First steel purchase for a beginner.

[Renorattler]

As always, i like to start by thanking everyone for all of the knowledge and sharing that is brought to newbies like me via this forum. Thank you so much everyone!

Im getting ready to make my first steel purchase. Ive been reading evrything i can find, watching youtube, and trying to learn as much as i can. I have made workbench, and have been gathering tools and materials, now im getting ready for the steel.

Im going with 1084, mostly .125 inch. I am going to get a little bit of .250 or .187 as i enjoy overbuilt and bigger knives as well. I love my ZT folders, and want to take some of that and make it into some of my fixed blades. But that will be down the road. I am only buying that to save on the shipping later. And i have noticed that 1084 gets hard to find at times.

I will be starting with the .125 on neck knives, edc's, skinners, bushcraft, and the like. Simple efficient blades. My question is, will i benefit in any way in buying multiple 1" or 1.5" width bars? From what i can tell, it is a bit cheaper to buy some 4" or so and just cut out what i need from it. I have a hf portaband and an angle grinder.

Before i make the purchase, anything i am missing as a noob hobbyist?

Thanks!

 

[viral]

I bought like 16 foot and its served me well. It's better to buy more than you anticipate using because it will get used. I tend to use the straight parts of my steel so it's beneficial for me to get the 1.5 inch. I also like less cutting. Cutting Is a pain. It's nice having a straight edge when you start. Just keep reading threads and read the stickies about 5 times. Click lots of links. Good luck.

 

[Overmountain]

Kiss that angle grinder goodbye. Use it to lop off all-thread or something... It is wasteful and can be dangerous...


I always tend to go as wide as my budget or the supply will allow. Think about how many designs you see that are stuck with long straight lines because they had to be drawn inside a 1.5" border (assuming stock removal.) Wider steel means you can be more free with your designs. If you get steel like 1084 and it has a mill finish and was cut with a shear you are going to lose a 1/4" or so overall to deformation at the edge. And a lot of it is bowed slightly from the cutting process. A lot to get flat. Wider steel it isn't as big of an issue. Precision ground steel is nice to have if budget allows and can remedy that little issue.

And I do agree with buying more steel than you think you need. The steel is one of the cheapest (respectively) components of our knives. Especially if you are using a simple steel like 1084. And shipping is usually the killer on steel. Might as well get as much as budget allows.

Aldo ships fairly fast and his prices are more than fair. Most of all, someone knowledgeable will answer the phone if you call. IMO His website is a bit of a pain... Some stuff doesn't show up as out of stock until you are deep in the selection process, but it's worth it to buy from him. He usually includes a profile of the steel when it's shipped. Composition for that exact piece of steel etc. And (as of the last time I ordered anyway) he had Hitachi #2 Blue Paper steel... Its a little finicky for a starter steel, kinda like starting with 1095, but it is good stuff.

 

[Uhurungus]

Agree with the above poster. my first (and only order) was 12' of 1.5" width steel. I'll make it through this order well enough but i've found myself wishing i got 2" instead. i'm stuck to making much smaller knives that i wish i could at times. i'm even going to grab some 4" next time to make a stock removed hatchet. also saving on shipping is always good. i'm buying from aldo and live in oregon so shipping basically doubles my order cost. i can buy local but it's not 1084 (which is what i want as a noobie) and it's hot rolled stuff that's not appropriate for stock removal without some serious grinding and normalizing first.