AEBL Blues

I was bitten about 2 years ago and have been tooling up hard and heavy.

I began learning about this world months before Magnacut was on the shelf, so, my first look at metalurgy was interesting, indeed! Weather, work for pay, having the finances, being Dad,......this forge thing is a job to set up: But I have recently organized a small shed on the property that I rent to produce stock removal pieces.

If AEBL is not the best value to be had, I would love to be delivered from my ignorance. I have enough to do about 20, as soon as I can get this forge painted, I am pretty sure that build will be one of the few that is completed in hours. By this time next week, I hope that fear and opportunity are the ONLY things that can stop me from making blades.

From what I have read, AEBL is over 2x tougher than Magnucut with about 80% of Magnacut's edge retention. I am not real thrilled with 7x the cost, being significantly weaker and the only gain is some edge retention.

I feel that most people want to live with stainless blades, no matter if they know it or not. I need a good SS for stock knives. What am I not going to like about AEBL?
 
DanF said:
I like the idea of using sticks to lube. But, would this create a buildup of fine metal shavings in the portaband?
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I haven't noticed it, the action and probably heat seem to melt it away, onto the steel being cut..... Talking about soap bars, and candles
 
Judcargile said:
I was bitten about 2 years ago and have been tooling up hard and heavy.

I began learning about this world months before Magnacut was on the shelf, so, my first look at metalurgy was interesting, indeed! Weather, work for pay, having the finances, being Dad,......this forge thing is a job to set up: But I have recently organized a small shed on the property that I rent to produce stock removal pieces.

If AEBL is not the best value to be had, I would love to be delivered from my ignorance. I have enough to do about 20, as soon as I can get this forge painted, I am pretty sure that build will be one of the few that is completed in hours. By this time next week, I hope that fear and opportunity are the ONLY things that can stop me from making blades.

From what I have read, AEBL is over 2x tougher than Magnucut with about 80% of Magnacut's edge retention. I am not real thrilled with 7x the cost, being significantly weaker and the only gain is some edge retention.

I feel that most people want to live with stainless blades, no matter if they know it or not. I need a good SS for stock knives. What am I not going to like about AEBL?
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You are Not going to like.......that you cant use a forge with AEB-L
 
A tube of Stick-Cut is the size of a caulking tube. It costs about $17. I can't tell you how long a tube lasts because I haven't used up a whole stick yet. I haven't seen any issue with metal chip build up. It works on the wood bandsaw, the table saw, hacksaws, jewelers saw, miter saws, etc. I haven't used it there, but I am sure it would help with slit saws and some cutters on the mill.
 
I plan to plate quench then LN2. I will temper 350F

I have gotten my hands on some anti scaling lacquer. I am a fan of the edge quench: But, getting a 15 minute soak takes the conveinence out of it.
 
Judcargile said:
I plan to plate quench then LN2. I will temper 350F

I have gotten my hands on some anti scaling lacquer. I am a fan of the edge quench: But, getting a 15 minute soak takes the conveinence out of it.
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There might be some information in this blurb for ya....?

knifesteelnerds.com

All About AEB-L - Knife Steel Nerds

I've gathered all of the information I have on AEB-L steel, including its history, toughness, edge retention, ease in sharpening, and other properties.
knifesteelnerds.com knifesteelnerds.com
 
My billet is supposed to come annealed.

HRC @ test block was in spec.

billet from supplier is about 62. (Mill Scale?)

Billet drills fine and grinds responsively.

Cutting the profile is by far, the longest and most aggrevated step that I have to get to HT.

With new bits and blades, things are not so bad. I am running low enough to keep all surfaces comfortable to touch.

Because I have been running cool, I have witheld coolant to preseve references in ink and seems to let the cutting edges dull prematurely.

I can absorb the cost of a bit per build. I can absorb a $10 cobalt bit to do multiple builds; I had rather not be so generous with bandsaw blades and I do nave anymore space for any tools.

I have vats of vinegar, surface grinders and many square miles of obliterated mill scale that my trusty angle grinder has claimed in the past months, for conditioning and finishing purposes; I never noticed that the billets had scale, as they are very smooth and even colored to someone that has never seen billets of SS.

I just did 15 blades on a plasma torch last night and now understand why I want a robot to do this.

Please tell me that I was fighting scale and I need to stamp my references and use lube.
 
AEBL does not have scale on it, you have a copy of aebl made by some other company besides Uddeholm/Voelstalpine.

Hoss
 
I buy from Alpha, so, I do not have scale. I was so hoping that I did.

Should a hardness north of 60 be normal?!?!?!

I am not finding carbide tipped blades in 44 7/8" or even cobalt ones.

The portable bandsaw cuts with lots of pressure, just not really well for very long.

Thank you, sir.
 
Alpha has taken me under wing and down to the seasoning of the blade, we are going to fix me or my blade !!!!

The gun community never treated me so good! ;)
 
Judcargile said:
I buy from Alpha, so, I do not have scale. I was so hoping that I did.

Should a hardness north of 60 be normal?!?!?!

I am not finding carbide tipped blades in 44 7/8" or even cobalt ones.

The portable bandsaw cuts with lots of pressure, just not really well for very long.

Thank you, sir.
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I have a friend that recently bought aeb-l from Alpha but it wasn’t aebl, it’s was coming out of heat treating way too hard and when he tried running an A2 heat treating schedule it came out perfect so we believe he may have received A2 that was miss labeled. I’d check with them and make sure there was no mistake in the type of steel because aebl annealed shouldn’t be sitting at 60-62 Rc
 
Alpha Knife Supply said:
Josh,

Have your friend contact me so we can resolve the problems.

Chuck
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He already did as far as I know and I believe you refunded the cost of the steel but I was just pointing out the possibility that the steel the OP has could be a similar case or there’s another issue going on cause annealed aebl shouldn’t be at 60+ Rc
 
Crag the Brewer said:
My last AEB-L was .200" thick.

Cut like butter.
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Obviously you know how to use bandsaw :) Some people get up from sleep and decide to make knives... they buy tools and they have no idea how to use them and then problems starts.......... bandsaw don t cut ,drill bits don t drill , belts don last ............... bla bla bla :)
 
Natlek said:
Obviously you know how to use bandsaw :) Some people get up from sleep and decide to make knives... they buy tools and they have no idea how to use them and then problems starts.......... bandsaw don t cut ,drill bits don t drill , belts don last ............... bla bla bla :)
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I notice you are always posting very helpful comments! Keep up the good work!
 
Judcargile said:
I plan to plate quench then LN2. I will temper 350F

I have gotten my hands on some anti scaling lacquer. I am a fan of the edge quench: But, getting a 15 minute soak takes the conveinence out of it.
Click to expand...
That is how you will cool and temper the blade. How do you plan on hardening it?

What method will you use to heat the blade?
How will you measure the austenitization temperature?

BTW, you can't edge quench AEB-L. (also - Metallurgically, an edge quench is not as good as a full quench and drawing the spine temper back. Tempered martensite is stronger than pearlite.)

Bandsaw blades can be purchased in most any blade type and in any length you want from suppliers like Lenox, sawbladedotycom, Highland hardware, Cyberwoodworking, etc. They all stock blades in 44-7/8".
 
I should
Joshua Fisher said:
I have a friend that recently bought aeb-l from Alpha but it wasn’t aebl, it’s was coming out of heat treating way too hard and when he tried running an A2 heat treating schedule it came out perfect so we believe he may have received A2 that was miss labeled. I’d check with them and make sure there was no mistake in the type of steel because aebl annealed shouldn’t be sitting at 60-62 Rc
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I am transitioning from getting the tooling together to using the tools. It was wrong of me to post MY measurement because I did not repeat several times. I was not in doubt at the time because it was within spec, according to my the test block. I can not claim I have proof of anything.

Alpha could not be more patient and generous toward me. They are shipping a scrap piece to verify.
 
Alpha hooked me up with enough info that I went out there and put all of my weight to it.

It will cut with me leaning full bore into it.

I have never had to use that much pressure to cut, but, it cuts.
 
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