Question about 52100

[rick melear]

Just wondered when some of you bladesmiths began using 52100.Has it been around for many years or a more modern steel. To be more specific,roughly what year did its use as a knife steel begin.

 

[Ed Fowler]

I have been told 52100 has been around for over 100 years. If so I would bet that the first 52100 knife is about as old. Bladesmiths of yesterday were no different than those of today, many try to make knives out of any and all scrap they come across.
Scagle used 52100 from the GM plant, worked it down on their power hammers. I have seen blades that were reported to have been made in 40's from 52100. I made my first 52100 blade in the 80's, not good on dates but about then, Maurice King gave me a knife he made from a bearing in the 60's (as I remember) it is a nice knife.

 

[rick melear]

Thanks Ed. So would you say by the late 80s it was fairly commonly used by bladesmiths.

 

[Ed Fowler]

I have no idea how many bladesmiths used it in the 80's, very few knives identify the steel in them, and most knife makers work on their own with little documentation to accompany their knives. Since I started writing about it I believe the use of 52100 has increased, we have provided a lot of information concerning its development as a knife. Wayne Goddard also wrote about it. Like all steels it varies with the date of manufacture and who made it.

52100 is kind of special as it is one steel that is subject to high demamds of performance. Bearings that last longer have an advantage in the market place. Nearly all bearings are indetified with the manufacturers name printed on the side thus when one fails the owner is reminded who made it. This feature alone encourages quality control.

The steel industry has provided a lot of research into the development of high performance 52100, most of it is shared through conferences and written material. I find 52100 (at least the lot I am working with now) a very honest lady to dance with. The more you put into your side of the realtionship, the better she responds.

 

[raker]

I started reading an article of Ed's about the 52100's steel ability to form such a small grain structure in the Blade Magazine in 1995. That convinced me of the steels ability to produce a superior cutting edge if properly heat treated. I had sent after the video of Bearing to Blade and in 1995, and came into a batch of 4 tons of 52100 in 1996. In 1997, Charlie Ochs gave me a lot of help in developing a heat treat for it and later on, Dr. James Batson sent me some papers from his big book about the I-T charts on 52100 and several other steels. These bits of information were the basis for my heat treat that I developed over the years.
So evem though I got the steel in 96', it was probably around 98 before I started getting close to what I use now for ht. In another 5 years, it will probably be a little different, and hopefully, a little better.
I have heard that Charles Ochs and Alfred Pendray had been using it since sometime in the 80's and had done a lot of work with it.

 

[rick melear]

Thanks very much Ray and Ed for your detailed information.