1/4 inch L-6

Burchtree

Burchtree

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Does anyone, anywhere know where I can get some 1/4 L-6? I've tried Cinncinati, Latrobe, Tremblay, etc. and have come up short.
 
I think u might have to have someone roll or press it out for you. Last I checked...the min. thickness was 1/2" or so. Admiral's is 3/16"
 
The stuff Admiral sells as 3/16" is actually a little thicker. Not quite 1/4" though. I can mic. a piece for you if you want.
 
The stuff from admiral is a bit thicker -- Greg was nice enough to send me a piece to test out. It is great metal but not the same as the Carpenter stuff used to be. Plus I'm wanting to do a bigger camp blade out of this stuff so was hoping for the 1/4. Thanks for the help though. :)
 
Bigger camp knife??????????
Sheesh Michael, I make 18" bowies with Admiral's L6 that you could take a man's head off with, what kinda camp do you go to?
 
Burchtree,
I have some L-6 in stock, Its 1" round But I can forge it down to 1/4" for you. Just let me know the size, and I quote you. I buy from carpenter.
Del
www.ealyknives.com
p.s. send me an email
 
Thanks fellows -- I sent you an e-mail Delbert.

Terry -- I don't know the benefits of L-6 over 5160, I just know that the stuff is unbelievably tough stuff.

Analysis:
Carbon 0.75 Manganese 0.75
Nickel 1.75 Molybdenum 0.35
Chromium 0.90


Michael -- for some reason I feel like I need 1/4 for this design, but I know it is over-kill. I went and checked out that blade that I made from Greg's piece and it is heftier than I had thought.
 
Terry, L6 is substantially tougher than 5160 and will get a little harder due to the slightly higher carbon content.

Michael, are you looking for L6 forging stock or 1/4" for stock removal? If you have access to a press you can buy the larger L6 in rounds and press it out into billets and have it surface ground. That is what I do with some of the JD5160. Or, you can press it down into manageable sizes and hand forge it from there.
 
What Delbert is offering may be your best bet. Carpenter never carried the stuff in less than 1/2" thickness (well perhaps before I was born). Crucible only sells theirs in rounds, I have come to enjoy 1- 1/4" rounds for the price savings and the massive squashing I can do. Admiral does have flats but the sizes have already been discussed here.

With .55 to .60% carbon 5160 gains its impact strength from a healthy dose of proeutectiod ferrite (not as much carbon) and obtains its hardness with a helping hand from chromium. L6 obtains its impact strength from nickel fortifying the ferrite matrix, and with .75% Carbon it would obtain a healthy hardness all on its own but is also helped along with Chromium. L6 has significantly higher impact strength than 5160 at higher hardness and will hold and edge longer, althoough there are other steels that will hold an edge longer than L6. Some L6, such as Crucibles, also has Mo, which will have very marked effects on its heat treating.

I abandoned 5160 years ago in favor of L6 but that is not saying that 5160 is inferior as there are always trade offs. The biggest plus you will be sacrificing in such a switch is easy working with simpler tools and techniques. 5160 is a great beginners steel beacuse it is very hard to mess it up, and it is very easy to work it with the simplest of tools and techniques. L6 may require a little more skill and the ability to properly heat treat it, particularly pre-heat treatments before machining and grinding.
 
Admiral carries a version of L-6 but it has a different analysis from your standard AISI L-6. I would like to hear what Kevin has to say about the stuff from Admiral.

By the way -- this is going to be for stock-removal blades. I stick with my W-2 for forging. :D
 
I have found the Admiral L6 to be a good steel, but it has very different heat treating curves than the Crucible L6 that I am used to. I think the Admiral L6 is a much better choice for heat treating and forging with simpler equipment and it would make a much better partner for the 10XX series steels in pattern welding, than Crucible L6, which makes a fantastic partner for O1 in heat treatment compatability. The Admiral L6 would be easier to soften up for the subsequent machining and grinding operations.

If this will be a stock removal blade, you will need to fully anneal any L6 that is forged flat for you, as it will come from a forging operation in a state that will burn up every bit you have and most grinding belts as well. Though I have found that zirconia can handle 58hrc L6 to some extent.
 
I've been using Admiral L6 for my Combat Special knife for a couple years now and it has never let me down.

I like the steel so much that I tinkered with the notion of taking two of the 1.5" wide bars and forge welding them together to eventually get a 5/16" blade thickness for a heavy combat or Bowie knife.

Correct me if I am wrong...but didnt John Fitch weld two bars of 1084 together to get 3/8" for one of his competition choppers?

One really cool thing about Admiral L6 is that it gives you a beautiful temper line if you edge quench.....it is evident without etching.
 
I noticed that on that little blade too. I even bead-blasted the hell out of it and it still shows up pretty evident. Oddly enough, I haven't put any oil on it either and it hasn't rusted a bit.
 
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