable from time to time. But 100 years ago, in the 1920s, the opportunity came to buy laminated carbon steel from the steel mills, something that thus facilitated and rationalized knife production significantly.
From a KJ Eriksson knife catalog during the late 60s.
In 1923, the Swedish steel mill Vikmanshyttan began to manufacture compound steel WH101, which they successfully welded together for many different purposes, not least for all the knives with inlaid steel that were manufactured in Mora, read more here.
Their production of WH101 was discontinued about 50 years later and after that it was probably only Frosts knife factory that continued with laminated carbon steel, from European steel suppliers. First from German steel mills and later from France. KJ Eriksson knife factory discontinued the use of laminated carbon steel around 1974 and continued its woodcarving knife range with carbon steel blades, what we knife manufacturers call “whole steel” and which in Frosts catalogs has an “H” in the item number to clarify the blade properties. When KJ Eriksson later bought Frosts knife factory and formed Mora of Sweden AB, it was KJ Eriksson’s woodcarving knife range that had to give way to Frosts wider range. But the use of woodcarving knives with carbon steel blades might not be such a bad idea after all?
Historical Catalogs
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Knife Knowledge
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