410SS / 26C3 Core San Mai from AKS ?

Alpha Knife Supply said:
We’ve been working on the san mai for more than a year. We planned to release the material in a few weeks but Murphy got in the way. A billet must be visible on the website to be added to an order. Jessica made a billet visible and it sold before she could add it.

The billets are made on our 1,000 ton press. In our testing, we've been happy with the weld strength. All the billets are flat ground after forge welding. A few knifemakers have tested the steel and we’ve received excellent feedback from them.

Jon Walker does all the forging in the shop. He has some great ideas for future san mai projects.

We are currently sold out, but we will be adding more billets to the website this week. The core material of the billet determines the web page i.e, 410 / 26C3 will be on the 26C3 page, 410 / 52100 will be on the 52100 page, etc. We plan to use different alloys for the core. Let us know if you have a preference for the core alloy.

Chuck
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Is there any way to make a separate san mai list, instead of listing it with the core steel?
 
I'd appreciate that too. It'd make it easier to check if you're in stock without having to dig through several pages and hundreds of listings.
 
Alpha Knife Supply said:
We’ve been working on the san mai for more than a year. We planned to release the material in a few weeks but Murphy got in the way. A billet must be visible on the website to be added to an order. Jessica made a billet visible and it sold before she could add it.

The billets are made on our 1,000 ton press. In our testing, we've been happy with the weld strength. All the billets are flat ground after forge welding. A few knifemakers have tested the steel and we’ve received excellent feedback from them.

Jon Walker does all the forging in the shop. He has some great ideas for future san mai projects.

We are currently sold out, but we will be adding more billets to the website this week. The core material of the billet determines the web page i.e, 410 / 26C3 will be on the 26C3 page, 410 / 52100 will be on the 52100 page, etc. We plan to use different alloys for the core. Let us know if you have a preference for the core alloy.

Chuck
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Good to hear, Chuck.
I like the 26C3 and 52100 that you have planned. Another core material that I'd love to work with is CruForge V.
 
Alpha Knife Supply said:
We’ve been working on the san mai for more than a year. We planned to release the material in a few weeks but Murphy got in the way. A billet must be visible on the website to be added to an order. Jessica made a billet visible and it sold before she could add it.

The billets are made on our 1,000 ton press. In our testing, we've been happy with the weld strength. All the billets are flat ground after forge welding. A few knifemakers have tested the steel and we’ve received excellent feedback from them.

Jon Walker does all the forging in the shop. He has some great ideas for future san mai projects.

We are currently sold out, but we will be adding more billets to the website this week. The core material of the billet determines the web page i.e, 410 / 26C3 will be on the 26C3 page, 410 / 52100 will be on the 52100 page, etc. We plan to use different alloys for the core. Let us know if you have a preference for the core alloy.

Chuck
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Is a Cruforgev core possible?
 
Storm W said:
Is a Cruforgev core possible?
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Anything is possible, if you are willing to pay for it. CruForgeV would cost more because of the additional work required to make billets. We have not used CFV for the core so I cannot quote a price, but I'm sure the cost would be at least double.

One of the goals of this project was to make excellent quality material for an affordable price. We are using every trick to maximize quantity without adding cost. Using the big press helps make this possible.

Chuck
 
Thanks Chuck. I didn't get a chance to see how much the 26C3 SanMai was.
I guess starting with 26C3 and 52100 would be great.
 
Finally finished sanding this one last night.
I enjoyed working with the laminated steel.
I called Devin Thomas when I was struggling with the 26c3 a little and he was a TREMENDOUS help. Imagine that, someone with a ton of experience and knowledge knowing what they’re taking about and being willing to help. :D
If I had any requests it would be for the 26c3 core to be a little thicker. Mainly for hunters and fighters. As for kitchen knives, this stuff is amazing (as apparent in Harbeer’s post).
DFEA543B-A1CA-4375-BA77-226856ED1BFB.jpeg DC1E7707-0EC3-486A-92FA-2AFF28350F5E.jpeg
 
Josh Rider said:
If I had any requests it would be for the 26c3 core to be a little thicker. Mainly for hunters and fighters. As for kitchen knives, this stuff is amazing (as apparent in Harbeer’s post).
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There is a decent amount of core exposed in the knife you posted. Would you want even more?
 
Larrin said:
There is a decent amount of core exposed in the knife you posted. Would you want even more?
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I also suggested to Chuck that I would like to see the core little bit thicker than the sample I was provided. I’m accustomed to seeing the Japanese laminated steel I get with the core usually about 33%. I’m not an expert at this but I felt like the thicker stainless cladding was a little bit more difficult to move under the hammer (forging by hand). Also I tend to Forge at the lower end of the heat range

in general with laminated steel you don’t want a lot of core exposed. That’s also controlled in the way that the blade is forged out.

The thinner Core would probably be more beneficial to those who just do stock removal

I can’t speak for Josh but from what I’m seeing the amount of core exposed is from the way that the blade was forged out and then ground

on the other side too thick of a core is a problem as well , and to me less desirable than a thinner core.
 
I'd love to purchase some 52100 san mai to play around with. (I keep checking AlphaKnifeSupply but I haven't found it in stock yet.) Personally, I'd prefer it to have a very thin core as I'd be making kitchen knives via stock removal. I'd probably choose something like a 0.020-0.030" core in a 0.090" total stock thickness if I had the choice.
 
HSC /// said:
I also suggested to Chuck that I would like to see the core little bit thicker than the sample I was provided. I’m accustomed to seeing the Japanese laminated steel I get with the core usually about 33%. I’m not an expert at this but I felt like the thicker stainless cladding was a little bit more difficult to move under the hammer (forging by hand). Also I tend to Forge at the lower end of the heat range

in general with laminated steel you don’t want a lot of core exposed. That’s also controlled in the way that the blade is forged out.

The thinner Core would probably be more beneficial to those who just do stock removal

I can’t speak for Josh but from what I’m seeing the amount of core exposed is from the way that the blade was forged out and then ground

on the other side too thick of a core is a problem as well , and to me less desirable than a thinner core.
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In my very limited experience, I find the stainless much harder to move than the carbon steel. I haven’t used Chuck’s laminates yet, just a general observation. As chromium content goes up, ease of forging goes down. 52100 and L6 are harder to forge than W2 or 15n20.
 
CallumRD1 said:
I'd love to purchase some 52100 san mai to play around with. (I keep checking AlphaKnifeSupply but I haven't found it in stock yet.) Personally, I'd prefer it to have a very thin core as I'd be making kitchen knives via stock removal. I'd probably choose something like a 0.020-0.030" core in a 0.090" total stock thickness if I had the choice.
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If you send me a message I can tell you where to get some
 
Perhaps there could be some material with a thicker core for forging as a separate option. I wonder what the ratio in sales would be between forging and stock removal.
 
Harbeer - I've been trying to message you as well, but get the message your inbox is full...
 
Larrin said:
There is a decent amount of core exposed in the knife you posted. Would you want even more?
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Larrin, I had to go really thin on this blade to expose the amount of core I chose to expose.
Nothing wrong with a really thin blade of course, especially for a small skinner or a kitchen knife.
I’d like to be able to see the core at least halfway up the blade on a bigger blade.
 
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