Opinion on AEB L

I am not saying I had difficulty slicing meat. I am saying that AEB-L was not as efficient at the task as my CPM 3V chef knife or my S90V slicer I was comparing it to. It did the job in a satisfactory manner, just didn't seem as efficient as the other steels mentioned. All knives had similar edge geometry, since I made them all, and were all sharpened the same way. It is one of those differences that if I did not have the other knives next to me I would never have noticed. These were just my observations from the comparison I did.
The AEB-L did kitchen duty for me for about a year before I sold it. It had very nice edge holding while prepping veggies and doing normal home kitchen work.
I sold a blade to a knifemaker friend (he hates grinding thin kitchen type knives) who gave it to his wife for kitchen duty, and he was telling me about a month ago how well the edge holds up. Said he rarely has to sharpen it for her.
 
Nice thread! What about forged AEB-L ? Any special annealing before hardening?

when lowering the temperature of (for example AEB-L), how long should you stay there to transform the retained austenite in martensite?
 
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Tait said:
@Randy,

I didn't ever subzero AEB-L, so I can't give a good comparison. It wouldn't be all that hard to make a test blade out of some scrap (just grind an edge of some piece down) to try it. If I had any laying around, I'd send you some. On the other hand, I CAN send you a small piece of S35VN if you like. I have some pieces of .065 and (I think) .110.

@Darrin,

Thanks for the receipe - Why do you love AEB-L - what is it that you like?

@me2,

It seems like small carbides would usually be a good idea - do you have any idea why is it not normal to heat treat 1084 for small carbides?
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It grinds like butter, it takes the keenest edge of any SS I've ever used, & it sharpens easily. It was formulated for and its main use is razor blades. It has just enough Carbon to allow it to harden but doesn't form any Chromium carbides. This is what allows the keen edge. I find that people who have minimal sharpening equipment like it because they can get a good edge on whatever they have. It is also very stable during H/T. I have ground a few blades that I thought were TOO thin but they came out of the foil just fine. However it is prone to chipping if you get much above HRC 59. But if you pay close attention to the blades main use, the geometry, & the hardness it makes a very good knife. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, its fairly cheap as far as SS goes and I'm a tightwad. LOL
 
Big Chris said:
I am not saying I had difficulty slicing meat. I am saying that AEB-L was not as efficient at the task as my CPM 3V chef knife or my S90V slicer I was comparing it to. It did the job in a satisfactory manner, just didn't seem as efficient as the other steels mentioned. All knives had similar edge geometry, since I made them all, and were all sharpened the same way. It is one of those differences that if I did not have the other knives next to me I would never have noticed. These were just my observations from the comparison I did.
The AEB-L did kitchen duty for me for about a year before I sold it. It had very nice edge holding while prepping veggies and doing normal home kitchen work.
I sold a blade to a knifemaker friend (he hates grinding thin kitchen type knives) who gave it to his wife for kitchen duty, and he was telling me about a month ago how well the edge holds up. Said he rarely has to sharpen it for her.
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I think Chris is making a fair assessment of AEB-L. I love it for the qualities that I and others have described, especially for it's stability on a thin grind, and ease of use for the average cook. It also holds up in the dishwasher without corrosion, I found out to my dismay. My slabs held up too :). See my earlier post for my accolades of this steel. It's a slicer for sure. Not a hard chopper in the kitchen realm IMO. But, for many end users and makers, it's the way to go.
 
Good info, guys. Thanks for discussing your opinions and experiences. I have a better idea now where to place this steel on the list!! :)
 
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