First stainless?

Chiro75

Chiro75

Joined
Feb 4, 1999
Messages
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I'm sure there will be many opinions on this, but I've had a few requests for stainless steel (usually S30V, of course). I've worked exclusively in 10xx steels, so what would be a good choice for moving into the stainless realm? Granted, different steels excel at different things, but I'm still stuck in the belief that knives are made to cut things and that's about it (no heavy choppers, prybars, etc coming from my shop). I have no ability to HT stainless in my shop, either, so for the cost of the steel + sending it out for HT, is it even worth it or should I start saving for a heat treat oven first? It'd be nice to offer some different options, but between all the shipping and HT costs I have a feeling it would overprice my knives if I wasn't doing the HT myself.

Also, I would want something pretty simple to grind that takes at least a decent finish (no interest in high polishing or buffing, but a nice satin finish would be what I'm after). I know 440C is good stuff, but it just doesn't make anyone jump for joy. A lot of people will look for S30V, but it's brutal to grind and finish, and HT is a challenge, no? I've personally never been a huge fan of ATS-34 myself, but is that a good in-between choice?
 
get a little bit of each of them :) seriously though try out some different stainless blades for yourself, work with the different steels and then you can find a favortie, so far i've worked with ATS-34, 154-CM, 440C, and BG-42, and i have a lot more to play with but it shows me how different they are, instead of just going by what the specs say.

as for HT its kind of expensive and time consuming to send em out to BOS, but he does the as good a jobas you could ever want. in the mean time while you're screwing around you can send to fireballheattreating.com he'll HT you blades the day he gets them and send them out later that day... unless of course you want them cryoed first, then its a two day process and his prices are really good.

good luck with the stainless man. :D
 
If you can work in batches of 20 or more Paul Boss is actually really cheap. Excluding shipping it comes out to $3.50 a blade, and with the one rate postal boxes shipping isn't even that bad.

WS
 
Since Roger no longer heat treats, I'm going to have to find a new heat treater for stainless myself. I've used Texas Knifemaker's supply and they do a decent job, but I think I'm gonna either wind up getting a heat treat oven or waiting till I get a batch up and send them to Paul.

The best stainless I've used is S30V, that said the only other stainless I've use is ATS-34 which is a very good steel.

Grinding and finish wise, S30V is a bear to hand rub after heat treat, but before and grinding is no more difficult to me than ATS-34 and 52100. That said they are all a little harder to grind and finish than the 10xx steels. About the easyist steel I've ever ground or finished was 1084, it cut like butter. About the best finish I've gotten on S30V is a nice 600 grit finish after my arms felt like they were going to fall off. That said I've got a customer that bought a S30V knife about a year ago and is just now wanting it sharpened. It holds a fenominal edge, though you need a GOOD stone to sharpen.

I've heard that Crucible is comeing out with a CPM version of 154CM/ATS-34, if it's out that would probably be a good compromise.
 
Thanks for the info. That Bos flame/name stamp... does he do that on the knives that come into the shop, or do you purchase that stamp from him to do yourself if you want to? I would never do batches that large. I make a knife, finish it, sell it, buy some stuff, make a knife, finish it sell it, buy some stuff, etc. Right now I have three unfinished blades sitting at home and it's like "get these suckers done and make some $$$!" :D
 
I am finishing up an ATS-34 blade now. It was HT'ed by Lee Oates, the Texas Suply guy. He did a good job. I have not found ATS to be much different that the 1095 I usually use, a little harder to grind perhaps. It takes a good finish and I like how sharp it gets and how long it stays sharp. I have some 440C I plan to use3 next, and we'll see how that goes.

Dave
 
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