First timer

[Trebor87]

Hello I am new here and would like some basic information or at least pointed into the right direction. I want to start with flat bars right now to start out. What type would be the best for me to start with I keep gettting different information from. O1 tool steel, 1095 to anything you want? What are some websites where I will not get ripped off since I have no idea on what’s a good price or what’s a bad price. Any help would be appreciated thank you

 

[skillgannon]

http://newjerseysteelbaron.com/shop/ is great on the east coast and https://www.alphaknifesupply.com/shop/ is great out west. 1084, 80CRV2 and 15n20 are all recommended for you first knife if you are going to try to heat treat by yourself.

A lot of the info you will be looking for is in the stickies .

 

[scott kozub]

I just started about 6 months ago. I started with 1084 from alpha. Basic carbon is really easy to get hard and costs next to nothing. Keep in mind that the shipping drives up the price.

 

[Angus McGunnigle]

tons of great info here and I would also recommend any of the Wayne Goddard books.
I have found local fab shops very helpful for steel. Many of them are ran by enthusiastic “mad scientist” types and if you introduce yourself and tell them that you are just looking for small scrap and cutoffs to purchase for a new hobby, they will be helpful. That has been my experience at least. I went in with an attitude of “ I am just a guy in a garage trying to figure this out “ . One owner in particular has been very helpful and likes to see people being creative.

 

[DanF]

+1 for the stickies here. A lot of very knowledgeable knifemakers have put a lot of effort into a veritable encyclopaedic amount of information. Can't find it there, ask, most are very helpful here.

 

[Britt_Askew]

What type would be the best for me to start with I keep gettting different information from. O1 tool steel, 1095 to anything you want?

That depends if you are going to do the heat treating yourself or if you are going to send it out for heat treat. If you are going to send it out then yes anything you want is a good answer but if you are going to HT yourself you wont find many people here telling a beginner to use O1 or 1095 or anything you want. Maybe utube but not here.
1084, 80CRV2 are usually recommended to start with. easy to HT properly.