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Rossco1

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Jan 5, 2016
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How is everyone doing? I have just stepped into the world of bladesmith and I have a million questions I could ask just like everyone else when the first stepped into it. I am going to start small and slow with just grinding the metal into the finished product and get into forging until a few months. Would someone mind recommending which stainless steel to use... and if u want to explain why even better but u don't have to? Thanks for the time and help. Glad to have something like blade forums.
 
Welcome Rossco1,
One of my all time Favorites is good ole 440C for learning how to mangle steel & wood. :) Inexpensive, Readily available and any place that heat treats blades for the cutlery industry can Heat Treat it. I recommend an RC target of 58-59 for your first ones, Great corrosion resistance and decent edge holding.

440C is kinda the Grand Daddy of your ATS-34, CPM-154 CM-154 etc.
I still use it for some of my hunter's and Culinary blades. Read the stickies at the top of the sub forums and feel free to PM me if you have any other questions or add them here and others will give you their suggestions.

I'm a stock removal maker because I prefer to use modern Stainless steels for the most part. Others enjoy carbon steels and hand forging.
There is really no wrong way to make a knife as long as the end results shine, hold an edge and do their intended purpose. :)
 
440C is a very underrrated steel. For a while, before there was a lot more competition in this field "just look how many companies sell steel now!" The quality of it seriously dropped. But now, the reliability of steel has gone up, though the stigma against 440C is still there.
 
440C Stainless Steel certainly is underrated in my opinion also. I have made and own many sporting knives made from 440C which perform well and look good. I mainly grind CPM 154 now but always have 440C on hand for knives. Many of my customers ask for it and swear by it. It can be purchased in precision ground finish for about the same price as other stainless steels and so is good for new knife makers to work with. Larry Lehman

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Just to add a bit more info:

440-C is a good starter workhorse stainless steel. It is cheap, easy to work, and the HT is straightforward for any person with HT experience.

AEB-L is great for super sharp slicers. It is hypo-eutectoid with sufficient chromium to make it stainless. That way there are no large carbides to limit how sharp the edge can get. The razor blades in your shaving razor are AEB-L. It comes thin, is easy to HT if the right parameters are followed, and is low priced.

ATS-34/ 154CM/ CPM-154 are all versions of the same basic stainless steel. These are a step up from 440C and are low cost. As in the above, HT is fairly straight forward.

CPM-S35VN - My favorite stainless steel. A bit more costly, but still reasonable per blade. It gets hard and is TOUGH. It takes a good sharp edge and keeps it well. It works on most any knife from a hunter/skinner to a santoku.

There are dozens of other good stainless steels, which you will find often suggested in the discussions here. Many have names like CTS-XHP, 12C27, etc. I didn't list these because I don't use them, not because they aren't good.
 
If the OP won't respond, I will! The info you guys gave was one part of what I have been searching for. My step dad is a long time member of this forum and he passed his love for knives to me over the years, and I recently decided it was finally time to take the first step and build a setup to start making them. I am mainly interested in stock removal for now, down the road a ways I'll hopefully have the time to start forging them. I have done some research on how to build my own belt grinder, but can't find a whole lot of detailed information. Any tips for the would be knife maker?
 
AnthonyG said:
If the OP won't respond, I will! The info you guys gave was one part of what I have been searching for. My step dad is a long time member of this forum and he passed his love for knives to me over the years, and I recently decided it was finally time to take the first step and build a setup to start making them. I am mainly interested in stock removal for now, down the road a ways I'll hopefully have the time to start forging them. I have done some research on how to build my own belt grinder, but can't find a whole lot of detailed information. Any tips for the would be knife maker?
Click to expand...

Search for the No weld grinder and you will get pics and info galore. I bought my first grinder all ready to go. I did this so I didn't spend time trying to build and tune a machine as I wanted to just get grinding. However, The No Weld Grinder is much more adaptable to the multitude of tools and tool rests out there. I think it's the most modular of the group and frankly, probably works nearly as good as my $2500 setup. I just added a "Grinder in a box" to the stable and will be next adding a grinder from Oregon Blade Maker. His units are essentially ready to go minus the motor and controller for $500 which is a pretty dang good deal.

Some will tell you to hand grind your first knives. I have to disagree, even though I'm a newbie as well. A variable speed grinder will work for you now as a neophyte and for the rest of your blade making career/hobby. Even a cheap motor from HF with a three pulley setup will last nearly forever. I say this because if you're currently a student, married person with kids, or like many of my Mormon friends, married, working a full time job and lots and lots of kids, your spare time may be very precious. A "real" grinder will allow you to get tasks done in a fraction of the time and maybe even to a higher quality.

I've spent years with hand tools and am just not that great at filing. Better than some, but not good enough for work that needs to be sold.
 
I've seen a little bit about the no weld grinder in my searching, good to see it got a recommendation. Would anyone recommend any literature or videos to watch to learn the basics to the grinding process (angle, pressure, etc)?
 
Youtube for all the free videos that makers have been kind enough to post. There's hours and hours of them. Body posture and how you've addressed the belt grinder make a huge difference. Watch the vids and then start doing. The sooner the better as the difference from what you've watched to how it actually works is vast. You have to train your body to the new movements. At first it'll be awkward, but the next thing you know it'll come natural. Just like any sports you have to perform.

Once you've decided on a grinder, next is belt selection which can be super confusing. However, do a search here and on Google, where once again, the other makers have shared their preferences and experiences.

I started on AO J flex belts (aluminum oxide, very pliant) and now won't use them at all for any of the steel work. I've since moved to only Norton engineered ceramic and AO for any of the grinding on the blade. The AO j flex's are now ONLY for handle material.

I can go into more detail about what works for me, but I'm still very new and from what I've seen, I grind a bit different than others. I also only deal with CPM 154 right now which is super hard on any of the non engineered belts. How hard? I can maybe get a good clean rough bevel done on a 7" overall blade (4" edge) but the other side won't turn out properly at all as the belt just won't cut anymore. Once they stop cutting they start burning, and if this is done on a already hardened blade, you risk removing the temper and having to start over.

My best advice is to just read and watch. Everything you need to start is on the net for free. It'll just take some time.
 
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