Cutting or Slicing Steels

flatgrinder

flatgrinder

Joined
Dec 20, 2005
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I was recently talking to a customer and he asked which steels made cutters or slicers. He kinda caught me off guard, as I've never heard this question before, but I told him that from my experience O1 is a cutter, and D2 is a slicer.

I guess I based my "theory" on the ABS Cutting Comp, anything they use in the competition would probably be considered a "cutter" eg. O1, 5160, etc. Whereas D2, ATS-34, etc. would be considered good steels for hunting knives and thus "slicers?"

What are your opinions? If you were to categorize steels into each category, what would you say? :confused:
 
By 'cutter' do you mean impact like a machete ? Then a lower carbon steel would be better ,5160, L6 ,1080 etc. For a slicer higher carbon would be better ,1095, O-1, A-2 etc. For stainless a 440B makes a good chopper while higher carbon stainless better for slicers.
 
I'm not sure about the technical definitions, it's just what the guy asked me.

Can you chop through a 2x4 with CPM M4 better than O1? Won't it chip? The reason I think O1 makes a good cutter is that both Reggie Barker and Adam Des Roziers used it with great success and 5160 was what Lin Rhea won with last year.
 
CPM m4 won several cutting comp last year and doesnt chip out at all. Notably Gayle Bradley won the 2006 guild show competition. Warren Odborne and was using one at the same show. Osborne said "you can take the edge down to 17 or 18 thousandths of an inch before sharpening" and "It will preform well at 58-62.5 on the RC scale""at 58 it will take a bend and wont break. At a seamingly high hardness of 62.5 RC. M4 is not brittle and will not chip out."
 
I would like to know more about this "CPM m4
"

Is it just a steel sold to knife makers, or is it found around other places?

Is it used in anything I would know of?
Or is it only found in knife-steel selling sites?
 
I have heard the comment from at least one experienced smith that said that W2 my be the ultimate carbon steel for forging knives. I have heard other guys comment that they would love to use it if they could find it on a regular basis. I like it a lot so far. Very forgiving like 1080 or 5160 and it gets sharp like a mofo. I guess the probelm for a good while has been availability for anyone other than the lone custom maker and even we have had a ton of trouble finding it until recently when guys like Don Hanson starting tracking down "surplus" stock. It appears to combine mostof the "chopping" toughness of the 5160's with the cuting ability of the higher carbon steels. I have heard of at least one smith who has recently used a blade made from Don's W2 in competition. We may see more or so I would hope.
 
CPM M4 is crucible process M4 tool steel. It's used for machine tools, slitter knives, rotors for plastic recycling, spade drill bits and some high end wood working tools. The down side from what I hear is that it eats through your belts, but at the same time they say its easy to sharpen. Kinda seems to contradict itself. Usually low grindability doesnt equate to "easy to sharpen". But I have cut with it and wicked sharp doesnt even come close to telling the story. I want to make a knife up out of it, but need to order some new belts first.
 
Big Jim....Ok,
But I guess Im really asking, where could I dig some up free or cheap to fool with and learn on?
 
Alan Molstad said:
Big Jim....Ok,
But I guess Im really asking, where could I dig some up free or cheap to fool with and learn on?
Click to expand...

Hehe, I have to go by my local steel guy and see if he has been able to dig some up, He said he should be able to as it was a crucible product but wasnt shure how they sold it. If he laid hands on some I will ask where he aquired it and spread the word. If you have any places that carry a large selction of Crucible Materials steel that would be a good place to start. A slitter blade might be had if you know anyone in the paper industry. Soon as I get a good lead, I'll be shure to share. :D Seems like the use of it is somewhat new. It always boggles me when we get a "new knife steel" that has been in use in other industries for so long lol. Makes me wonder if there are inferior producers of M4 that didnt make for shuch good knife steel and crucibles clean consistent version really brings out it characteristics?
 
Right now I got a nice supply of 52100 ball bearings to keep me busy.
But Im not married to 52100, and I would like to mix things up with other steels too from time to time.

This M4 is new to me, and sounds like it could give me a blade that I would trust on my belt.
However, Im one cheap dude....

I like "free"...
yes, I like to spend "totally free" on my blade steels while I learn to forge...

So down the line, if I ever make a knife blade out of M4 to test against my 52100, it will be because I learned what else in my hometown is made of M4, and gets tossed out into their scrap pile where I can find it,,,,,,
 
Hehe, I hear you there. I havent found any good free source of steel around me that I can get an actual steel type on. Alaska at this point lacks any real industrial sector that involves cutting although maybe the Goldmines have some things laying around. They are pretty big operations and I dont know if they would part even with old parts. I am still learning my grinds and finishing techniques so I wont be diving into any CPM steels for a bit. But I really want to try this one out and if I like it, get some later on. When I cut with it, it was outright impressive. For now I have some 1095 holding me over.
 
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