Knife steel on Ebay

L

Ltortorich

Formerly known as Rocketmann
Platinum Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2022
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Has anyone purchased knife steel on Ebay?
I was looking at some 80crv 2 and Some Ebay sellers came up.
Some are from known companies like Jantz but others I have never heard of.
I am inclined to not purchase from an unknown seller..
Has anyone had good or bad luck with getting knife steel off of ebay?
 
I buy all my steel from AKS and can definitely recommend them. They ship fast, prices are fair, and you get what you order. Not sure if I would trust eBay...
 
I tried once years ago. I sent it off to heat treater and came back soft. Turns out it wasn't the steel I thought.

Steel is one of the cheapest components in the knifemaking prices compared to abrasives and high end handle material.

Get from reputable seller. Some reputable sellers so sell on ebay too as one of their a storefronts
 
If its a known seller it shouldn't be a problem. I've bought handle slabs from Maker Material Supply's ebay store. Unkown seller I wouldn't take the chance. Amazon also has 80crv2 available and I've had decent luck with the 1095 from there (someone gave it to me for a Christmas present).
 
I usually use AKS or Aldo.
Just wondering about the stuff on ebay..
 
Ltortorich said:
I usually use AKS or Aldo.
Just wondering about the stuff on ebay..
Click to expand...

I compare it to my field, which is woods. There are certainly good deals to be had on ebay for material, but how confident are you can determine which are the good deals, which are sketchy, and which sellers are just ill informed? The premium you pay to get steel from AKS or wood from a reputable dealer is partly paying for trust. If you buy steel from AKS and its bad, AKS will almost certainly do what they can to fix it for you, as they have a valuable reputation to protect as well as a proven track record of being a honest, customer service oriented business.

If you buy steel from Mrsuprsteelusa.cn on ebay, and its bad what can you do? Theres minimal reputation to protect, minimal proven track record.

Im sure there is good steel on ebay for sale, but finding it and getting support if something goes wrong is a crap shoot, in something like knifemaking 90% of the value is really in your time, and to me the risk of wasting hours of time on unknown steel to save a few bucks is a risk i personally wouldnt take.
 
New Jersey Steel Baron is the only company I've used so far and I got what I paid for. Ironically, I searched amazon yesterday for AEB-L with no luck but I was nervous just looking and they'll give me a refund if I return. However, if I've made a knife out of it and it's soft, they won't. Ebay is too risky for me.
 
I get steel from Pop's AKS, NJSB, and others. I have also purchased some damascus and san-mai from Esty. I had no problem with it. As with any seller - check the reviews. Also, remember that all Esty isn't China, it is a US company. Many of the sellers, including some of the steel guys, are in the USA.
 
To save a few bucks, probably not worth it!
 
I’ve needed to machine a lot of cast iron Chicago Dura Bar (very thick stock, like 10”x4”x2” bricks) for a product line requiring surfaces about .0003” flat. But only once I did order a good bunch of right-sized cast iron bar from eBay. Once. I had no idea the source and assumed it might be dura bar. As soon as I surface ground it, all sorts of pitting and inclusions came up ruining my product and its finish. I’d go deeper and deeper and more acne kept coming up. Un-sellable... I called the seller (in NC) who admitted it was from India (or was it Pakistan) and of course no he wouldn’t take it back - since principally - it was in fact cast iron. Just crappy cast iron. I’ve bought some correct needed size of various low-carbon steels and brass or bronze off eBay, but mostly rely on my local metals vendors where it has to be what’s advertised. And no, i wouldn’t buy a good carbon steel online unless from a known reputable seller.

And folks, no matter what, as soon as you get the steel inside, DO USE a Sharpie and mark it ALL OVER w the type/designation of steel or class of bronze, etc! You will forget in a year’s time what is what w all the moving about and re-shelving and cutting….and I do the same on the backs of my belts (for grit) as soon as I open the box, since many seem to have some weird designation. I forget all the time what is what and a Sharpie is a life saver.
 
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And folks, no matter what, as soon as you get the steel inside, DO USE a Sharpie and mark it ALL OVER w the type/designation of steel or class of bronze, etc! You will forget in a year’s time what is what w all the moving about and re-shelving and cutting….and I do the same on the backs of my belts (for grit) as soon as I open the box, since many seem to have some weird designation. I forget all the time what is what and a Sharpie is a life saver.

Good advice, the sharpie can be a life saver.
 
I buy sharpie type markers in dozen boxes on the big A and leave them all over the shops. I also buy white metal marking paint pens in a 6-pack. Mark both ends on both sides of EVERY piece of steel you have. When you cut a piece off, mark the remaining bar again. When you make a blade from the piece cut off, write any important data on the blade blank with the same paint pens. Steel type, customer, etc. Remark every time you grind/sand away the info. Make sure it is on the blade tang when you do HT. After HT it will be baked onto the steel in black. This is especially important for blades sent out. I mark the blades with my name, steel type, and customer or other specific. It could be a year before I finish the knife and I guarantee I won't remember any of that.
 
Many legitimate businesses sell on EBay. For a small business it’s much easier to do that and use one of the payment services than build and maintain your own website. So it’s not out of question to get good deals on quality material if the seller is the real deal.

However, when it comes to knife steel, I feel better about buying from a known supplier. I mainly use NJSB.
 
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