Can't Find Steel

M

magicpanther

Joined
Oct 4, 2016
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33
I have no skills to forge a knife so i'm going to try stock removal. I want to make a Kukri type knife and i need 1095 High Carbon 3/8" thick steel but i cannot find it anywhere in the right width. I was going to order from New Jersey Steel Baron because they have other sizes i need and have an easy to use website but it only goes to 1 1/2" thick when i need 2". Then i went to Admiral Steel but was quoted $250... So does anyone know where to get 3/8" 1095 in a 2" width?
 
Call or email NJSB. They cut from sheet and can probably cut whatever you need.

W-2 in your size is $70 for four feet. It is very similar to 1095.

80CrV is $60 for 48" in your size. It makes excellent knives.
 
I hope you have a grinder to work with. If not that will be a very large amount of hand filing. Still you could end up with a very good knife.
Frank
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Call or email NJSB. They cut from sheet and can probably cut whatever you need.

W-2 in your size is $70 for four feet. It is very similar to 1095.

80CrV is $60 for 48" in your size. It makes excellent knives.
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I emailed them and they said they only go to 1 1/2". Thanks for posting those alternatives i'll keep them in mind but i really like 1095 steel. I never made a knife but have had many in 1095. It's strange how they have all these other bars in that size but no 1095, i thought it was a very popular. They have 1075 in my size, how's that stuff hold up to 1095?
 
For a chopper 1095 isn't the best choice. Many are made with a steel like 5160 or 9260. A 1084 is also a good choice.
 
1095 is a nice steel but a bit more tricky to heat treat for a new knife maker. Hard to beat 5170 for this type of knife and it's easy to heat treat.
 
80crv2 has got my vote, I got a 2 x 3/8 x 48" chunk from Aldo myself and made a kukri from it last month. Nice stuff. I think it's a better choice for a kuk than 1095, myself.
 
What makes 1095 bad for a Kukri? I was going to use the left over steel to also make a survival knife. Isn't 1095 the go to bushcraft steel?

I guess nobody makes 2" 1095 so i'll try something else out. I am going to order some other sizes of 1095 from New Jersey Steel Baron to make some bushcrafters as practice before i make the bigger knives, so i'd like to order my Kukri steel there also to save on shipping costs. Would you guys recommend 1075, W-2, or 80CrV for both a Kukri and a survival style knife?
 
I would pick 80CrV2 for all rugged use knife styles. 5160 or 9260 would be my second choice.

IIRC, 5160 was the go-to steel for kukri for decades, with 80CrV2 being the newer choice of western smiths.

1095 used to be the only readily available steel for bladesmiths. It was what was used. 5160 became another popular steel for hobby makers. Both could be forund easily. Today, we have a salad bar filled with great steels to choose from. 5160 is still a very good beginner steel because it is cheap and easy to HT. 1095 has fallen off because there are better steels in the same price range, and the HT is not properly doable by most backyard smiths.

I don't know why 1095 has such an attraction to new makers. It is a bit tricky to get all of its hardness out of, and isn't a particularly great steel (beyond hardness). 5160, 80CrV2, O-1, 52100, W2, etc, are all probably better choices.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I don't know why 1095 has such an attraction to new makers. It is a bit tricky to get all of its hardness out of, and isn't a particularly great steel (beyond hardness). 5160, 80CrV2, O-1, 52100, W2, etc, are all probably better choices.
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I keep asking knifemakers the same question when they request 1095. Almost all of them say they did not know heat treating was more difficult. Most say they heat treat by heating to non magnetic (not hotter) and quench in used motor oil.

I'm not kidding.

Chuck
 
I forgot to mention, almost all of them say they got their information from YouTube and they do not read BladeForums. More and more I think knifemaking videos on YouTube do more harm than good.

Why not start a sticky thread "Why 1095 is junk steel"?

Chuck
 
I know it's hard to heat treat. So I was planning on sending it to Peters Heat Treat to have it done for me.
 
With some of the "proprietary" heat treatment recipes I see from production companies using 1095 at hardness levels in the mid 50 Rc range, it may be safe to say that new makers who watch Youtube are not the only ones with "misconceptions" about 1095. ;)
 
Another reason i chose 1095 is because i will be selling my knives so i want them to be in a well known steel. I never heard of W-2 or 80CrV before and i'm worried my customers wouldn't have either, and be unsure if it's quality steel. I have heard of 5160 and think it would be great for what i want but no one has it in my needed size unfortunately either. My main audience will be bushcrafters, where almost every knife is 1095, so that's my dilemma.
 
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