Stamped Kitchen Knife: Blade, Tang and Riveted Scales

Kitchen knife blades are either forged or stamped. A stamped blade is cut to shape straight from cold-rolled steel, then heat-treated for strength, ground, polished and sharpened; it can often be recognised by having no bolster. Typical stainless kitchen knives are 420 stainless, an alloy of iron with about 10–15% chromium and little carbon, which resists rust far better than carbon steel. In the traditional Western knife the tang, the part of the blade inside the handle, carries two scales of wood, plastic or composite, one each side, held by metal rivets, usually three.