O1 Steel Question

0-1 is one of the classics of carbon steel. many fine knives have been & continue to be made from this alloy. simply clean & dry your blades after using & you will never see anything like rust. carnuba wax as mentioned will stand up to alaskan moisture. one application on & hand buff, then 2nd coat & no buff. my gecs are treated to a polished carnuba wax before photos.--dennis
 
Yep. I never said it was a fatal flaw; just an issue you need to be aware of.
 
I like to think of O-1 as 1090 on roids. One of my favorites. Takes a finer edge than A-2...
 
cody1 said:
I like to think of O-1 as 1090 on roids. One of my favorites. Takes a finer edge than A-2...
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O1 is an excellent steel and is easy to sharpen but I have to disagree with it taking a finer edge then A2. A2 is a fine grain steel and actually holds an edge a bit longer then O1. A2 is easy to sharpen also.
Scott
 
01 is great stuff. Randall Made Knives have been using it for around 70 years. heres my trusty model #14
IMG00043-20101220-1132.jpg
 
Gossman Knives said:
O1 is an excellent steel and is easy to sharpen but I have to disagree with it taking a finer edge then A2. A2 is a fine grain steel and actually holds an edge a bit longer then O1. A2 is easy to sharpen also.
Scott
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I get a finer edge from O-1 than A-2. A lot of the woodworkring forums will tell you the same thing. O-1 seems to take a finer edge. A-2 is more abrasion resistant and tougher. For sure! And 30% more expensive.. Maybe it's just an opinion, but it's not one that is unheard of. Both great steels! The difference is like one molecule vs two. Not large, and not worth arguing about..
 
I've used my Breeden in O-1 to strike sparks from a traditional piece of flint. Didn't work as good as a dedicated steel, but I got my charcloth to ember alright. It does scratch the hell out of the spine doing that though. I generally prefer a true striker mainly because they are safer and more ergonomic to use than a knife. However, if you just want to know if O1 will work, it most certainly does!
 
cody1 said:
I get a finer edge from O-1 than A-2. A lot of the woodworkring forums will tell you the same thing. O-1 seems to take a finer edge. A-2 is more abrasion resistant and tougher. For sure! And 30% more expensive.. Maybe it's just an opinion, but it's not one that is unheard of. Both great steels! The difference is like one molecule vs two. Not large, and not worth arguing about..
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Well, I must say my observations differ from yours because my O1 knives
do not take nearly as fine an edge as my knives in A2, but I still like
O1 much better when it comes to knives overall.
 
cody1 said:
I get a finer edge from O-1 than A-2. A lot of the woodworkring forums will tell you the same thing. O-1 seems to take a finer edge. A-2 is more abrasion resistant and tougher. For sure! And 30% more expensive.. Maybe it's just an opinion, but it's not one that is unheard of. Both great steels! The difference is like one molecule vs two. Not large, and not worth arguing about..
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I do not know anything about A2 steel. Never owned a knife with it. I have a few hand made wood carving tools, and all three are made from O1. I can get a wicked edge on them with my waterstones, and loaded strop. In fact, most of the time all I need to do is stop them to keep them tuned up.

I have been reading here and on a few other forums I have been introduced to that A2 is a premier steel for an outdoor knife, and many custom makers seem to use it. Bark River seems to like it. ;)
 
I was not trying to disparage A-2!! I was talking about my experience with O-1... A-2 is a very good steel. It outperforms O-1. It's considerably more expensive, takes longer to heat treat, and is much more difficult. Trade offs always exist when choosing a steel... Whether it's in cost, performance, production ect. O-1's performance exceeds the needs of most people by a good margin.. It easily out performs 1095. IMO
 
cody1 said:
I was not trying to disparage A-2!! I was talking about my experience with O-1... A-2 is a very good steel. It outperforms O-1. It's considerably more expensive, takes longer to heat treat, and is much more difficult. Trade offs always exist when choosing a steel... Whether it's in cost, performance, production ect. O-1's performance exceeds the needs of most people by a good margin.. It easily out performs 1095. IMO
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How does A2 outperform 01?
 
To my mind 01 can take a very fine polished edge. It really loves stropping.

On the rust front it doesn't rust as bad as some other carbon steel but you do have to take care to dry it off. On multi day trips I usually carry a tiny zip lock bag with some fine steel wool soaked in oil.

For me it's not a problem but I think that with stropping 01 has more of a tendency to develop a slight convex secondary bevel with continued sharpening stropping.

You can minimize this by being sure to sharpen the whole bevel every time but it will still happen to a degree.

I find the D2 and 3v tend to hold the original scandi grind better but 01 is probably my favorite steel.
 
I don't know which one takes a better edge. My Randalls in 01 seem to take a significantly finer edge than my Bark River Knives in A2. But that may have more to do with the grinds than the steels.

I have seen a ton of good straight razors in 01 and I can't remember seeing any in A2. The fact A2 can be air hardened and doesn't warp would seem to be an advantage. Maybe that is not enough to offset the additional cost of A2.

I had always assumed it was because 01 took a better edge. I would be interested in knowing the answer. I'll see if I can find out why this is so.
 
hollowdweller said:
To my mind 01 can take a very fine polished edge. It really loves stropping. On the rust front it doesn't rust as bad as some other carbon steel but you do have to take care to dry it off. On multi day trips I usually carry a tiny zip lock bag with some fine steel wool soaked in oil.

For me it's not a problem but I think that with stropping 01 has more of a tendency to develop a slight convex secondary bevel with continued sharpening stropping. You can minimize this by being sure to sharpen the whole bevel every time but it will still happen to a degree.

I find the D2 and 3v tend to hold the original scandi grind better but 01 is probably my favorite steel.
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It does exactly that. I have a "Sloyd" style carving knife. It does get a slightly convexed secondary bevel after a while. Since this knife is used for wood carving only, I then take it to my water stones to bring it back to a 0 degree. O1 loves stopping. Quite true IMHO.

Ohhh and to the OP. Yes, Yes, and YES...... it does take a spark from a flint. ;):p Looks like we got a bit off topic ehh..... :foot:
 
o1 is tougher and takes a finer edge. A2 will keep edge longer and has larger carbides for abrasive cutting. I think the differences offset each other and are rather minor.
 
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