1080 vs 1084

Wild Rose

Wild Rose

Joined
Aug 23, 2002
Messages
1,398
A friend posted the following on another forum and I thought I'd see what kind of answers from "those in the know :D " such as mete.

"Went to buy some 1084 steel from my steel provider recently, and was told it was being phased out in the industry, and being replaced with 1080.

Duh...am I missing something somewhere?

Now I know the difference in carbon content between the 10 series steels, but for the life of me, I can't figure out why the steel industry is making the change. The difference between 1080 and 1084 doesn't seem to be enough of a difference in carbon to warrant a change.

I've always heard that 1084 is the closest living relative in the steel family to the steel that smiths of old in this country were using to make knives and tools like say back in the 1700-1800's. For people who make traditional type knives and weapons, 1084 was a staple.

Does anyone have any info on this? Is there a structural advantage at play of which I am admittedly unaware, or has the design brainiac that gave us the upside down catsup bottle gone to work for the steel industry?"

Thanks for any help.
 
It's a matter of the mills and distributers dealing with one steel intead of two.Probably the demand for both is just not there. You're loosing a few points of carbon but not enough to worry about. Don't loose any sleep over it .
 
This is taken from the Admrial Steel Reference Guide:

1084 - C 0.80-0.94, Mn 0.60-0.90, max P 0.40, max S 0.50

1080 - C 0.74-0.88, Mn 0.60-0.90, max P 0.40, max S 0.50

For all appearances the steels are identical. At any given time the minor carbon difference would allow the to steels to be interchangeable.
 
Hey Chuck, from what I've heard, and there have been a number of threads on this over the past year on various forums, the mills that were rolling 1084 have gone bankrupt, hence the switch to 1080. Like mete said, with the natural variations in C content 1080 will vary from 1075 to 1085 more or less. I doubt you'd be able to tell the difference from 1084 when forging or heat treating and the average batch of steel should come out closer to the eutectoid point than 1084.
 
I asked a supplier about 1080 and 1084 last year and he told me, that a lot of 1084 orders are probably filled with 1080. I've used over 100 ft. of 3/16" 1080 and I can't tell any difference from it and 1084 in heat treating or performance.

Bill
 
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