Steel for kitchen knives

Joined
Jun 12, 2018
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Hi all.

I tend toward basic carbon steels, I don't mind sharpening often, I keep the steel clean, dry, etc. and I love the edge.

But I am thinking of making some kitchen/chefs/utility knives for family and friends, who aren't necessarily on the same knife maintenance plan as I am.
I want obviously for them to still be as good as possible, within what I can manage.

I have a heat treating kiln (Paragon LB).

I have never done anything with Stainless steels... simple or fancy, 440C, S30V etc.

What would you recommend for steels for "success" ? Meaning, not looking for superpowers, just ability to produce decent quality blades with as much stainless attributes as possible,
considering not having fancy equipment.

I do not mind investing some $$$ to be able to properly treat such blades.

Anything I make would be 10" long or under, and on the thin side (< 0.10) - e.g. typical kitchen knives.

My preferences are, in order:
1. keen edge
2. edge retention (yes, 1 and 2 are in contention)
3. stainless (e.g. lack of maintenance)

These would be more Tomato slicers than hog choppers, I have S7 for that :)

Any thoughts on a good "across the board" stainless, semi-stainless, that I can heat-treat without investing half my waking hours and my thesis on figuring out, would be much appreciated !

I am a 1095, 1084, O1 guy :)
 
Last edited:
I see lots of good kitchen knives made of AEBL and RWL 32, maybe you should research those two ?
 
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