Couple questions, best steel? What will take tempering/heat treating?

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OTF Fan

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Jul 14, 2000
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Hi all,
Short introduction. I've had interest in knives for as long as I can remember. I have a few, and also own a genuine Japanese katana. Recently sold a wakizashi blade on the 'Bay to fund some projects too.

I've never made a knife before, but I have this grand idea of making a fixed blade for myself. I like the idea behind being proud of what I may accomplish and own something I have made with my two hands.

My question is two part, first being: What is the best steel/metal out there to make a blade? Secondly, is there a particular steel (whether best available or not) that particularily takes to tempering well, to produce a hamon?

Thanks in advance,

Tim
 
OTF Fan said:
Hi all,
Short introduction. I've had interest in knives for as long as I can remember. I have a few, and also own a genuine Japanese katana. Recently sold a wakizashi blade on the 'Bay to fund some projects too.

I've never made a knife before, but I have this grand idea of making a fixed blade for myself. I like the idea behind being proud of what I may accomplish and own something I have made with my two hands.

My question is two part, first being: What is the best steel/metal out there to make a blade? Secondly, is there a particular steel (whether best available or not) that particularily takes to tempering well, to produce a hamon?

Thanks in advance,

Tim
Click to expand...
Hi Tim,
Search the archives on this one. I am sure you'll find pleanty to read.Fred
 
Thanks Fred. Sorry I had not done so at first. Will see what I can dig up.

Tim

Hmm, search feature comes to a dead page when I try to search. I've got some threads to skim through then. :eek: :D
 
'Best' will stir up a hornet's nest you don't want to get stung by.

That being said, there are a few things to work with there, so I'll give it a go, and start by simply saying your design is going to have a major impact on which steel to use. Then again, maybe I'm the only one that pairs steel to design, but I doubt it.

So, what style of knike do you want to make? Don't say Japanese, or I'll have to turn on my lecturing mode.

If you want to get a good hamon on something, you really should stick with a simple 10XX steel. This is also advantageous in that it will be a fairly easy steel to grind, stupid simple to forge, and after heat treating, you won't have to stink up the shop/ basement/ bedroom with vinegar trying to deal with scale...

There's a start.

Darryl
 
10XX series steels seem to be the most popular for hamons. I guess the lower the alloy content, the better it shows up. 1095 makes a good blade but has a very short transformation time (before pearlite starts to form) which makes it a tough choice for first time heat treaters. 1084 isn't bad, I think you've got about a 2 second window to get it quenched, and it doesn't require any fancy heat cycles or anything.
I think O1 is about the best steel you can find to start with. Its readily available in clean annealed barstock, and pretty cheap (www.toolanddie.com) . That makes it easy to cut, grinder, drill etc. Heat treating is pretty simple for it. You can run the basic procedure and get a good blade, but there's still lots of room for fine tuning as you gain experience. Its not a steel you'll grow out of. I've never tried to get a temper line with it, but several guys here do on a regular basis. Might ask Brian how he does it.
I'd also recommend you pick up a couple books, and read up here in shoptalk. I've learned a lot of stuff the hard way an I got to tell you, reading a little bit and having an idea what the hell your doing when you start makes things so much faster ;) There's alot of ways to accomplish something, but one of them is usually easier than the others.
 
Good to see a fellow Canuk here. I am a grinder but have done alot of my own heat treat, and I agree with Matt, 01 is a great steel to start with. Jeff Diotte is a great guy to get supplies from (www.stainlessdamacus.com)or call
519- 978-9387 I know he has a bunch of clean 01 . Better of calling him.


Cya
jimi
 
Wow, great info, thanks guys. Darryl, no, not a Japanese blade. Thinking more along lines of a drop point blade or similar? Just a hunting size blade, not bowie size and not a folder.

Jimi, I started off posting in community area for Canadian Connection. :D Been quiet there lately.

As you guys have mentioned, I should have a fair bit of reading etc.. before I take the plunge.

Matt, thanks for the link for the steel, I shall be checking that out too.

Tim
 
OTF Fan , I'm new as well , working on my 4th blade this weekend. I have used D2 and have had good luck with it.
Good luck and have fun . :)
 
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