Knives of Alaska, an outfit long regarded for top-end hunting cutlery, has formed a new division, DiamondBlade LLC, to make Friction-Forged blades. This process relies on extreme forging pressures by means of a rotating Polycristalline Cubic Boron Nitride tool that generates tremendous frictional heating to create an ultra-fine grain structure. The result? An exceptionally sharp knife that mimics--in a high-tech way--the differential hardening found in handmade Japanese swords, known for their extreme toughness and flexibility.
