01 question.

L6steel

L6steel

Joined
Sep 23, 1999
Messages
5,855
Is 01 any good for making a foot long by 1 1/2" wide by 1/4" thick bowie knife??? I've only used it for 1/8" thick folder blades so I have no experience with it in large blades. Thanks for anything you can tell me!!!
 
The Randall shop has been doing it for years, Michael.
Merry Christmas to ya. bruce/birdog
 
O1 would be fine, but if your username is any indication you're familiar with L6 and it would be more optimum for that size of blade.
 
Larrin, I agree but I don't know where to get L6 anymore! :)
I've been out of the loop for a while.
Is that champaloy stuff that Crucible sells the same thing as L6?
Merry Christmas and a grand new years to you folks too!!!!
 
Crucible L-6 and Carpenter L-6 are both L-6, similar but not the same composition and handle differently !!!
 
You can get it from Admiral Steel but they call it somthing else. You would need to call there and tell them what you are wanting.

They are great people to work with. That's the best I can do at this time. Have a great one, and I hope this was of help to you. God bless and have a great day. :thumbup:


http://www.admiralsteel.com/
 
Barkes Knife Shop said:
You can get it from Admiral Steel but they call it somthing else. You would need to call there and tell them what you are wanting.

They are great people to work with. That's the best I can do at this time. Have a great one, and I hope this was of help to you. God bless and have a great day. :thumbup:


http://www.admiralsteel.com/
Click to expand...


Admiral does not sell L6....
 
Phillip
I knew you would be ALL OVER that one!:D Thanks for not letting me down.
Merry Christmas Bud
Matt
 
Barkes Knife Shop said:
Thanks for the update on the L6 Steel. Merry Christmas and New Year. I am all over it as well. :)
Click to expand...

Barkes
This wasn't a dig on you at all buddy. Just a little inside joke. A couple years ago Admiral was advertising L6 for sale. Phillip had quite a bit of it. Problem was it didn't act like L6 so he sent it to me and I tested it and found that it was 8670M and not L6. Admiral was not to blame. They were told it was L6 that they were receiving. Phillip created quite a stink about it, (mostly because that's just the kinda guy he is:D) and they have since changed their labling. All because of Phillip Patton:D
Have a great Christmas!
Matt
 
mdoyle said:
Barkes
This wasn't a dig on you at all buddy. Just a little inside joke. A couple years ago Admiral was advertising L6 for sale. Phillip had quite a bit of it. Problem was it didn't act like L6 so he sent it to me and I tested it and found that it was 8670M and not L6. Admiral was not to blame. They were told it was L6 that they were receiving. Phillip created quite a stink about it, (mostly because that's just the kinda guy he is:D) and they have since changed their labling. All because of Phillip Patton:D
Have a great Christmas!
Matt
Click to expand...

So.....did Admiral re-label it "Chumpaloy"?:D Merry Christmas to all:thumbup:
 
mdoyle said:
Barkes
This wasn't a dig on you at all buddy. Just a little inside joke. A couple years ago Admiral was advertising L6 for sale. Phillip had quite a bit of it. Problem was it didn't act like L6 so he sent it to me and I tested it and found that it was 8670M and not L6. Admiral was not to blame. They were told it was L6 that they were receiving. Phillip created quite a stink about it, (mostly because that's just the kinda guy he is:D) and they have since changed their labling. All because of Phillip Patton:D
Have a great Christmas!
Matt
Click to expand...

Right, I'm not blaming anyone, but it's still good to clear up misunderstandings. I honestly feel bad about the big stink it made at the time. I hope they didn't lose any business because of it.

Joe, you're bad! :D
 
L6 will make a better blade that size than O1 for the primary functions that involve impact, however if heat treated properly the differences between the two in this area should never be noticed in knife use. In general if you want to go for bruiser type chopping and whacking over cutting and slicing look for carbon contents that do not exceed .8%, other wise you will have to get "creative" with the heat treatment to keep that extra carbon from being a liability.

Carpenter has always handled L6 under the name of R.D.S. and only dealt in flats but only in thickness exceedind 3/8". Crucible has always offered L6 under the name "champalloy" but only in rounds. So L6 has always been very available just not in any form that is ready to use for knifemakers. This is waht has probably driven the fantasy that all saw blades are L6 and all you have to do is torch or cut out your blade blank and your set, it is nice thought but it is also nothing more than wishful thinking that has ended up with alot of folks using God knows what and deluding themselves that they were heat treating it properly.

Also 15n20 is not L6, for years I listened to rather knowledgeable smiths say that they were the same steel under different names since one came from Europe:rolleyes: These are two entirely different alloys with very different heat treating characteristics. And while we are at it, for some time most L6 has also been from Europe so that explanation kind of falls flat.

At one time both Crucible and Carpenter did indeed make their own L6 but those days are gone, and they now buy it from over seas. However as you can imagine mills from different countries (and even continents) will rarely come up with exactly the same chemistry so due to diferring suppliers, there will be nore than small differences from R.D.S. to Champalloy. Champalloy typically has included that addition of molybdenum that pushes its Ms around and drives the tempering temperatures a littler higher. Things are never as simple as they appear or are presented.

Actually both in price and availability L6 is often more handy, you just have to be able to work it down to the dimensions you need.
 
Carpenter now has L6 in 1/4" thickness. At least they claimed to when I called them earlier this year...
 
Mark Williams said:
What was the intended purpose of L-6. Just saw blades?
Click to expand...
Mark, not sure what L6 was originally made for, but very few saw blades are/were made from L6. Saw steel has a bit of nickel added which makes it kin to L6. Saw blades being made from L6 is just an old rumor, most likely because of the nickel connection.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top