Picking the best blade steel

J

Joe L. Bachs

Joined
Aug 1, 2012
Messages
236
Hey guys, I'm about to try to make my first planned custom knife, I've made real basic kiridashis and small hunting/paring knives out of scrap s.s. and old circular saw blades. For making this knife I want to pick the right steel for the job. It'll be a longer narrowish blade, I'll use it mostly for gutting, boning and other type cooking stuff. Was thinking 1/8" 1095 but I don't know if it'll be corrosion resistant enough and I question stainless's edge holding ability. So what steel has the best combination of corrosion resistance, edge holding and strength while still being easy to work with for a beginner? What do you guys use for your own projects?
 
While I really love my carbon steel, there are some really good stainless steels these days such as CPM 154, 154CM, ATS34, and even 440C is a great stainless. If you do your own heat treating, then 1084 all the way. It's not stainless but it is garage heat treat friendly if you don't have too much equipment.
 
M390 or elmax. I have been working with these for my first projects and don't find them all that difficult to work. They are both supposed to be pretty near the top for edge holding and stainlessness.

Properly annealed, I don't think any steel is all that much more difficult to work. I have a piece of k390 that is easier to work than another piece of 1095 I have.
 
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