Forging of stainless steel.....

[swissdagger]

First of all, I am not a bladesmith, "just" a collector
I made some thinking about the different methods to make knives.
Now I wondered about forging of stainless steel.
Is there any advantage comparing to stock removal? I think it is still more common to use stock removal on stainless steel than forging.
Really would like to hear some opinions of bladesmiths who tried it!
THANKS.

 

[Epsilon]

Sean McWilliams has experience forging stainless steels. I am unsure of his methods though, so you'd have to talk with him. I believe he does drop forging. Not sure.

Nothing says you cannot forge stainless. Hand forging however is as much science as it is art, so consider forging methods as part of the equation. Stainless is typically more complicated (not to be confused with "better") than say 10xx steels and forging it will also present its own challenges. I have forged 416, but nothing else. 416 would be unsuitable for knives. That piece was jewelry for my girlfriend.

If you are really into the idea, you should pick a steel and study the hell out of it. Stainless or not. Get to understand its properties and its reactions at various temperatures and how it should be worked and heat treated. For instance, some steels get cranky if forged below a certain temperature. Some steels do the opposite.

Hope that helps.

-Jason

 

[NickWheeler]

Forging stainless is possible, but (IMHO) does not benefit the end product, so there's no reason to do it.

I have done it, but only because I didnt' have wide enough barstock to grind the blades out. I just forged a large kitchen knife out of ATS-34...it's hard to move in comparison to a simple alloy like the 10XX series, and it has a narrower forging temperature range.

The biggest problem seeming to be that if you hit it too cold it will fracture. It doesn't seem to want to move a lot at a time either...I put a piece in the press and it sheared in several places.

This is my experience. I found very little info on forging stainless, so I just took the knowledge I had of its properties and went after it. I'm sure there are more qualified people to answer this query. Another reason I did it was because I'd always heard everyone say NOT to do it, but most all of those folks had never actually tried it. I like to mix theoretical knowledge with applied knowledge...it makes me a lot more confident.

Thanks for being curious, that's something I like to see in a collector!

Nick

 

[RARanney]

I believe Ed Fowler used to forge 440C. He's around here every so often, or you might search to see if he's commented on it all ready.

 

[Arthur Washburn]

Having worked for Devin Thomas as his production manager I have seen him forge stainless on a very regular basis. It is considerably harder to forge stainless. It took 4 to 6 times longer to forge out a stainless billet compared to a carbon billet. The temps are critical as mentioned above and the forging window is much shorter than with carbon. Over heating can create a real problem, annealing also presents some real problems and you normally need a very specific cycle with ramps to achieve a good end result. The best advice has already been give, pick a steal and study up on it and expect to practice a lot before you will become proficient at working in your chosen medium.