Forging out some thick 15n20

JTknives

JTknives

Joined
Jun 11, 2006
Messages
8,651
I have a customer that wants a 15n20 bowie. So I forged out a little extra. I’m thinking I will forge it out and surface grind it into barstock. I have gotten requests for thicker stuff and this is an experiment to see how practical it is. Wondering how much interest there is in thicker 15n20.

All welded up and ready for a handle
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Started at over 9lbs
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Made a good size bar the will be chopped up and drawn out and surface ground.
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Video of the first weld/draw
 
Cool! I have thought about welding up some 15N20 to use as san mai cladding for my last little piece of .200 thick 115W8. That would be one tough mother of a sandwich!
 
It’s funny becaus I have a rather large supply of 15n20 and this one billet gets me all giddy. I defiantly want to forge out a test blade.
 
The barefoot boy said:
That press is killer man. I need to try some 15n20 blades.
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Adlo has some .130 stock I won't order any more .125 1084 the 15n20 is just better for about the same price. The thin stock makes great kitchen knives. In my mind it hits all the high points for a simple carbon steel. I cut up a grapefruit with a new knife and didn't hardly get a patina .
 
15n20 is a very nice steel. Only issue is that it will semi air harden when forging. Will get hard enough that a file will barely touch it. And a used file will just skate off.
 
Is there any others out there that would want to play with a chunk of this. You won’t have to forge it, it will be annealed and surface ground. I can make the stock to any size you need. Not looking for any payment just feedback and your thoughts on this thicker 15n20. So all that being said this is not for new makers, it’s for a more experanced knife maker. We are considering forging more of this out and offering it up for sale pending a price and material evaluation. If there is enough interest I will end up building a rolling mill and rolling out larger volumes.
 
JTknives said:
15n20 is a very nice steel. Only issue is that it will semi air harden when forging. Will get hard enough that a file will barely touch it. And a used file will just skate off.
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I might try learning to forge weld with some of that I got from you. Maybe I can make a big 15n20 bowie as well .

Are you going to have anymore boxes of the thin stuff . I was going to order the ones you had for sale but I see they are gone.
 
skillgannon said:
I might try learning to forge weld with some of that I got from you. Maybe I can make a big 15n20 bowie as well .

Are you going to have anymore boxes of the thin stuff . I was going to order the ones you had for sale but I see they are gone.
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Email my wife, she takes care of all the 15n20 stuff now.
Her name is heater and she is much nicer to deal with then I am lol.
heather_nicolette@yahoo.com
 
If you start selling thicker stock, I'd be a buyer. I don't know if I'm "tester material" but 15n20 is all I use at this point, unless I'm making something that requires 3/16. I don't usually go any thicker than that.
I would like to see how it holds up as a chopper or camp nesmuk.
 
it would be nice to have access to .150" thick x 2-1/8" x 14" ...plus or minus .010 on the thickness
 
.1875 at 1.5" or 2". 2" would be your best bet, I bet that's what folks would want in making a big bowie or chopper. 1.5 for beefy camp knives.
 
JTknives said:
Is there any others out there that would want to play with a chunk of this. You won’t have to forge it, it will be annealed and surface ground. I can make the stock to any size you need. Not looking for any payment just feedback and your thoughts on this thicker 15n20. So all that being said this is not for new makers, it’s for a more experanced knife maker. We are considering forging more of this out and offering it up for sale pending a price and material evaluation. If there is enough interest I will end up building a rolling mill and rolling out larger volumes.
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I’ll try a piece if you want me to make a bowie or chopper. I’ll pay for material plus shipping.
 
I’d also be interested in the 3/16” stock Carlson described. Would be a perfect size for me. currently the thickest I can get 15n20 is 1/8” from Aldo. Would be nice to have a source for thicker stock for making san mai or more heavy duty blades.

I’ve been massing with 15n20 in thin stock for light choppers for a while. Getting to test it out against my heavier 1075 and 80crv2 choppers would be interesting.

I also have some Tekafu white #2, that steel also has a considerable amount of nickel in it as well as a little chromium. Would be very interesting to see how it matches up against 15n20.

Kevin
 
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JTknives said:
Is there any others out there that would want to play with a chunk of this. You won’t have to forge it, it will be annealed and surface ground. I can make the stock to any size you need. Not looking for any payment just feedback and your thoughts on this thicker 15n20. So all that being said this is not for new makers, it’s for a more experanced knife maker. We are considering forging more of this out and offering it up for sale pending a price and material evaluation. If there is enough interest I will end up building a rolling mill and rolling out larger volumes.
Click to expand...

Absolutely... I've been looking for thicker 15n20, and Aldo's shipping to Alaska is awfully steep.
 
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