5160 q's

Dijos

Dijos

Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
2,600
is it worth making knives out of 5160? I mean a working tool. also, do you have to anneal it, or does it generally come annealed (flat bar stock)? thanks, joe
 
Bill Moran, near Fredrick Maryland still makes knives out of 5160
and he gets MEGA BUCKS for them. He thinks 5160 is REALLY GOOD!
 
It realy is a great performer. There are steels that will give a little better performance, but the most used steel to pass the ABS journyman test is 5160.
 
Stock removal, with out sourced heat treating.......I believe there are better ways to go.

Forging, in house heat treating that has been perfected.....YES! For blades of the forged variety it is an extremly good steel.

As with any knife........the Overall Package (steel, grind, heat treat) will determine how the end product performs.
 
So far I have used 1095, D2, 5160, 440C, ATS34, S30V, O1 and S5 shock steel.
Favorites
5160
S30V
D2
In that order.
Not impressed with the rest.
D2 is the best edge taker best for smaller blades.
5160 is a fantastic steel after you practice your HT and find a place to Cryo it for you, you will be impressed.
 
I have worked with only a few steels for the swords and knives that I make including 5160, 01, L6, various 10XX steels, W1, and A2.

I primarily austemper blades and feel that 5160 is about as good as it comes in this regard. I buy it from Admiral steel and only do stock removal. I do my own heat treat on the little stuff but send my swords out to be heat treated to my "recipe" by friends.

As far as tough and simple goes, you won't find a better steel (maybe O1) for long blades that will be abused than 5160. This last blade I am just finishing actually broke cinder blocks without damage that could not be easily polished out. Austempered 5160 is *seriously* tough stuff in a sword sized blade.

IMO.
Brian
 
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