O1 vs A2

I have sold both grades for over 40 years and I am a metallurgical engineer - A2 is the all around better steel !
 
A2 is better in every regard and remains tough at higher hardnesses.
 
rexromic said:
A2, but then you have 3V ;).
Click to expand...
Yes, the 3V. That is a BRK Bravo 1 that I got in a lucky deal, second hand but unused at a very good price. Since I got that knife I have a big problem. It's an excellent knife and I totally love it, but it also became my personal benchmark when looking at a new knife. I may be able to trump the BRK, but I can't afford to do it. Terrible conundrum!
 
Cobalt said:
Yeah, but I would rather have well done A2 than questionable 3V :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Corrosion and abrasion resistance,toughness and edge holding ability in favour of 3V.Also as far as sharpening I never had tough time maintaining the edge on 3V.A2 is great steel but 3V is just that much better.Cheers.
 
rexromic said:
Corrosion and abrasion resistance,toughness and edge holding ability in favour of 3V.Also as far as sharpening I never had tough time maintaining the edge on 3V.A2 is great steel but 3V is just that much better.Cheers.
Click to expand...

3v can be the better steel if properly heat treated and that ht isnt ruined by massive grinding afterwards that can ruin the ht.
 
O1 vs A2? If you just want to cut stuff, either is a good steel. O1 has been around for what, more than 100yrs or so? It made a good knife then, and it makes a good knife now. A-2 is much newer, but still makes a good blade. If sharpening a little more frequently is an issue, get A2. If it's not, there's nothing wrong with O1. Heat treatment appropriate for the use of the blade is more important than what steel is used.
 
Along with Scott Gossman, what steel did Chris Reeves use for years and years on his one piece, hollow handled knives?
 
You might want to check out the Charpy sample and A2 threads in Shoip talk........... Also you should probably ignore that chart that says that A2 is a tough as L6.
 
jdm61 said:
You might want to check out the Charpy sample and A2 threads in Shoip talk........... Also you should probably ignore that chart that says that A2 is a tough as L6.
Click to expand...

I think there is a lot going on here. Which version of L6 are they talking about. I have seen 2 or 3 different versions with different carbon contents. So there is problem 1. The other issue I noticed is that at an Rc of 60-61 A2 and L6 are very similar in the C-notch value. Which is very deceiving because if you just drop L6's Rc down to 58, it's C-notch value goes up to the level of 3V, which A2 can never reach. So if each steel is designed for optimum toughness, L6 is considerably tougher by a magnitude of 70% higher or more.
 
The hart of a knife is in the heat treatment it receives. That should really be done with a mind to specific user requirements..
01 is a very good knife steel and so are many others it again depends on user requirements
Its very easy to say things about what you found with a knife made in a certain steel but who did the heat treat and was he instructed in the intended use?
Its very important when comparing two similar steels that we also compare heat treatment done like for like.
I do a lot of 01 and all the criticism leveled can be sorted via heat treatments.
Its tough, gets very sharp, low warp factor during quench and can get very hard indeed But its red short and suffers carbon migration badly. Aust forging a blade has given me the best edge retention.
Its not a great choice in the hands of someone who doesn't maintain thier kit and hates being stored in a wet leather shieth.
If you want corrosion protection though go to D2 or one of the stainless but imo the comparison above is only relivent to the experience with the steel in question. Dont think batch and supplier does not matter either
A good knife is one thst does its intended job!
 
Bowland_Blades said:
The hart of a knife is in the heat treatment it receives. That should really be done with a mind to specific user requirements..
01 is a very good knife steel and so are many others it again depends on user requirements
Its very easy to say things about what you found with a knife made in a certain steel but who did the heat treat and was he instructed in the intended use?
Its very important when comparing two similar steels that we also compare heat treatment done like for like.
I do a lot of 01 and all the criticism leveled can be sorted via heat treatments.
Its tough, gets very sharp, low warp factor during quench and can get very hard indeed But its red short and suffers carbon migration badly. Aust forging a blade has given me the best edge retention.
Its not a great choice in the hands of someone who doesn't maintain thier kit and hates being stored in a wet leather shieth.
If you want corrosion protection though go to D2 or one of the stainless but imo the comparison above is only relivent to the experience with the steel in question. Dont think batch and supplier does not matter either
A good knife is one thst does its intended job!
Click to expand...


Which is why I stated above that I would rather have properly HT'd A2 to questionable 3V. When all are properly HT'd and processed, 3V>A2>O1. However, it isn't just HT. How about once you HT and then you decide to grind the crap out of your knife in finishing it. Well guess what, you might have just ruined the HT you did. Plenty of examples of that here.
 
I'd not turn my nose up at a knife in 01.... anyone who heat treats it well can mane a dandy knife out of it....

But I'd pick A2 over 01 given the choice.

I've used A2 heat treated by Busse Combat.... I'd not hesitate to own one in that steel!!!
 
Cobalt said:
Which is why I stated above that I would rather have properly HT'd A2 to questionable 3V. When all are properly HT'd and processed, 3V>A2>O1. However, it isn't just HT. How about once you HT and then you decide to grind the crap out of your knife in finishing it. Well guess what, you might have just ruined the HT you did. Plenty of examples of that here.
Click to expand...
The steel you are used to is always going to be the best. As i said it makes no matter. A bad heat treat or a ruined heat treat is another matter because any fool van screw something up after the fact.
I forge thin and grind very little btw. And keeping a blade cooled during grinding of course is paramount, no different than ruining a drill during sharpening.
Imo
Too many people fuss too much about different steels and too little about really learning one or two. To ask which pretty much means one or both isn't familiar
 
Bowland_Blades said:
The steel you are used to is always going to be the best. As i said it makes no matter. A bad heat treat or a ruined heat treat is another matter because any fool van screw something up after the fact.
I forge thin and grind very little btw. And keeping a blade cooled during grinding of course is paramount, no different than ruining a drill during sharpening.
Imo
Too many people fuss too much about different steels and too little about really learning one or two. To ask which pretty much means one or both isn't familiar
Click to expand...
\

Very good point and very true often.
 
Bigfattyt said:
I'd not turn my nose up at a knife in 01.... anyone who heat treats it well can mane a dandy knife out of it....

But I'd pick A2 over 01 given the choice.

I've used A2 heat treated by Busse Combat.... I'd not hesitate to own one in that steel!!!
Click to expand...


Yes, but that is a supercharged heat treat. Busse A2 would likely outperform many high performance steels
 
jdm61 said:
You might want to check out the Charpy sample and A2 threads in Shoip talk........... Also you should probably ignore that chart that says that A2 is a tough as L6.
Click to expand...
Exactly personally I always found O1 to be slightly tougher than A2, so not sure how all these graphs show the opposite. And L6 is on par if not tougher than 5160 or 1050 so who ever compared it to A2 is either biased leaning on wishful thinking, either way knows nothing about steels and their characteristics so I wouldn't put too much faith in his knowledge. Just by elemental composition one can tell L6 will be far tougher since it has around .55-.6% Carbon vs 1% in A2. A2 also has chromium which is a carbide and weakens the matrix of the steel. L6 has nickle which improves toughness. L6 has been around for 100 years but has become a scarce steel. Its a band saw steel, and was regularly used to make bayonets in WW1. You can easily distinguish it from other steels since it has a tendency to pit as it ages and seen neglect. But personally I have never seen a tougher steel in my life, it will make 5160 blush and cpm 3v shatter like glass if they try to step up to it. Over the years i have found out over and over again that old steels are still the toughest around. All the hype about these new super steels is just that hype. Sure the improved the wear resistance, sharpness, and longevity of the edge retention, but when it comes to pure brute strength and nail like toughness older steels always come out on top. Partly because adding dozens of elements to a metal is never going to make it tougher than when it was in its simplest form. Each element offsets something which has to be compensated by adding an additional element which offsets something else. Simplicity seems to be the key to toughness.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top