Custom hand knives are precision cutting tools made from high‑carbon, stainless, or PM steels and shaped through grinding and heat treatment. Used in packaging, leather, food, plastics, and industrial trimming, they provide durable, accurate manual cutting performance.
Custom hand knives are manually operated cutting tools engineered for specialized industrial, craft, and processing applications. Their manufacturing process typically involves precision blanking or forging of the blade profile, followed by heat treatment to achieve the required hardness and toughness. Grinding and honing operations define the cutting geometry, including bevel angle, edge radius and blade curvature. Common blade materials include high‑carbon tool steels, stainless steels, powder‑metallurgical steels, and carbide‑tipped edges for high‑wear environments. Handles are produced from wood, polymers, aluminum, or composite materials and are ergonomically shaped for safe, repetitive use. Tooling for production involves CNC grinders, waterjet or laser cutting systems, heat‑treatment furnaces, and surface‑finishing equipment. Custom knives are widely used in packaging, leatherworking, food processing, plastics trimming, rubber cutting, textiles, and general maintenance tasks where controlled manual cutting, precision, and durability are required.
BÖHLER K110 is a 12% ledeburitic chromium steel and corresponds to material number 1.2379 (X153CrMoV12, D2). This tool steel combines the advantages of conventional 12% ledeburitic chromium steels with those of advanced tool steels. In the group of 12% ledeburitic chromium steels, BÖHLER K110 offers the best combination of wear resistance, compressive strength and toughness, for which reason it is used in virtually all cold work applications. Its advantageous tempering behavior with a pronounced secondary hardness maximum also enables the use of advanced coatings. This also makes BÖHLER K110 suitable for complex tools requiring a high degree of dimensional stability and shape stability.
Read MoreBÖHLER K390 MICROCLEAN is a high-alloyed, high-performance cold work tool steel manufactured using powder metallurgy. This material has the highest alloy content in the group of cold work tool steels with high vanadium content. The high alloy content gives this material outstanding wear resistance. At the same time, the powder metallurgical manufacturing process creates a uniform matrix with finely distributed primary carbides. Among other things, this leads to good material toughness. BÖHLER K390 MICROCLEAN is a problem solver for applications requiring extremely high wear resistance and compressive strength.
Read MoreBÖHLER K890 MICROCLEAN is a high-performance cold work tool steel manufactured using powder metallurgy. It features good toughness, very high compressive strength and excellent fatigue strength. This favorable combination of properties can avoid chipping damages to tools. BÖHLER K890 MICROCLEAN is not only used in cold work applications, but also in mold making.
Read MoreBÖHLER M390 MICROCLEAN is a corrosion-resistant, martensitic chromium steel produced by powder metallurgy. Due to its alloy design, this steel has very high wear resistance and good corrosion resistance. In addition, BÖHLER M390 MICROCLEAN is approved for food and beverage contact.
Read MoreBÖHLER N695 is a corrosion-resistant steel with 17%Cr and Mo-addition in the form of bars, wire, forgings, and forging stock. These products have been used typically for parts in general engineering and cutting and non cutting, medical applications , e.g. chisels, knives, osteotomes, scalpels drills, retractors, spreaders, tongs, balls, rollers, needles and rings for corrosion resistant bearings requiring hardness from 58 up to 60 HRC and resistance to wear, corrosion, and oxidation depending on parts design and application but usage is not limited to such applications.
Read MoreUddeholm Sleipner is a general purpose steel for cold work tooling. It has a mixed-abrasive wear profile and a good resistance to chipping. Furthermore a high hardness (>60 HRC) can be obtained after high temperature tempering. This means that surface treatments such as nitriding or PVD can be made on a high strength substrate. Also, it means that complicated shapes with hardness levels >60 HRC can be wire EDM’d from blocks with relatively thick cross-sections with a much reduced risk of cracking. Uddeholm Sleipner is recommended for medium run tooling applications where a resistance to mixed or abrasive wear and a good resistance to chipping are required. Benefits Very broad property profile Very good steel for all types of surface treatments Extremely versatile conventional tool steel for medium run cold work tooling Suitable upgrade where added chipping or wear resistance is needed over traditional AISI A2 or AISI D2 In East/South East Asian countries served by ASSAB, Uddeholm Sleipner is sold as ASSAB 88.
Read MoreUddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra SuperClean is the most versatile PM tool steel on the market today, combining high wear resistance with very good ductility and resistance to chipping of edges. Excellent machinability in both soft and hard condition ensures advantages in both tool making and tool maintenance. Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra SuperClean is also available as powder for processing by Electron Beam Melting (EBM) technology. This powder has the same chemical composition as the PM material. Benefits Reliable production with low risk of edge chipping Best combination of high hardness, wear resistance and chipping resistance High compressive strength Best stock standard program of all PM grades Standard specification AISI D2 / AFNOR de type Z136 CDV 5.4
Read MoreUddeholm Vanadis 8 SuperClean sets a new standard for Powder Metallurgical Tool Steel. The technological advancements makes this cold work tool steel superior to its predecessors. The unprecedented combination of extremely high wear and chipping resistance paired with improved machining properties raises production rates and reduces costs. Benefits Lower price per produced part Longer tool life Predictable Production Standard specification AISI D2 / AFNOR de type Z230VCD8.5.4
Read MoreUddeholm Vanax SuperClean is the long-awaited response to the market’s need for steel that is both strong and stainless. Combining the corrosion resistance of austenitic stainless steel such as AISI 316L, with a hardness of 60 HRC and the wear resistance of a cold work tool steel, opens up new opportunities. Where no previous materials suffice, this powder metallurgical steel grade offers resistance in the most corrosive environments possible. From start to finish, its unique material properties provide reliable performance in the most extreme conditions and for the most demanding working materials. Benefits Uddeholm Vanax SuperClean has an excellent corrosion resistance both in low and high temperature tempered condition in combination with good wear resistance to counteract mixed wear/galling/fretting. Applications are e.g. found in plastic moulding, food processing and engineering designs.
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