Buying 1080

[Mooreblades]

I am looking into buying some 1080 steel for my next knife. I have been looking around for 1084 but everyone is out. Aldo won't get any until end of January.
For my last knife, I bought 1084 from USA, CR and annealed. Had no issues, cut, HT, quench, grind, buff and done.

Here is my question now, Admiral and AKS both have 1080 but both are HR and not-annealed. I am a beginning knife maker and have a home built forge with
no heat oven. This is why I haven't ventured into 1095 or SS. For a knife blade, does the steel have to be annealed before grinding and heat treated?
If so, what is the best way without a controlled heat oven?

Read a bunch on the forums about 1080/84 but not on this topic.

Thank you for your help!!

 

[Mooreblades]

Sorry, repost

 

[thijsco19]

So you want to know of you need to anneal the 1080 before you can work with it?
I'm not a knowledgeable knife maker but i have been looking for the same steel and i came across some info: No, you dont have to anneal it first to grind it. Not sure if it has to be annealed before heattread.
But the best thing is anneal it, that way it's easier to work with.

As far as I know you can do this very simple with your home built forge, just heat it up to non-magnetic and just a little bit more and let it air cool all the way down.


As I said before I'm not knowledgeable knife maker so not sure if its is all correct.

 

[i4Marc]

Alpha Knife Supply confirmed in another thread a while back that their 1080+ steel is the same thing as 80CrV2:

" 80CrV2 and 1080+ are the same steel.

When we first sold the steel in 2006 many knifemakers thought 80CrV2 was from China and would not buy it. We changed the name to 1080+ and it has sold well since.

If you look at the composition it is close to 1080 with chromium and vanadium added. It is also close to 52100 with a little less carbon and chromium and vanadium added. It could be call 52100 lite."


If you asked Aldo for 1080 he may have been out of it but I'm pretty sure he has 80CrV2. All reports from people working with it are very positive. Plus, I think it is annealed.

 

[Salolan]

Kelly Cupples also sells 1080 and is a good guy to deal with. Another option for you might be 15n20.

Chris

 

[GHEzell]

Another vote for Kelly Cupples.

 

[elementfe]

Don't be afraid of annealing this or similar steels in a forge- for a useful working anneal, simply heat to a medium orange and block off the openings in the forge, let it cool for as long as is convenient- all the way if possible.
I regularly do a working anneal (enough to be able to drill it) on 15n20, D2, and other hard to drill steels in my forge- not ideal, I know, but the oven I have right now takes forever to heat up.

 

[Mooreblades]

Thank you everyone for your help. I will look into Cupples. elementfe, I will try this on some scrap and see my results..thx!

 

[Alpha Knife Supply]

Admiral and AKS both have 1080 but both are HR and not-annealed.

All our blade steels are annealed. The exception is Stellite which is already hard. i4Marc is correct. 1080+ and 80CrV2 are the same steel.

Our 1080+ is spheroid annealed which means it is very soft. You can bend the steel in your hands.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Chuck

 

[Mooreblades]

All our blade steels are annealed.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Chuck

I want to thank AKS (Chuck) for responding on my inaccuracy. I took your advice and contacted AKS. The nice
lady that answered the phone answered all my questions and reverted me to AKS website for sizes and pricing.
Well done AKS, great customer service both on here and at your store!!