Another Beginner Question

childzplay

childzplay

Joined
Jun 13, 2006
Messages
202
I've just about got my Grizzly set up, and now I need some steel to grind. That is after I go through a lot of paint stirrers.

Let's say I want to do a drop point hunter. What steel type do you recommend for a newb? What thickness would I buy? Would it be OK to go straight to 440C or would you start with something else?

Also, any recommendations as to where to buy the steel would be greatly appreciated. I just learned of McMaster's from a previous post. Got that one bookmarked.

Thanks again for the help!
 
If you are going to send out for H/T 440-C is a good starter steel in either 1/8" or 5/32.If you want to do the H/T yourself 1084 is about the best also in the same sizes.
You can get 440-C from most all the major knife supply places like TKS,jantz and the others.
Stan
 
The first sticky on this page also has a very comprehensive list of suppliers for just about everything knives broken down by category. There is a part that has a list of quite a few steel suppliers so you can see what they have as far as availability and thickness.
 
SBuzek is right.

It really depends--do you want to learn to do your own heat treat, do you have an affinity to stainless in that you'd prefer not to make knives with carbon steels, and, probably most important for an inexperienced maker on a budget, how much do you want to spend on steel?

1084 is relatively inexpensive compared to 440C. The cost for a knife made from 440C goes up when you factor in the cost of jobbing out the heat treat and the postage to and from the place doing the HT for you.

I'm not trying to talk you out of 440C, but I don't know how much experience you have, and someone new to grinding can go through a lot of steel before they're happy enough with a blade to see it through to completion.
 
Thanks for the info guys, I'll be sending them out for heat treatment. Luckily I have a good job, so cost is not too much of an issue. I'm willing to spend what it takes to buy good steel, but I don't want to be dumb either and buy expensive steel when my skill level is still low. 440C seemed like a good bargain. Once I get OK at this stage, the next will be learning to do my own heat treat. Stan, thanks for letting me know the thickness. I really had no idea. To a new guy, all the different options are a bit confusing. I think I'll buy both, 1084 and 440C.
 
Im new to this thing too, and 440C is looking better by the day than premuims, and so are the 10xx series. At least until I get some experience in to justify working the premium metals. I just ordered from admiral steel this week too. 72" of 3/16" x 2" 1095 are coming this way. It should be more than enough for me to play around with. They said they changed their buying policy to only sell 72" pieces now. FYI.
 
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