People who have experience, is 1095 inferior to 01 or A2?

G

gazaati

BANNED
Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Messages
412
sorry for another post about steel.

I see this steel in many (lower end) carbon blades so I guess its cheaper or easier to work with.
I don't care about rust resistance.
But how does 1095 compare to a2 and o1 in terms of:

edge holding?
ease of sharpening?
toughness?
does it take a fine edge?
 
A-2 is the best of the three. Takes a very fine edge, best wear resistance , tough ,though it might be a bit harder to sharpen.
 
i dont know...i have seen all three steels perform flawlessly and then suck too...i am a die hard believer in the heat treat...there are those that get it right and those who dont...to me all three are a great choice if done right.
 
I think 1095 dulls a bit faster. A2 is more stain resistant. I like the edge I get with an 01 seems to slide thru the wood but it rusts real easy.
 
i've been very happy with 1095 over the years. i would put it on par with A2. have no experience with O1 steel.

heat treating of a steel can be as important as the choice of steel. maybe even more important.
 
Think of a stool with three legs.

One leg is steel type, one is heat treatment, one is blade grind geometry.

With any bladed instrument is difficult to talk about performance without addressing each issue. If one leg is short the stool will wobble.
 
In my uses all three are pretty close to being equal. So close in fact that I don't think I could tell them apart in regular use without the maker telling me what they were.
 
edge holding = A2, then O1, then 1095

Both A2 and O1 have vanadium in them (adds wear resistance)...A2 just has a little more.


ease of sharpening

exact reverse of the above = goes to 1095 (low alloy steel), then O1, then A2




toughness

toughness (impact strength) = tie between O1 & A2 (both have nickel...1095 doesn't....both have more manganese than 1095)




does it take a fine edge?

This is a measure of how fine the grain is...as well as the overall carbon percentage. Both O1 and 1095 polish easily...but the edge goes to 1095 for being low alloy (less other stuff to interfere with polishing). So, 1095, then O1, then A2.



Hope that helps.

I am not a scientist...just a knifemaker who has done a lot of thinking...including making/using/testing the steels above (as well as others).

:thumbup:

Dan
 
Daniel Koster said:
edge holding = A2, then O1, then 1095

Both A2 and O1 have vanadium in them (adds wear resistance)...A2 just has a little more.


ease of sharpening

exact reverse of the above = goes to 1095 (low alloy steel), then O1, then A2




toughness

toughness (impact strength) = tie between O1 & A2 (both have nickel...1095 doesn't....both have more manganese than 1095)




does it take a fine edge?

This is a measure of how fine the grain is...as well as the overall carbon percentage. Both O1 and 1095 polish easily...but the edge goes to 1095 for being low alloy (less other stuff to interfere with polishing). So, 1095, then O1, then A2.



Hope that helps.

I am not a scientist...just a knifemaker who has done a lot of thinking...including making/using/testing the steels above (as well as others).

:thumbup:

Dan
Click to expand...

Very cool rap there Dan thanks for the info:thumbup:
 
Small amounts of vanadium such as the .25 in A-2 are there for finer grain ! Higher amounts will be for wear resistance as carbides.
 
While the point is taken, a three legged stool will never wobble. A two legged stool will fall over, and a 4 legged stool may wobble if one or more legs is not of the right length. A three legged stool might lean, or even fall over if one leg is way too short, but a 3 legged stool will NEVER wobble.

While O1 and A2 speak to the inner steel snob in all of us, 1095 is probably adequate for the vast majority of knife tasks.
 
I don't have anything made with A2, but the several knives I have with 1095 and O1 are excellent tools. O1 does tend to get rusty faster though...
 
in a true survival situation the steel you have with you is the best option.
 
I have all three and love all three but the knives I have kept all have excellent grinds and HT, as much as I can tell in use, so, if I saw a knife I really liked and it was one of the three mentioned steels, had the "right" geometry and I trusted to be HT'd properly, I would not let the steel sway me either way. In fact, as long as it is one of those three, I'll take it. not to detract from D2, S30V, 3V etc. by any means, but 1095, O1 and A2 seem to have no particular drawbacks for how I use a knife - mostly a lot of "wood-working" and then just about anything else one might imagine.

After reading what Dan and the others said, I can "relate" to my own experience but would not have been able to point those features out - kind of a "yeah, now that you mention it..." thing.
 
Using all three, I've found A2 to be the best at edge holding. O1 and 1095 resharpen alittle easier but not so much as to stop someone from getting a knife in A2.
Scott
 
Wilderness & Survival rules :) where else can you get answers like this from poeple like this :D

Thanks guys
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top