Far future kitchen knife question

mccandmatt

mccandmatt

Joined
Oct 29, 2013
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358
Im just thinking about making a kitchen knife in future, been doing some google-fu but the answer isn't exactly clear. What high carbon steel would give the best performance, and yet still be easy enough for a novice to work with? Or would most any of them work fine if maintained well?

I have some crappy Chicago Cutlery knives I want to eventually switch out for my own :D

Thanks,
Matt
 
I use O1, 52100, and 15N20 for kitchen knives. All require controlled heat treat. Send them out if you don't have the equipment to do it yourself.
 
1095 works well too. It gets a very fine grain. The hard to get Japanese steels such as Hitachi paper steels are highly recommended but I have not even tried to source them at this time.
 
I'm sure it's not the best, but I used 1084 for my first one. It seems to be holding up well and it keeps a good edge.

10442696484_6178029f2f_c.jpg
 
Erdbeereis said:
I'm sure it's not the best, but I used 1084 for my first one. It seems to be holding up well and it keeps a good edge.

10442696484_6178029f2f_c.jpg
Click to expand...

1084 makes a great knife. The fine edge needed in the kitchen is just better served with the steels listed above. Nothing wrong with 1084, it's just other steels will het a few % better if correctly heat treated.
 
It depends on your heat treating capabilities. If you work with a forge, 1084 would be most suitable.

If kiln, then 52100 or W2 are the popular big ones.
 
If you plan on heat treating them on your own and don't have a kiln or forge with proper temperature control, stick with 1084. It'll give you by far the best results and performance with a simple heat treatment setup.

If you plan on sending them out for heat treat or do have access to HT equipment, you can use whatever you'd like. Personally, I like 52100 best of the steels I've used. It's easy enough to acquire and the performance is fantastic. 15n20 and O1 are nice for paring/filet knives, as it comes in thin stock. I've also used some knives in the Hitachi steels in the kitchen and they are fantastic... but the cost to get it in the states is fairly prohibitive and I haven't yet bit the bullet.

I'd also love to try W2, but I haven't been able to find a source ever since Aldo pulled his. On that note, if anyone knows where I can get some W2 in small quantities till he gets more, I'd love some direction :)
 
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