Need info on Harry Morseth using A2 steel

[Larrin]

Looking for help with information on Harry Morseth using A2 early on in his knives for an article I'm writing on A2. I'm getting some conflicting information and I don't trust the Wikipedia article. I'm particularly interested in anyone who has the book The Keen Edge of Perfection: A History of the Morseth Knife. One source says he started making knives in the 20's (1925?) while the frequently copied Wiki article says 1936. Everyone seems to agree that he started with A2 "planer blades" and was at least using them by 1936. However, it was not known as A2 by then and I don't believe it had even reached its final current composition by that year, so I am curious how they knew they were A2. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[AVigil]

You may want to contact Bob Dozier. IIRC he was making some Moresth Knives for AG Russell

 

[John A. Larsen]

Larrin, I have the book. In the Foreword, Bob Dozier says "Harry Morseth began making knives sometime around 1920, and continued into the 1960's". On page 23 it states "He (Harry) spent the next several years using the Walton Lumber Company's mill shop and equipment in his off hours". No date mentioned; however , on page 26 "In the Spring of 1926, a major fire burned parts of Walton's lumber mill and brought operations to a temporary halt. Numerous workers, including Harry, temporarily lost their jobs" which indicates to me he was making knives prior to 1926. Unfortunately there is no date when he started working at the Walton Lumber Company. As far as A-2, back on page 23 it states "The planers that were used to smooth the surface of the boards used blades made from hardened machine steel, commonly A-2 steel." "The discarded planer blades made great stock for Harry's first knife blades. During the late nights in the shop, Harry would slowly grind an old planer blade into a new blade." Nothing mentioned about the composition of the A-2 steel.

 

[Larrin]

Thanks John. I am now of the opinion that he did not in fact use A2 but was the mistaken identification of the planet blade material as A2. The most obvious reason being that only a precursor of A2 existed up until at least 1934, “real” A2 didn’t exist until a few years after that, and wasn’t named A2 until the 50’s. So someone would have to have known the composition of the planer blades and identified it as A2 in the 50s or later. It looks like someone mistakenly believed that planer blades were A2 at that time.

 

[John A. Larsen]

Glad to help. I tried to Google "What steel was used in 1920's planes" but no luck there. I am pretty sure there is a Forum somewhere on the Internet that has the answer, just where that Forum is, that is the question. I had a thought that the steel might have been D2, which to me would have been ironic as Bob Dozier has a well earned reputation for making D2 blades, but apparently the patent for D2 in the USA was not issued until 30 June 1927, which is after Morseth started making blades out of old planers. John