Need help with material...please!

D

Dobber812

Joined
Mar 28, 2011
Messages
20
Hey All,

After years of making leather and buying the blades, I want to start making my own knives. I made a few out of files and an old lawnmower blade, but now I need STEEL!!! Could someone give me some recommendations for purchasing blade steel and handle material online? I went to USA knifemaker, and 75% of their products are out of stock. Can anyone recommend online alternatives so I can get my grind on? I'm gonna start with 440 and either O1 or A2...and go from there.

Much appreciated,

Dobb.
 
Yep, Alpha Knife Supply is a good source - and since you're considering 440C, why not AEB-L instead?
 
Ken H> said:
Yep, Alpha Knife Supply is a good source - and since you're considering 440C, why not AEB-L instead?
Click to expand...

Thanks for replying. I want to do everything myself including heat treating. My thoughts were that the steels I mentioned were among the easier steels to heat treat. I just did some quick research on AEB-L, I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the recommend!
 
Dobber812,

What kind of equipment do you have at your disposal for heat treating your blades? I think the steels you mentioned need equipment that can hold pretty accurate temps for specific lengths of time. Something like a forge and a bucket of Canola oil will not give you optimal results. If you have a heat treating oven you will be ok. 01 doesn't need a fast oil and the stainless steels can be plate quenched. If you have rudimentary equipment you may be better off starting with 1084 or 5160. Another vote here for NJ Steel Baron for your steel.
 
I buy all my handle material from true grit, also if your a new maker stick with cheaper handle materials like micarta and g10, i started not knowing what to use so i went out and bought a bunch of fanncy wood, and i payed for it.... literally i messed up so much wood its un real. Also i would say to avoide 440 becuase in my experiance its brittle and dulls out wicked fast...actually just avoide stainless steel all together. Its a lot more expensive than high carbon and high carbon steels will out perform stainless in almost any test besides rust resistance. (wich will not be a problem for a well maintained blade.)
 
For the most part, all my suppliers have been covered. New Jersey Steel Baron is probably #1 for me, but a good alternative (in my opinion) is Texas Knifemaker Supply. They have good customer service and their prices aren't too bad. That is for 1084/1080; I have no experience purchasing any other steel from either of them.
 
there is a maker selling 440c on the "knifemakers for sale / materials thread" right now... likely fairly cheap if you look into it.
 
New Jersey Steel Baron is great and probably best overall price Alpha Knife supply is a good place to pick up a shorter piece of steel and carry a good variety if you just want to do a 1 blade experiment. Aldo may cut his I usually just get the 36" length especially on something I haven't done, I figure if it failed I was part of the equation and need enough to succeed. My first knife was with CPM134' not a good choice for beginners especially without a good hardness tester. I made several knives with it and made some so hard nobody could put an edge on it but me with course belts. That's when the belt grinder was a harbor freight special 1 X 30 and a gas forge. I still have them both but have moved up to Beumont Metals KMG variable speed grinder and the paragon 24"/Sentry 2.0 digital program control. It is nice to get consistent results.
I just tried some AEB-L using .70 stock to make kitchen knives and they turned out great just read all I could and went for it, I am just wondering if anybody that has used it has tried Cyro. treatment I'm well aware that Liquid hydrogen is either -365 or - 385 degrees I obviously didn't do that but did the dry ice in alcohol which after reading someone said antifreeze works well and not as dangerous. So to make a short story long I heat treated Plate cooled placed under dry ice and only got down to -85 but after Cyro had 63HRC tempered at 375Deg twice to 61 HRC and the blades had good spring to them and retained there original position. You can see them on Facebook at Cox Cutter Custom Knives or https://www.facebook.com/coxcutter/...0.1452817323./411353725734885/?type=3&theater anyway the acryluster handles are a little wild but they sold fast. all that to say I think AEB-L is a good choice, its 10 times easier to work than CPM154 and makes a very sharp blade.
 
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