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Admiral Steel

C

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May 7, 2012
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I went through the knifemaking course at Mr. Tom McGinnis' workshop and in the class we were given a list of suppliers. One of the suppliers was admiral steel. Have any of you had experience with them? Their prices seem fair, as a 60" piece of 1075 only costs around $25.I would like to know what you guys think of them.
Jack
 
I've used them in the past and they ship pretty quick. Never had a problem with them although a while back there were some concerns about their 1095 on a few forums. I prefer to get all my steel (other than 01) from Aldo, the New Jersey Steel Baron. Personally, I'd use Aldo's 1084 before buying 1075, but that's just me.

I buy my 01 from Amtek Steel. Quick shipping and so far I haven't found anyone to beat their price for precision ground 01.
 
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I used Admiral for several years...until this round faced Italian guy from New Jersey showed up at Bill Moran's one day.....and the rest is history.

There have been some issues with the L-6 not being L-6, and other steel types being similar but not identical to what they call it. Most of these have been addressed on their website, and aren't a big issue.

The biggest complaints come from people getting a different steel than they ordered.
They have had some shipping problems ,with sending different steels than ordered, or the wrong order entirely. Most of the time they just say to keep it and send the right steel for free.
I ordered 42 feet of 2X1/4 5160 and received a package of 1095 and stainless steel. They weren't sure who's order I got, and just sent the 5160 again. I got several hundred dollars of free steel., but was always concerned about getting the wrong steelshipmentppment from then on.
The problem is that most all HRA steel looks the same. You can't be sure if it is or isn't the right stuff. That alone made a lot of folks look elsewhere.
 
I might have to go to Admiral for 1075 because they have it in 1/8" . I would love to get it from Aldo but he does not go down that thin and he also has been out of stock on 1084 for to long.
 
I had issues with my last order from Admiral.

I ordered a sheet of ATS34, a few pieces of 1095 and some 5160.

The ATS34 had odd voids in it, and the 1095 had deep gouges across the entire length of the bar. The 5160 was fine.

I probably wouldn't order from Admiral again.

Never had these problems with Aldo's steel.
 
Its good to know that, because I was just about to buy some a few days ago, but wasn't sure if it would be best. Thank you to all who responded.
Jack
 
I ordered some PG ats 34 in 3/16 x1 1/4" and got a bent up piece measuring .172" with the end of the bar with unground low spots.

Upon contact w/admiral they said return it and they would replace it, but they were out of it and didn't know when they would receive any more. They suggested I keep and use if I could.

Never again.
 
Everyone has their favorite supplier but for the last 10 years or so never had a problem with admiral
or the steel they sell.
Ken.
 
I had Admiral send me 5670 mod when I ordered L6, their 1095 I got was crap. The 1084 I ordered from them came as 1070 all in the same order, when I called them they said I was lucky they even sold to knifemakers. They will not be selling anything else to this knifemaker. Aldo is the man

-page
 
I have ordered 5160 from Admiral with no problems though it as been several years ago.Like everyone else I order all my steel from Aldo.

steve
 
I too used to use Admiral, now there are just three words that answer all my steel needs. Aldo, Aldo, Aldo.
CW
 
Thanks to all who answered, I will be going with Aldos 1084.
 
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Sorry to bump this but I feel I need to. I just had a customer service incident with admiral. Apparently I asked too many questions and am now banned from doing business with them. Oooooooook. Whatever, I usually buy from Aldo anyways, I was just interested in the laser cutting service.

I must agree admiral sucks
 
scubasteve4sq said:
Sorry to bump this but I feel I need to. I just had a customer service incident with admiral. Apparently I asked too many questions and am now banned from doing business with them. Oooooooook. Whatever, I usually buy from Aldo anyways, I was just interested in the laser cutting service.

I must agree admiral sucks
Click to expand...

I'm curioius, what sort of interaction did you have ?

What did you ask of them ?
 
I can post it if it's appropriate. I don't know the rules on that here.

The cliff notes version is I sent a couple paragraph email asking what was required in a cad design as far as layout.

Do I need to send just one knife or do I need to lay out all the repeated knives myself. (I was asking because I had no stock dimensions to know how many blades I could fit in a specific area)
I also asked what formats I could submit a design in, if they could use a drawing and dimensions to create the design for me (it says they do on their website) Etc.

He replied back with this

Hi Craig,

The service we provide, is supplying the steel, and laser cutting.

I basically replied with a no shit sherlock that's why I'm asking you these questions.

Then his sales manager replied with this

I regret the misunderstanding that has just occurred. It is, in no way, our intention to be evasive or create any roadblocks to excellent customer service. The entire sales team at Admiral Steel will work through any details necessary to provide customer satisfaction, and Lem’s efforts were pointed in that direction.

Unfortunately, your succinct and coarse reply sets a tone that Admiral Steel is not interested in from any level of business. As a result, we respectfully decline any further communication and business with you.




Did I pop off at the guy? Yeah and I probably shouldn't have but comeon. What kind of answer was that?
 
I ordered from them in the days before Don Hanson sold W2. Their flat bar 1075 is okay. Cliff Parker told me a few years back that the larger square stock 1075 is actually good quality stuff. There 1.5 wide 5160 is standard issue automotive leaf spring stuff that you can get locally in most towns. Their 1 inch 5160 is not even 5160, but 9260. Their L6 "substitute" is not remotely like L6. Point being that unless they have something that you desperately need that our other steel selling friends don't have...............
 
I buy 1080,and 1095 in 1/4 x 1 1/2 and 1/2 x 1 1/2. gona order 1/4 x 1 1/2 203e on next order. No problems at all with them. Terry Summers is a super guy to work with.

Cliff
 
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