o1 steel

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willy m

Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Messages
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im making a knife from 01 steel (stock removal) this is the first time ive used 01 i usually use 1095 or lower carbon content. i got it from fastenal. according to them its fully anealed but it is verry hard to cut out the profile. i use a dremmel with a 1.5 inch cutoff wheel that is thinner than the dremel and usually will outlast 4 or 5 dremel cutoff wheels. im finding that the 01 is much harder for me to cut. is that normal? or is it possible that its not really fully anealed? a file will cut it. im just wondering if the 01 is just harder to cut or its not fully annealed? has anybody gotten any 01 from fastenal and if so what was your experience? thanks
 
In the Knife Maker's section of the forum there is a sticky about annealing hypereutectoid steels .Read it !
 
That seems a little weird. Try annealing or at least a stress-relieving normalizing cycle if you're set up for it.

I get my Starrett O1 from MSC. It's clean as a whistle and cuts and grinds like a dream, beautiful stuff to work with :thumbup:
 
Do a file test on it. Will a file cut it easily or does it take pressure to cut or does it slide? Also be aware that O-1 has a bit of tungsten in it. This is very hard and will wear out discs. But if it is fully annealed then it should cut for a little while anyway.
 
Most 01 is spherodized annealed, and as soft as it gets when you get it. Yes, I have used Fastenal and it was the same as others I have used. You are simply useing a poor method of cutting it. Try this. Useing a good sharp knife, you should be able to cut a very thin/fine sliver off of an edge.
 
O1 is easier than most steels used for a knife for grinding-cutting, but should be slightly more difficult than 1095 I think based on 1095 composition vs o1. How about a 4.5" grinder, porta-band saw or 36 grit belt sanding.
 
james terrio said:
That seems a little weird. Try annealing or at least a stress-relieving normalizing cycle if you're set up for it.

I get my Starrett O1 from MSC. It's clean as a whistle and cuts and grinds like a dream, beautiful stuff to work with :thumbup:
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James, just out of curiosity, what makes the Starrett O-1 so good that you're paying almost twice as much for it?
- Thanks
 
I have bought all my O1 from Flatground.com. Excellent qualiity and you are not beating the prices.
 
Troop said:
James, just out of curiosity, what makes the Starrett O-1 so good that you're paying almost twice as much for it?
- Thanks
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It's precision ground which saves me time and belts. I don't have any numbers on it but I feel that makes up a good deal of the cost difference.

It also seems to be very consistent. Buying a wrapped labeled product from a known name like Starret, Crucible or Carpenter gives me more confidence in the quality, mainly that I won't find inclusions and the HT will be the same from bar to bar. Just because some guy scribbled a number on a bar he grabbed off a shelf somewhere doesn't necessarily mean I'm getting what I ordered.
 
james terrio said:
It's precision ground which saves me time and belts. I don't have any numbers on it but I feel that makes up a good deal of the cost difference.

It also seems to be very consistent. Buying a wrapped labeled product from a known name like Starret, Crucible or Carpenter gives me more confidence in the quality, mainly that I won't find inclusions and the HT will be the same from bar to bar. Just because some guy scribbled a number on a bar he grabbed off a shelf somewhere doesn't necessarily mean I'm getting what I ordered.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply and the info.
- Mitch
 
James has a point. I have been buying from Amtec lately, and every bar comes in bent, and sometimes with small gouges. My last order had a bar with a quite extreme dog leg bend. The price is about half that of Starrett, but I am about ready to go back to Starrett from ENCO. Some of what I save in money, is lost in time trying to straighten the bars.
 
It's only fair to mention... shop around! MSC and other industrial suppliers run big discounts weekly. NEVER pay full price/retail.

Trust me... it's not "twice as much" if you know when/where to buy.
 
I have "Dusted" a lot of Dremel Cutoff wheels. They are more suited to cutting tubing and softer nonferrous metals. I used to cut out blanks from Starret O-1 with a drill press and hacksaw and I went relatively fast.
 
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