Steel thickness question.

D

DustinHall

Joined
Dec 31, 2008
Messages
687
I can't decide if I should order 1/8" bar stock or 3/16. I plan on making hunting size blades. What would you prefer, 1/8 or 3/16" thick?
 
Well, I probably will eventually but, for now I can only afford a small amount of steel. I'm thinking 1/8" will be good for blades 5" and under but, I just wanted to get opinions before I ordered. Thanks.
 
I think it depends on your grinds and the style of knife. I use a lot of 3/16" steel for small knives. I also use a lot of 1/8" steel for small and larger knives. There's less to cut and take off with 1/8", so if you're limited on tools it may be easier for you to work.
 
Well, you got it right.. tools are sort of limited so 1/8" probably is a better choice and should be suitable for a 4-5" DP hunter. I was going to order some 1080 from Admiral as it seems to be the cheapest source I can find. I know this question's been asked a million times but, are there any other good sources for 1080 that I might want to look at besides Admiral?
 
dustin,
i'm so new that i havent even finished a knife. but here is what i have found from working with 1/8 inch stock. Acrid is right 1/8 is easier and you can do alot with it, just like 3/16, but it is easier to deal with the thinner material. i think the more important thing is the width of the stock you buy. i made the mistake of buying 1inch wide stock and have found that it's so narrow that it limits me in design options as far as the shape of handles and such.

just my .02 worth

good luck in what ever you decide.

jake
 
If you decide on 1/8", I suggest either getting 1080 from Kelly Cupples, or else getting 1084 HR from admiral closeout. I got the admiral way, and I got 40 ft of steel for about $80.
http://www.admiralsteel.com/pdf/sale.pdf

strahd71 said:
i made the mistake of buying 1inch wide stock and have found that it's so narrow that it limits me in design options as far as the shape of handles and such.
Click to expand...
I did that too, with my first knife, because I wanted the cheapest way, but the admiral 1084 closeout is 1-1/4" wide, which is much better in my opinion.
 
Yeah, I'm going with 1 1/4". Should be enough for the blades I want to make and still not have much to grind off when profiling. Thanks for the link and suggestions, Mike!
 
If you will do a distal taper you would go for 3/16" as you want some meat for the ricasso area. If left flat 1/8" would be OK for a small to medium hunter I suppose...
 
DustinHall said:
Well, you got it right.. tools are sort of limited so 1/8" probably is a better choice and should be suitable for a 4-5" DP hunter. I was going to order some 1080 from Admiral as it seems to be the cheapest source I can find. I know this question's been asked a million times but, are there any other good sources for 1080 that I might want to look at besides Admiral?
Click to expand...

Dustin,
I just ordered some 1080 from Sheffield Supply, I dont remember how much it was exactly but it wasnt too expensive.
For what its worth I like 3/16".
http://www.sheffieldsupply.com/
 
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