help me pick a stainless

T

Travis Fry

Joined
Jun 11, 2010
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I'm planning to have a batch of blades waterjet cut, and I'm trying to narrow down which stainless to use. I'll also get some cut in carbon, 1084 if I can get it in larger pieces or 1095 if I can't, though I'm also interested in feedback about that. I checked Aldo's website, and the price difference between all of the stainless steels he offers is, for my purposes, immaterial. So, here is the question: for a hunter of the same pattern as the one pictured below, what stainless would you choose? Remember, cost isn't really significant, but performance is. To put it another way, if you could choose any stainless in 5/32" for and EDC/hunting knife, what would it be? I can heat treat anything comfortably in my digitally controlled kiln.

Overall this knife is 7 1/4 inches, if that makes a difference.

roundone-8.jpg
 
I know nothing about stainless... but that knife is gorgeous!!! Good luck in the future!!!
 
My choices;
1. AEB-L (which Aldo don't have and is hard to find anywhere)
2. S35VN
3. CPM 154
4. CPM D-2
 
Cpm 154 is amazing stuff but even better is elmax which is tougher, has better edge retention, and sharpens easier then s35vn. I got a chance to sharpen my buddies native 5 and his zt 550 in elmax love both but that elmax sharpens like cpm 154
. I cant wait to work with this stuff!
 
That's one very nice knife Travis !!! Go to M390 or tyhe Elmax. Both are super to work with and give excellent use results. Get the M390 heat treated to 61R and the Elnax 60. Frank
 
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hunter short blade, high wear s90v all the way.

simple guideline for me if it chops its 3v if it doesnt its s90v.
 
I have worked with a great number of different steels. I still fall back to cpm154. I would like to think I have a good amount of real world experience to say that too.
 
I ain;t a knife make, but I am a knife owner and user and I have quite a few knives and a few are CMP 154 and it works for me in a stainless steel. I can sharpen it fairly easy. it stay sharp, I can make it shave, if dulls a tad it will strop right back to scary. and so far no rust/ some of these more wear resistent steel are great but a pain to re sharpen when you need to.
 
I have worked with some crazy cool stainless steels, even a bunch of carbon. Heck I have a rex121 beta 5 sitting on my bench right now.

I abuse the crap out of my knives, one because I like to test them, two because I can always make another one.

Cpm154 holds up better without chipping put so bad. I have done 15-20 knives in s35, 30-40 in s90v, they just want to chip out too much.

3v is not considered stainless, but it doesn't rust too bad. It's a toss up with 3v and 154. The humidity here is horrible! So I choose steel that you don't have to maintain so much that still holds a great edge without chipping
 
Thanks for all of the feedback guys. It looks like the consensus is S35VN or CPM 154CM. I've used CPM 154CM and it's cognates quite a bit, but don't mind using something else if there is a really good reason to do so. Anyone care to chime in on the pros and cons? I know everything is a compromise some way or another, but I'm interested in the thoughts of the pros.
 
Hey there, just happened upon this thread as it was on my "recent threads" page and had to throw in another vote for Elmax. As a lover of knives and consumer of quality steel, I've really taken a liking to this stuff as far as stainless steels go. It has great edge retention, good toughness (I've only deformed it, never chipped it), and it gets ridiculously sharp! From what I've seen here, it polishes pretty nicely too...I think it would be perfect for EDC/hunting knife design :thumbup:

BTW - I really like that design you posted!

Just my $.02 :)
 
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