ATS-34

magnum .44 · Nov 6, 1999

in my research i've found ats-34 to be the most flexible of the stainless steels, but that's only on paper. i'd like to know if any of you have had experiences with ats-34 good or bad that youd like to share, along the lines of edge holding, flexiblity and what RC hardness i should make a 11.5" slasher/ skinner type knife, that is 1/8" thick.

T. J. · Nov 7, 1999

My buddy/teacher Don said that he didn't use ats-34 anymore because he had severe problems getting his signature mirror polish on it. It seems to sag in final buff. This may not be a problem if you satin finish or hand rub.

Just my second hand 2 cents.

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I love my country! I just don't trust my government!

magnum .44 · Nov 6, 1999

thanks, i'll have to hand rub.

tom mayo · Nov 6, 1999

i have found ats34 to be the toughest steel i have ever used..bar none...noting that i always have paul bos heat treat it..that is a critcal step that i think a lot of people dont know nearly enough about and try to do it themselves....i have had people beat concrete with 3/16" stock flat ground machetes that i have made....i make all my combat and camp type knives from it. and that is at high (60) rockwell. there are better steels for hunting (cpm v steels) uses, but for an all around tough knife that holds a fairly good edge...i think it is great....one thing that i dont like about it, is that the edge rolls over fairly easily. you cant have everything....that is a fact of life.

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http://www.mayoknives.com

magnum .44 · Nov 6, 1999

wow, thanks tom. i'm gonna lend it to my neighbor when i'm finished to see if it is a good skinner. do you think it'll have a problem with bones.

JoHnYKwSt · Nov 6, 1999

Magnum,

You may want to look into BG-42. Similar properties to ATS-34 except better in every way, yes I did say every way. It takes a better finish too. Price is higher, however.

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Johnny
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Jerry Hossom · Nov 6, 1999

Finally, I'm glad to hear some nice things said about my favorite steel. Some of the textbook types have been beating me up on this lately. I have to second the kudu's for Paul Bos. He's the secret behind good ATS-34. When someone asks me what steel I use, I tell them it's ATS-34-Heat-Treated-By-Paul-Bos. And then explain why that's different from ordinary ATS-34.

I've had good luck polishing it, using dark green chrome on a hard buff, then scratchless pink (K&G) on a loose buff, both at 3600rpm. I confess, that's not too hard after taking the surface down to a Trizact 6 micron belt. After that, the polish is easy. I did have some problem with AST-34 I got from Admiral Steel. It is shear plate, and seems to have stress lines in it. When polished it looks a lot like orange peel. The pink is pretty good about cleaning it up, but it never is as clean as normal hot-rolled strips. I still use a lot of Admiral steel because their prices are good, but only on tactical which are brushed or coated.

I do have a problem with a brushed finishes on hunters. It tends to accumulate fat when skinning, causing the blade to drag and seem dull. If you clean it, it's as good as new, but you'd swear the blade is dull. I had a customer send a knife back saying it only got halfway through and elk. He was ticked, so I sent his money back. When I cleaned up the blade, it still shaved, and shaved well. I called him and told him that. He called me a liar and hung up. I now try to avoid brushed finishes in hunters, but some customers like it.

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Jerry Hossom
knifemaker
www.hossom.com

tom mayo · Nov 6, 1999

thatll teach you to tell such tall tales.. yes fat is a problem...especially thick fat. cheesecloth works well as a wipedown to prevent this problem...all the steel ive ever gotten from admiral has had bark on it that looked like tree bark!!!!!!uggh..no more from them....you will have NO problems with bones....i know guys who pound my ats knives thru the breast bone with a wood mallet.

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http://www.mayoknives.com

Jerry Hossom · Nov 6, 1999

Gee Tom, my knives just glide through a breast bone like a hot knife through butter. What's the mallet used for...?

Sorry, I couldn't help myself

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Jerry Hossom
knifemaker
www.hossom.com

[This message has been edited by GaKnife (edited 06 November 1999).]

Matt Harildstad · Nov 6, 1999

I'm an ATS34 fan myself. I have the Hitachi heat treat recommendations posted on my website. I don't use Paul Bos. Bryan Lyttle does my heattreat in high temperature salt. Theres more than one way to skin most knifemaking cats.

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Matt Harildstad
Knifemaker
www.planet.eon.net/~matth
matth@planet.eon.net

magnum .44 · Nov 8, 1999

gaknife, i don't buy from admiral anymore, first off, it takes them over a week to get it here, and the stuff stinks. i like sheffield's steel, and price. trust me never put a brushed finish on hunters, i think you learned that one the hard way.
tom, once again thanks for the advice, i wa a little weary of stainless steels for camp knives, but thanks for showing me the light. i send my knives to rob simonich, he is a true master of heat treating. i sent a 440c blade to him, and i use it for everything, but it's never chipped, and i've never hand an edge roll over. thanks for the advice guys, and maybe i'll try a little bg-42.

Jerry Hossom · Nov 7, 1999

Whoa,

I'm not a great fan of Admiral Steel, believe me. But all ATS-34 is made by Hitachi, it's their tradename, so what Admiral sells is Hitachi steel (I even asked to make sure). Even so I agree it is not clean. Their thinner stock is cold-rolled which is nice; the surface is very smooth, but it really doesn't polish well. I buy most of my ATS-34 from Koval's. Theirs is oversize and I like the extra thickness to play with. Most of the major knifemaking suppliers are really pretty good. I've only ever had problems with the unknown players.

I read Simonich's heat treat page and think it's a great write-up. In fact his whole site is a great read. His treatment schedule is a lot like Bos' except it's unclear on one point that may be important. Paul cryogenically quenches before drawing the temper. I know that relieves additional stresses because the blades will warp again (my very fine tapered tangs do anyway) during that step. He has to straighten my blades twice before he tempers them. For reasons I probably don't understand that makes sense to me and I've seen a difference between his steel and other heat treaters who cryo after tempering.

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Jerry Hossom
knifemaker
www.hossom.com

[This message has been edited by GaKnife (edited 07 November 1999).]

magnum .44 · Nov 7, 1999

just e-mail him if you have any questions, hge heat treats all the blades he has, and ships them out next day, so the whole process, takes 2-3 weeks, not bad. and he charges very little. i didn't know all ats-34 was made by hitachi, but admiral treats their's differently, plus they overcharged me "by mistake" on a bar of 440c, wasn't to happy about that.