AEB-L news.

jdm61

jdm61

itinerant metal pounder
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
Messages
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Confirmed rumor has it that Voestalpine Strip, the artist formerly known as Bohler-Uddeholm Strip, has cooked up a batch of thicker AEB-L stock, up to as thick as .200 and it will be available shortly from a good friend of the knife community out west. Happy, happy, joy, joy!!!:thumbup::D
 
This is GREAT news. I love AEB-L but having only thin stock available is a serious drawback. Do you know how pricing is going to be? I'm definitely in for this!
 
How do you people rate it working in hunting knives and folders with a hardness of about 61 ? I've been using Elmax, M390 and a few others.
Frank
 
I suspect that the pricing will just extrapolate from what they are getting from the thinner stock. I had read somewhere that the mill had the capability of making that 3/16 plus stock, but had never seen any, so I decided to call them. Now we know. :D Remember how long and how much work it took to get the .110, .118 and .130 stuff? Oh, and one other thing. I was told that they can make 15N20 up to 5mm or like. 240 and they have plans to provide some of that thicker stock if there is a demand. No more forge welding the stuff together to get 3/16 or 1/4!!!!!!!!;)
 
Jeff from Voestalpine told me that LT Wright has been using some AEB-L of late and his customers that have tried it out have been very happy. Someone posted a test video a couple of weeks ago where they really abused a light AEB-L hunting/bushcraft blade and it came through with flying colors. I think that has happened is that guys like Devin T. and the guys at Peters among others have really nailed he HT regimen for this stuff not only for kitchen knife use, but for outdoor use as well. It will be interesting to see if the folder makers latch onto this thicker stuff. Jeff was talking about several different new sizes ranging from like .150 up to .200
Frank Niro said:
How do you people rate it working in hunting knives and folders with a hardness of about 61 ? I've been using Elmax, M390 and a few others.
Frank
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Cool glad to hear as I was wanting to try some AEB-l but was a little disappointed in the thickness it came in.
 
Frank Niro said:
How do you people rate it working in hunting knives and folders with a hardness of about 61 ? I've been using Elmax, M390 and a few others.
Frank
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It has good toughness and edge stability at higher hardness compared to most stainless, but not so great abrasive wear. I wouldn't want it in a skinner, but it's great in something you want to use rough in thin geometry (such as a thin kitchen knife clacking against a cutting board all day). Elmax outperforms it significantly in most ways except ease of sharpening.

It's a great bargain stainless that works well at hardness's over 60, gets very sharp and doesn't have the issues with a crumbly edge like a lot of the super steels.

I've chopped through a 2X4 with an AEB-L kitchen knife thin enough to flex on your thumb nail. Don't try that with S30V...
 
I have made quite a few neck/pocket edc type knives for folks that work for me out of .070 and .110 AEB-L. Some of these folks have really abused them and been very happy with them. Hold an edge pretty well and sharpens easily.

I have done two hours at 1200 the day before HT. Plate quench after HT and then into denatured alcohol and dry ice. Haven't tried any in LN yet as I'm not convinced there would be much gain.

For a lightweight carry knife that can be used and take some abuse I really like it. Will be anxious to try some thicker stuff. Though as slow as I am if I'm going to spend the time on a heavier knife I would probably opt to spend a bit more and go with CPM154 for a lot of uses.

I really like the kitchen knives I've made from AEB-L and its my favorite steel for that. A cleaver out if heavier AEB-L might be cool?
 
Nate, I think that the ease of sharpening and the cost will appeal to the bushcraft crowd. The cheap at heart guys love the 12C27 Mora blades at whatever hardness they leave them at. AEB-L at 60+ would be a pretty fair improvement I owed think. Price s not as big an issue for custom makers, but "retail" price for a foot long .098 x 2 piece of Elmax is $27. That almost has to be unground because an unground piece of S35VN that size would run $24 and one with the decade ground of is $32 and that is if you buy 3 feet of the stuff. Same size piece of AEB-L in .098 or .110 is between $6.50 and $9. That would be a premium of maybe $45-50 retail on a factory knife for the Elmax.
My interest in the stuff is probably similar to what yours might be in that at .200, you can make a yanagi-ba and other funky Japanese style blades. You might even be able to squeeze a 6/8 straight razor out of it without having to double tape the spine or shorten up the hollow bevels in order to get the edge bevel angle right. A lot of the custom razor buyers actually don't like super abrasion resistant steels because they take so long to hone. A number of guys use O-1 but leave it at like 59. I have heard some complain about 52100 being too hard to hone at the hardnesses that we would shoot for in kitchen knives.
Nathan the Machinist said:
It has good toughness and edge stability at higher hardness compared to most stainless, but not so great abrasive wear. I wouldn't want it in a skinner, but it's great in something you want to use rough in thin geometry (such as a thin kitchen knife clacking against a cutting board all day). Elmax outperforms it significantly in most ways except ease of sharpening.

It's a great bargain stainless that works well at hardness's over 60, gets very sharp and doesn't have the issues with a crumbly edge like a lot of the super steels.

I've chopped through a 2X4 with an AEB-L kitchen knife thin enough to flex on your thumb nail. Don't try that with S30V...
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Thanks for getting the information out there! It was great talking with you yesterday and please let us know if we can help with anything else!
 
jdm61 said:
Confirmed rumor has it that Voestalpine Strip, the artist formerly known as Bohler-Uddeholm Strip, has cooked up a batch of thicker AEB-L stock, up to as thick as .200 and it will be available shortly from a good friend of the knife community out west. Happy, happy, joy, joy!!!:thumbup::D
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when available, who'm do i contact and when do we expect this to be on the market?

thanks

Royce
 
AEB-L in .200 barstock? That's fantastic news!! :thumbup:

jdm61 said:
I think that has happened is that guys like Devin T. and the guys at Peters among others have really nailed the HT regimen for this stuff not only for kitchen knife use, but for outdoor use as well.
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I suspect you're right about that. It seems those folks really have it dialed in.

Frank Niro said:
How do you people rate it working in hunting knives and folders with a hardness of about 61 ?
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I really, really like thin AEB-L @ 60Rc, as HT'ed by Peters. (other makers report good results at somewhat higher hardnesses; I simply haven't used it any harder than 60, so I can't comment... but I suspect there's a bit more endurance to be had there).

I've used it at 60Rc in EDCs/hunters and especially chef's knives, all ground very thin, including some "moderately rough use". I have been consistently pleased. My only complaint about it has been that I couldn't get in thicker barstock for sturdier blades... ;)

Basically, in my experience, AEB-L acts almost exactly like a good fine-grained "carbon" steel at the same hardness in terms of toughness, wear-resistance and ease-of-sharpening. Except... it just doesn't stain much, if at all. I like to call AEB-L "the stainless steel for people who don't like stainless steel".

I strongly doubt it will never quite hold up to alloys like Elmax, M390, or CTS-XHP in terms of pure edge-holding when used on abrasive materials... the carbides simply aren't there. But it definitely works, it's easy to work with, it's easy to make finished blades cut really well, and it's very easy for the end-user to maintain.
 
And don't forget that it is rather cheap for good stainless!!!!:thumbup:
 
How would AEB-L compare against CPM 154 if a knife a made for hard use i.e. chopping, batoning and light prying,
 
knife chop said:
How would AEB-L compare against CPM 154 if a knife a made for hard use i.e. chopping, batoning and light prying,
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Given the same thickness of stock, exact same blade design, edge thickness/angle etc, I would choose AEB-L over CPM-154 or S35VN for rough use every single time (and CPM-154/S35VN ain't bad for combat/tactical/survival knives, by any means!). But AEB-L is just a bit tougher... also, easier to sharpen when it does get dull. Again, it's the "stainless" ... "carbon" steel.

jdm61 said:
And don't forget that it is rather cheap for good stainless!!!!:thumbup:
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I prefer to say, it's cost-efficient. :) AEB-L is not "cheap" as in, low-grade junk is "cheap". In terms of value of finished product, it is not "cheap" at all.
 
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How you guys think this would do scandi ground ?? From what it sounds like it can be ground super thin . I have never had a chance to use it before.
 
Marko3 said:
How you guys think this would do scandi ground ?? From what it sounds like it can be ground super thin . I have never had a chance to use it before.
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The short answer is, "yes, go for it."

AEB-L with pro-level HT performs very well, no matter how you grind it. It's good tough fine-grained steel, that happens to be pretty corrosion-resistant.

Ever used a stainless "mora" style knife? They are generally made with similar alloys. The factories that make 'em just don't HT 'em as hard as I would. They sacrifice edge-holding for ease-of-manufacture, and leave a lot of performance behind.
 
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