New guy here

S

Scooter079

Joined
Dec 27, 2012
Messages
27
Never tried to make a knife before but pretty handy. A neighbor gave me some 1/8" 300series 2b stainless that he got from work. Would this make a decent knife or would I be wasting my time.
 
It will not make a good knife. The 300 series is very ductile and corrosion resistant. Knives require a much greater hardness and the 300 series will not harden up.
 
There is a lot of very good information in the count's link and I would read it very carefully. From what little I know about knife making at the moment stainless would not be a good steel to start with if you are planning on heat treating yourself. I also don't know a lot about stainless steels right now but I know I got a high alloy plain high carbon steel and I had to find somebody who could do the heat treat for me because it required a fast quench that I just couldn't achieve the way I was trying to do it. The steel also required a soak time I couldn't give it with the tiny two brick forge I have. If you are planning on sending the blade out for heat treat that wont be a problem. Profile out a blade and then, my biggest enemy at the moment, put the primary bevels on it. It is a lot harder than it looks and I ruined 2 knife blanks trying to get the bevels right myself. I eventually had another maker help me and heat treat some blades for me but I plan on using a lot of scraps to practice my bevels until I feel comfortable wasting another blank. My suggestion would be that if you want to start buy yourself some high carbon steel, I've been told that 1075 or 1084 is great for beginners, and then save your stainless for when you are ready.
 
300 series is unhardenable. Not even a good butter knife. Makes ok guards or spacers though. Free steel is always a good deal.
 
The 400 series is hardenable, but the 300 series is not. Most stainless knife steels benefit from a subzero quench. You may want send your blade out for heat treat and quench.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top