How can one get H1 steel?

[cotdt]

I would love to work with H1 steel. Make a knife, make a razor. Where can we get some?

 

[Dan Seaver]

I talked with Aldo Bruno a week or so ago about H1 (ultra clean W1). He either has it in stock or has a source for some. I need to call him tomorrow about something so I'll ask him for you if he has any or when he will have some.

If your looking for the Japanese H1 I can't help you.

 

[Ed Schempp]

H-1 is and austenetic steel much closer to 300 series stainless steel. There might be some confusion with the different systems of definition from culture to culture...Take care...Ed

 

[cotdt]

H-1 is and austenetic steel much closer to 300 series stainless steel. There might be some confusion with the different systems of definition from culture to culture...Take care...Ed

I was referring to the steel thatSpyderco uses:

H-1 is a Japanese steel so the "H" designations for a USA steel would not correlate.

We've done extensive testing with H-1 for the past year plus. We were disappointd that Benchmade beat us to the market with H-1, but I have to give them credit for doing their homework. The steel is a break through in corrosion resistance. It is another "nitrogen added" steel like CPM-S30V, X15Tn and Infi. It is a precipitation hardening steel. Spyderco has at least one model (Delica) coming out this year made with H-1.

In "Q-Fog" testing, H-1 ranked with Cobalt based materials such as Talonite, Dendritic cobalt and stellite 6K. There was NO rust. Much better than even 440C.

Edge testing indicates cutting ability comparable to AUS-6 / AUS-8. Edge retention was not as good as Talontite or Dendritic Cobalt but was certainly acceptable for a good working knife. Cost is much less than Cobalt based materials.

I can't speak for Benchmade's design or sheath (wouldn't be proper), but I believe the design is based on Allen's and he is a very good designer.

sal

 

[Jon Walker]

Have you checked out N680? It is super corrosion resistant and is another nitrogen based steel like H1. Alpha Knife Supply carries it and I got a piece form them Chuck told me that they tried to get H1 from Japan for years but they wouldn't export it in sheet.

I have ground a knife from n680 and I found it to grind really easy for it being a hyper stainless steel. It is more corrosion resistant then 416 and 303 stainless steels and gets much harder It is cool stuff!

That is a picture of a salt spray test. Here is some more info about it...
http://www.alphaknifesupply.com/zdata-bladesteelS-N680.htm

if you wanna give this steel a shot here is their current inventory http://www.alphaknifesupply.com/bladesteel.htm#BS-N680

 

[cotdt]

Cool N680 looks perfect! It looks like a Nitrogen analog of 440A, so with higher austenizing temperatures and oil+cryo should reach the standard knife hardnesses (~59 rc).

Thank you very much for the heads up. N680 looks very promising.

 

[Jon Walker]

It won't get to 59 but Paul Bos did get it to 55-56 when we had him HT some test pieces when we researched the steel before listing it for sale.