Matthew Gregory
Chief Executive in charge of Entertainment
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2005
- Messages
- 6,390
I recently received a sample of the first heat of Magnacut steel made by Erasteel. As many of you know, I was among the first to use the original heat from Crucible, so once again being a participant in the early stages, I feel, is a tremendous honor. Hope this simple piece does that justice.
You can hear about the goings-on since Crucible’s bankruptcy in the recent interview with
nsm
Niagara Specialty Metals President Bob Shabala, on KnifeSteelNerd’s
Larrin
YouTube feed.
I chose to make one of my little 4” kwaiken as a ‘test mule’. From a purely anecdotal perspective, the steel seems to work and grind in a very similar fashion - truth be told, I think I’d be hard pressed to say that I can notice any disparity between the ‘old’ and the ‘new’. The steel is .170” thick, and features a skeletonized tang, and some truly superb Satine wood aka ‘bloodwood’ under resin-soaked lace.
I'm both hopeful and melancholy. The collapse of the iconic Crucible Industries is certainly a knock to the American specialty steel industry, but through the concerted efforts of Niagara Specialty Metals, Erasteel, and many others, it’s my guess that the flow of steel will effectively be uninterrupted.
You can hear about the goings-on since Crucible’s bankruptcy in the recent interview with
nsm
Niagara Specialty Metals President Bob Shabala, on KnifeSteelNerd’s
Larrin
YouTube feed.I chose to make one of my little 4” kwaiken as a ‘test mule’. From a purely anecdotal perspective, the steel seems to work and grind in a very similar fashion - truth be told, I think I’d be hard pressed to say that I can notice any disparity between the ‘old’ and the ‘new’. The steel is .170” thick, and features a skeletonized tang, and some truly superb Satine wood aka ‘bloodwood’ under resin-soaked lace.
I'm both hopeful and melancholy. The collapse of the iconic Crucible Industries is certainly a knock to the American specialty steel industry, but through the concerted efforts of Niagara Specialty Metals, Erasteel, and many others, it’s my guess that the flow of steel will effectively be uninterrupted.
