Laminated blades come in 3 different types: "awase" (meaning mixed, for mixed steel), "kasumi" (meaning misty, referring to the misty look of iron after sharpening), and "hon-kasumi" (higher quality kasumi). Forming a laminated blade involves 2 pieces of steel, the "jigane" and the "hagane". The "jigane" refers to soft cladding, or skin, and "hagane" refers to hard cutting steel. Both commonly contain carbon or stainless steel. This combination of metals makes laminated blades corrosion-resistant with the stainless steel, and strong with the high carbon steel. Constructions like stainless cladding over a carbon steel core are less common due to manufacturing difficulty. The "jigane" allows the knife to be sharpened more easily and absorb shock. It also makes the "hagane" harder without making the whole blade fragile. The two forms of laminated blades are: