O1 vs 1095 question for the bladesmiths

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pastormarty

Joined
Mar 22, 2010
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Posted this his on general forum, but would love to hear from the builders. Between o1 and 1095, and I will send out for pro heat treat, is one better than the other for large knives? Can one be run harder than the other at the same toughness? Is 1095 BETTER than o1 at ANYthing?
 
1095 is better at getting a hamon. O1 will outperform 1095 in pretty much every area, with its xtra alloying.
 
pastormarty said:
So if I'm not doing a diff temper is there no advantage to 1095?
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I guess one advantage is it's less costly.
I also think 1095 makes for a very good light slicer type knife.

I think your O1 is the better choice for a large knife.
 
Willie71 said:
1095 is better at getting a hamon. O1 will outperform 1095 in pretty much every area, with its xtra alloying.
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This.

O1 is tougher and better edge holding. Rust resistance is pretty much the same.

Differential tempering has nothing to do with the performance of the edge. Actually 1095 is popular for clay hardening (diff hardening) for hamon but talking about pure performance differential tempering (drawing the spine) will give you stronger/tougher overall construction.
 
80crv2 (L2) and L6 are great choices for larger blades. I'm assuming you mean bushcraft style. W2 is very popular for fighters and bowies.
 
Unground O1 is roughly 25% more expensive than 1095 and will make a better knife, though I've made many 1095 blades because I have such a cheap supply of it. For nearly the same cost as 1095, you can get 80CRV2, which I would prefer to either O1 or 1095 in a large knife. Trade away some carbon and manganese for more chromium and vanadium when comparing to O1. Otherwise if you're forging it, I'd suggest CruForgeV, but it doesn't seem to be available in the sizes necessary for a larger stock removal knife.

When my supply of ridiculously cheap 1095 that produces a very nice hamon runs out, I'll likely be done using it, I'll use W2 or 1075 for hamons, and 80CRV2 or 52100 or CruForgeV for almost everything else outside of the expensive CPM/higher end tool steels.

ETA: Willie makes a good point with L6, the only reason I didn't include that above (because it makes a great large blade) is that it's even more expensive than O1.

If cost is less of a concern, there are 100 options out there.
 
Willie71 said:
1095 is better at getting a hamon. O1 will outperform 1095 in pretty much every area, with its xtra alloying.
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1095 when heat treated well takes a very fine edge. O1 is no slouch either, but not quite as good.
 
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