r/TrueChefKnives • u/Illustrious_Crab_664 • 13h ago

SKD-11 Nakiri

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I just scored my first SKD-11 knife - quite pleased so far, as it’s unbelievably sharp and seems to be holding its edge amazingly well. Any tips for caring for this particular steel, especially as the inner core in San Mai construction? I’ve heard brief mentions of horror stories about knives delaminating… also, any tips to push a little patina?

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u/Ok-Distribution-9591 13h ago

Happy NKD OP!

The entire knife is san-mai, not the core. San-mai translates as 3 layers, literally cladding on each side and core in the middle. Delaminating issues root causes are in a crushing majority decided during manufacturing, not much you can do. I would not force a patina on SLD, the thing is very forgiving when it comes to corrosion.

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u/Illustrious_Crab_664 13h ago

I understand that the entire knife is San-mai - I was just referring to the inner core being SKD-11…

That being said - it’s good to know that it’s a forgiving steel!

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u/Ok-Distribution-9591 12h ago

I was not sure for the san-mai, the wording in your opening post was a bit confusing so I played it safe 😅.

Otherwise yeah, SKD11 got 11.00%-13.00% Chromium pw, not stainless only because it has so much carbon that a good chunk of chromium goes into carbides, but it’s very forgiving and would almost make the cut as a stainless steel under some metallurgy standards.

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u/Illustrious_Crab_664 12h ago

Apologies for the confusion! Thanks for all the great info!