opinions on 15n20 as a stand alone blade steel

jdm61 said:
A couple of years back, Ray Kirk told me that you can even plate quench the thin 15N20 with good results.
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Interesting.

Anyone here ever try plate quenching 15N20? How were the results?
Is the foil wrap a must when plate quenching?

I've got some 15N20 I'm working on making a knife with right now and I was just planning to treat it the same as 1080 when it comes to HT.
 
I just bought a little knife, 1/16" 15n20. I did a search on this steel as a stand alone, as like most, I've only ever seen it in anything but a Damascus recipe. I'm glad Stacy left this open, really makes me feel better about the little slicer I just bought on the fixed custom exchange....that's great Moderating IMO, he didn't feel anything substantive could be added to the discussion, but he still left it up because he saw the interest expressed by members - and I have to think that deep down he knew that further discussion from more/different intelligent makers could very well add something new to this topic....whether that's proven correct or not!
 
I have some thin cable (1/2") that I am trying to laminate with 15n20 this weekend. This thread has been great.
 
I have tried plate quenching it. No good
 
I made a kitchen knife from 9" wide sawmill band saw blade. I was told to treat it as 15n20 or L6 .
I normalized 3 times , heated to 1480 then quenched in warm canola oil for 3 seconds then finished between two aluminum plates.
Tempered two cycles at 425° for two hours each.
I chopped into dried oak and it was still shaving sharp.
I gave it as a wedding gift to my sister in law. Her husband is an islander who roast whole pigs as well as preparing lots of onions, peppers , Ginger and other vegetables for marinades.
He claims it the finest kitchen knife he's ever owned.
 
Many years back I used a lot of this for hunting knives. My heat treating was very simple. I was always surprised and very pleased when owners of my knives told me how pleased they were with it's working ability. It was all recycled material.
Frank
 
What's not to like about they stuff? You can make a tough as nails little lightweight full tang hunter or bushy out of the "thick" .130 stuff with $4 worth of steel MOL? Another few bucks for some basic wood or Micarta and you are good to go. Can't beat that with a stick.
 
Larrin's recent post would be a good supplement for people searching for info about 15N20 who come across this thread.

15N20 steel toughness

There was a discussion recently about the toughness of 15N20. I tested that along with some other stuff. I have an article and a video. Article: https://knifesteelnerds.com/2023/03/22/how-to-heat-treat-nickel-knife-steels-15n20-8670-l6/
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
 
Love it, often wondered why it's not more popular as a stand alone steel.... figured that it had to do with stock thickness availability.
Now, that shouldn't be an issue. We can get it thick.

We are entering a period where we are overwhelmed with good steel choices. I know.... first world problems. 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

*Side related tangent.
late 90's early 2000 time period...... I like movies. My wife and I sought out all sorts. I remember us getting our first DVD player, and the first movies.
When we had 10 DVD's we watched them Alot. Often.
The more, and more we got, it became harder to decide on what to watch? It's like there wasn't anything to watch???

Now.... fast forward (no pun intended) with streaming services it's quite aggravating having her pick ANYTHING out. She will surf through the platforms for a good 20 minutes, until I leave the room over frustration.

I half jokingly think they should make a channel where we watch the screen of people who are just surfing the channels, and options on the platforms...... I bet it would be a Hit!
 
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