Stainless Steels

R

Rossco1

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Jan 5, 2016
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New to bladesmithing and could ask a million questions? I am starting small until I can purchase equipment so for now I will just be grinding into a finished product without any forging involved. I am curious as to what type of stainless steel I should use to achieve a quality blade without forging being incorporated. Any advice is good quality advice is appreciated. Thanks ur time.
 
12c27 is EASY to work with, grinding is not a pain, heat treating very easy, and any finish can be applied FAST. Such as mirror, satin, your pick.

IMHO 12c27 is one of the best stainless steels out there and you can do no wrong with it.
 
M1GarandGuy said:
you can do no wrong with it.
Click to expand...

Well, you can...

When you are looking to make some knives, and if you are looking to do your own Heat Treat then this Is Not where to start.

To HT stainless, one generally needs to have a heat treat oven that is able to be operated with familiarity. You are also going to want to know how long the aus time is, soak time is, temper temps, have a cryo bath available (liquid nitrogen or dry ice and mineral spirits), HT foil among plent of other stuff ...
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If you are sending your knives out for HT, then you can use any steel you want. So why limit yourself to a run off the mill stainless.


Do yourself a favor and get your feet wet with some of Aldos 1084 (NJ Steel baron), a belt sander from sears and miss it from a 4x36 to a 2x for cheaper belts and get 5 gallons of canola oil and go to town making your own users for awhile.

See if you Really enjoy it and then add a 2x72, and Thebes start building your shed/work shop.
 
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NJBillK said:
Well, you can...

When you are looking to make some knives, and if you are looking to do your own Heat Treat then this Is Not where to start.

To HT stainless, one generally needs to have a heat treat oven that is able to be operated with familiarity. You are also going to want to know how long the aus time is, soak time is, temper temps, have a cryo bath available (liquid nitrogen or dry ice and mineral spirits), HT foil among plent of other stuff ...
-------
If you are sending your knives out for HT, then you can use any steel you want. So why limit yourself to a run off the mill stainless.


Do yourself a favor and get your feet wet with some of Aldos 1084 (NJ Steel baron), a belt sander from sears and miss it from a 4x36 to a 2x fir cheaper belts and get 5 gallons of canola oil and go to town making your own users for awhile.

See if you Really enjoy it and then add a 2x72, and Thebes start building your shed/work shop.
Click to expand...

Nice smart Alec comment...

My legs are weak from laughter!! Because "you can do no wrong with it" automatically made my suggestion invalid. 12c27 isn't "just some run off the mill steel" obviously you haven't tested or ever used 12c27. It's probably the toughest SS out there! Also, the reason I suggested it was because it is easy to work with for a beginner and it met his criteria. The irony in your comment is outstanding! 1084 isn't exactly a stainless either buddy...
 
OK guys .. get some sleep and lets knock it off.


Rossco,
Sorry for that.

Fill out your profile so we know where you live and a bit about you.

The stickys has a lot of good info, and the BF search engine is there.

Most folks start with a simple and lower cost stainless. 440-C or any basic stainless is fine. HT will have to be sent out, and many places do it. The question is asked regularly, so doing a search will get lots of stainless and HT info. My preferred stainless steels are AEB-L ( doesn't get simpler or cheaper than this steel) and CPM-S35VN ( great knife steel for most all uses).

M1's suggestion of 12C27 is a good steel, too.
 
The reason that I offered up 1084 is due to his being "new to bladesmithing" and all he would need would be a home made forge, a toaster oven, a file, some 1084 stock, canola oil and some charcoal.
Those items Should be much easier for him to scrounge up to attempt a first knife, given self HT (which I will concede wasn't specified).

What was meant by my "run of the mill" comment I that it is a relatively plain steel, it is not exceptionally high in Mn and Si, and it is a rather pure alloy. (For clarification, I would include 1095, AEB-L and other more pure alloys in a similar class of alloys, stainlessness withstanding).

If he was planning on doing his own HT, would you feel that 12c27 is as "beginner friendly"?

Just by including a 5-10 min soak without cryo at 1970 would negate other suggestions over 1084 stock, in which he would just have to nudge 50-75 over non magnetic.

In a position of doing a "backyard HT", as you know, 1084 is one of the most effective "beginner" steels. That doesn't mean it can't be made into a Nice blade, but simply that it is "easy" to start with.

If you misread what I had originally wrote, ease chalk it up to me having to be up for work in less than 5 hours, and I thought a more simple alloy would yield a more positive result from his efforts.
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I am not trying to step on any toes, just trying to offer up an easier choice if he were to do his own HT.
 
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NJBillK said:
The reason that I offered up 1084 is due to his being "new to bladesmithing" and all he would need would be a home made forge, a toaster oven, a file, some 1084 stock, canola oil and some charcoal.
Those items Should be much easier for him to scrounge up to attempt a first knife, given self HT (which I will concede wasn't specified).

What was meant by my "run of the mill" comment I that it is a relatively plain steel, it is not exceptionally high in Mn and Si, and it is a rather pure alloy. (For clarification, I would include 1095, AEB-L and other more pure alloys in a similar class of alloys, stainlessness withstanding).

If he was planning on doing his own HT, would you feel that 12c27 is as "beginner friendly"?

Just by including a 5-10 min soak without cryo at 1970 would negate other suggestions over 1084 stock, in which he would just have to nudge 50-75 over non magnetic.

In a position of doing a "backyard HT", as you know, 1084 is one of the most effective "beginner" steels. That doesn't mean it can't be made into a Nice blade, but simply that it is "easy" to start with.

If you misread what I had originally wrote, ease chalk it up to me having to be up for work in less than 5 hours, and I thought a more simple alloy would yield a more positive result from his efforts.
------
I am not trying to step on any toes, just trying to offer up an easier choice if he were to do his own HT.
Click to expand...

I'm not here to get in a flame war and crap up this gentleman's thread.

The reason I suggested 12c27 is because it's actually a SS unlike 1084. I think it'll work for him via all my previous comments.

Stacy A. Is also right, 440c is a great beginner steel and inexpensive.
I have multiple custom knives in it and it is very underrated these days.
 
well Rossco, not to scare you off after all of that but this is all good advice if you can get past the slight misunderstandings, and if you're not stuck on stainless for now then the 10xx steels will serve you great if you want to start practicing your own heat treating especially. if you want stainless and are willing to send it out you can make a very capable blade from 12c27, 13c26 (aeb-l is almost identical) and good old 440c... among many others. My first knives that weren't made from an old planer blade were all 440c and they have never let anyone down yet (fingers crossed). In actual fact, the geometry and heat treat mean way more than the steel you choose in my and many other peoples opinion and depending on what you are using them for i doubt you will need more steel than any of those mentioned, so just order what catches your eye and try it out.

best of luck
 
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