Kelly's 1080 or Aldo's 1084?

J

jawilder

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Jun 27, 2006
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I am about to buy $100 worth of 3/16" x 1-1/2" 1080 series steel that is easy to heat treat.

My question is this: For $100 I can get 7 bars of 1080 fro Kelly Couples shipped and for the same price I can get 4 bars of 1084 from Aldo Bruno shipped.

I know that both Kelly and Aldo are top notch guys. My question is about the steel. Is the 1084 worth the extra?

Thanks,
Jason
 
Can you make and heat treat knives well enough to tell the differance? I am not trying to put you down or make you fell bad, Just trying to help you answer your question. If you are forging Kelly also has some very good 5160 in bars of a good forging size.
 
My first 1080 order I placed with Admiral. They suck. Will avoid doing business with them for several reasons I have detailed in several threads in the past. My first 1084 I got from Kelly, my second I got from Aldo. I have been buying all my 1084 from Aldo since then. Kelly is a nice guy, and I cannot say anything bad about him, but I have several hundred pounds of Aldo's finest in my basement at the moment, and will buy more from him at Ashokan this fall, I still have a couple of the pieces I got from Kelly left, I do not use them. They were too thin, the scale was thicker than I would have liked, and Aldo's 1084 forges beautifully, and with the little bit of Vanadium added to the melt, the grain size is beautiful. Even a rank beginner heat treating in a campfire would have a hard time screwing it up.

-Page
 
Both are top notch :thumbup: I love Aldo's 1084, I also like Kelly's 1065 very well...
 
I haven't purchased steel from Kelly, though I only hear good things.
I have purchased from Aldo, and will continue to do so. He's my go-to steel source.

I have a very basic workshop and get great results from Aldo's 1084FG.
The way I see it is:
1084>1080
1084FG>1084

Of course I have no real temp controls and I'm not after a hamon, just maximum hardness. That little extra alloy spice in Aldo's 1084 helps me get more consistent results. Your needs and priorities may vary.
 
As a knife user, not a maker, I really like the Aldo 1084. I just got a forged kiridashi from Scott Rouch, it's very nice. I own many, many knives. There is something about this steel that sets it apart from the 1095, 5160, 01, A2, 1080C, and another 1084 knife that I have. It just feels great, it's hard and tough, has a great look to the "grain".
Maybe Scott just worked some magic, but I'd be into getting other knives in this steel.
 
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