21/08/2026
The more time we spend around good knives and the people who make them, the more interested we become in the stories carried by the steel itself.
Sweden’s reputation for steel began centuries before stainless alloys or powder metallurgy. It grew from unusually clean iron, careful refining and generations of accumulated knowledge. That tradition can still be seen in steels as different as AEB-L, 26C3, 14C28N, RWL34 and Damasteel.
We have brought some of that story together in a new Journal article, from the early ironworks and razor-strip steels to gas atomisation, RWL34 and the patterned Damasteel we use in the MCx Johnsson × Krichbaum series.
This is not an attempt to crown one “best” steel. These materials have different histories, properties and purposes. We simply wanted to understand those differences better, share what we have learned and celebrate the people and companies that have continued Sweden’s remarkable steelmaking tradition.
At the end of the article, we also link to two excellent films by . His visits to Erasteel and provide a rare look inside the processes behind these materials and are well worth watching.
If you are curious about where these steels come from—and how their potential is transformed by heat treatment, geometry and handwork—we hope you will enjoy the story. The link is in our bio.
And if you make with, cook with or simply appreciate Swedish steel, we would love to hear what draws you to it.
Image courtesy of . Photograph by Albin Bogren.
