Abstract: For the problems such as low hardness, poor wear resistance and short service life, the laser cladding technology was used to improve the performance of 3Cr13 stainless steel kitchen knife. The microstructure and microhardness of the laser cladding layer were studied. The results show that the laser cladding layer without porosity, crack and inclusions can be obtained with the optimized laser cladding process, which is well bonded with the substrate. The microhardness of the laser cladding layer fluctuates between 7.0~12.0 GPa. The average microhardness is about 9.0 GPa, which is about 2.3 times of that of the substrate. The hardness of the blade is greatly increased. The laser cladding layer contains a lot of hard WC particles, which are not melted. The unmelted WC particles embedd into relatively soft 304L matrix. This structure has a toughening buffer effect on the WC particles. Therefore it ensures that the WC particle is not easy to fall off when cutting tools is used. Thus the work ability of the cutting tools can be improved.