Group buys of blade steel?

[Judcargile]

Or is buying big on personal orders the only path? I personally want to stock up because of this weak economy.

 

[SBuzek]

Unless you have a bunch of makers near you it is a logistics nightmare.
Who is going to receive the steel, separate it, repack and ship just doesn't make sense.
Buy as much steel as you can and stack it up. It doesn't eat and won't go bad.

 

[Lorien]

Unless you have a bunch of makers near you it is a logistics nightmare.
Who is going to receive the steel, separate it, repack and ship just doesn't make sense.
Buy as much steel as you can and stack it up. It doesn't eat and won't go bad.

I know a few guys who do that. They also get things like handle material, abrasives etc. They even have websites where you can order all that stuff online! They take a little profit off the top, but I don't mind that at all- they deserve the support! So much better than ordering tons of steel at a time from the foundry.

 

[J. Hoffman]

Talk to your favorite steel supplier and see what they are willing to do for quantity discounts. You may be surprised. They will likely give a better price if you are buying a few hundred pounds as opposed to a few bars.

 

[Alex Topfer]

A local(ish) shop here in Australia organises group buys. You might be able to work with a supplier over there to organise a similar thing?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Edmund Davidson picked one steel as his prefect steel. As I recall, it was BG-42. He bought a pallet load of it, and I don't know that he has ever finished using it. He got a great price and only had to pay one delivery fee. I heard that the truck bringing it was not too happy about going up to Goshen to deliver it.

The point is it is often a good investment to buy a significant amount of steel and use it for a long time. Besides saving on the price and shipping, you learn to use it to its best ability. Different batches and different suppliers mean variations in the alloying and in the rolling. Perfecting the HT on a single of batch steel means getting consistent results for many years. When you look at your investment in equipment, not to mention your time, $1000 in steel isn't a crazy thing to spend to get quality knives.

The math is that a 12"X2"X.25" piece of 1095 weighs about 1.7 pounds. That means it costs somewhere between $8 and $9 per pound depending on your supplier and the quantity the purchased. If you buy 100 pounds, that $/lb will drop appreciably. Purchasing in bulk directly from the source also lowers the cost. Contacting Niagra specialty metals, Crucible, Admiral will get a lower price than a knife supplier who sells in short bars.
I remember buying a batch of 21-foot-long bars of 5160 many years back from Admiral. It was almost half the knife catalogue price. Admiral agreed to cut them into 7-foot bars for delivery ease.