Steel Workability Opinions

Q

QuietBearr

Joined
Mar 12, 2009
Messages
51
As part of a project I am working on about steel, I need opinions from people that have worked with the steels in question. I don't really want opinions about what people have heard or read or whatever, I need to hear from people that have actually worked with the steel.

So bellow is a list of the various non-stainless steels that I have selected to be in the project for comparison.

I would very much appreciate it if you all could give your opinions on the ratings of the steel as far as workability of the steel for knife making. If you have not actually worked with the steel, then you don't need to rate it, as I need opinions that are based on actual experience not from what someone has read in the forums or heard from a friend. Just look through the list and rate the steels that you have worked with on a scale of 1-10. Please give each a unique rating, as much as possible. Thank a lot, it will really help me a lot, as well as anyone into knives, making them or just owning them.

After I have finished the project I will make it available to everyone of course.

So here is the list in alphabetical order:

1055
1095
50100-B
5160
52100
8670M
A-2
CPM 3V
CPM S30V
CPM S60V
CPM S90V
D-2
GIN-1 (G-2)
L-6
M-2
O-1
S7
SK-5
W-1
W-2

In addition, if you have any suggestions for an addition to the list, please say so so I may consider it, this project is intended to benefit all knife lovers, makers, and people who are thinking about buying a knife.

Again, just rate them on a scale of 1-10 (you can use halves, like 5.5), and if you have not personally had experience working that steel, then either put a N/A or leave blank or whatever. Again, try your best to give each a unique rating, if two are very close, then say one is 9 and the other is 9.5 or 9.1 or whatever.

Opinions run high regarding steel, so I am looking for many opinions on it to come to a consensus! Thank you all soooo much!
 
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I have worked with these steels a lot.
1095 = 10

5160 = 10 great for forging and very forgiving in the forge and heat treat.


l-6 = 10

01 = 8 because of orange peel finish after heat treat.
 
DanGraves said:
I have worked with these steels a lot.
1095 = 10

5160 = 10 great for forging and very forgiving in the forge and heat treat.


l-6 = 10

01 = 8 because of orange peel finish after heat treat.
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If you had to give them each a unique rating, out of the 4 that you have worked with, which would be a 10, then say 9.5, 9 etc....

like for instance, which is easer, L-6, 5160, or 1095, then second easer, third....
 
What are the criteria for rating? Saying "I liked it a lot" doesn't provide much in the way of empirical data.

-d
 
deker said:
What are the criteria for rating? Saying "I liked it a lot" doesn't provide much in the way of empirical data.

-d
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How easy is it to take a hunk of steel that you bought, and make a knife out of it. I dont see how I can make it any more clear. If a customer wanted a knife, made out of say D-2, or L-6, which would be the easier steel for you to make a knife out of, for example.

In other words, how easy is each steel to work with?
 
cunningham said:
Its not easy for me to make a knife out of any of them.
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Fine then, if no one wants to help in the project that is fine. I guess in your opinion there is no difference in any of them.

I will just remove the category from the project since it seems no one wants to give any real opinions, except for one person.
 
Man you need to calm down a little bit, you ask a verry dificult question, and with that kind of atitude not many people are going to want to help!
 
quiet.....from what i have usually seen alot of makers sort of specialize in a few steels.....and you listed quite a few stainless and carbon steels there.....even if a maker has used all of them......i doubt they use all of them ALL the time......and steels are very different......and everyone has a different opinion on them....one maker might love w-2.....another might find it too difficukt to work with and so on......

you also have to remember that say 5160 might make a good chopper......w-2 might not make as tough of a chopper......so when u give a rating to each steel....what would it be a rating of?.....if one person likes it?.....u know what i mean......maybe u can narrow down your question a bit.....alot of these guys have a ton of information and are more than willing to share .......ryan
 
ryan9977 said:
quiet.....from what i have usually seen alot of makers sort of specialize in a few steels.....and you listed quite a few stainless and carbon steels there.....even if a maker has used all of them......i doubt they use all of them ALL the time......and steels are very different......and everyone has a different opinion on them....one maker might love w-2.....another might find it too difficukt to work with and so on......

you also have to remember that say 5160 might make a good chopper......w-2 might not make as tough of a chopper......so when u give a rating to each steel....what would it be a rating of?.....if one person likes it?.....u know what i mean......maybe u can narrow down your question a bit.....alot of these guys have a ton of information and are more than willing to share .......ryan
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I am just looking for each persons opinion on the steels that they have worked with, that is all. If they havnt worked with it then they need not give an opinion.

I am not asking for opinions on what steels make better choppers or their opinions on wear resistance, toughness, etc...

Just their opinions on how easy it is to shape and form the steels into a specific shape. Is this steel easier to grind than that one, is this one harder to cut or saw than that one, etc....

If they havnt worked with the steel then they can give no opinion. That is why I am looking for opinions on the steels that they have worked with.

If this person says in their opinion D2 is harder to work with than say 1095, and that is all they have worked with, and say they give 1095 a rating of 10/10 and D2 a 8/10.

Then if another comes and says they have worked with D2, L6, and A-2, and says that A-2 is 7/10, D2 8/10 and L6 10/10.

Then I can combine the opinions, and say that A-2 is 7/10, D2 8/10 1095 9/10 (cause the previous persons opinion said it was easier than D2) and L6 9/10.

It would obviously take many opinions to cross reference all the steels, as there would be no way to say where 1095 was on that scale yet, but I think you get the idea without me making up 10 imaginary opinions.

I am not asking for which steels do better for strength, toughness, durability, stain resistance, edge holding, taking an edge, etc....

Just for how easy it is for manufactures of knives to use the steels in their opinion, then I will take the information all together, and cross reference along with the other opinions I have already gathered from smiths and custom knife makers that I have already spoke to, to create some semblance of a scale.

This scale is only for ease of working, there are other scales for Durability, Toughness, Strength, Corrosion Resistance, Edge Holding and Ease of Sharpening. Those are separate qualities that are not part of this poll, and I was not enquiring about that, just the Ease of Work with that steel.
 
Your question is a complex one. Perhaps if machineability is your biggest concern, you could just use 420 or 440A and deliver knives roughly equal to the ones you can find at Wally World. Of the steels you list I've only worked with O1, D2/CPM-D2, and CPM-3V, in order of increasing difficulty to grind finish.
 
There are malleability, abrasive resistance, hot workability, polish ability etc. comparisons on steel info sheets and on some websites. Those are much more quantitative and scientific values and I guess for your question those are much more accurate answers. If you ask me RWL34 or CPM154 are very easy to grind, I may also say they are taking very good polish... But I'm only comparing them with D2 because it is all I use most of the time. This kind of comparison is subjective, how would this kind of info would be helpful I don't know.
Here is my rating then:
D2 1
as this is the only steel I worked with on this list :)
 
QuietBearr said:
Fine then, if no one wants to help in the project that is fine. I guess in your opinion there is no difference in any of them.

I will just remove the category from the project since it seems no one wants to give any real opinions, except for one person.
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QuietBearr,

what I don't thin kthat you realize is that everybody here is trying to help you. You say you're working on a project. I assume it's a project for school or something similar. Given that, it would make sense to assume that you are looking for objective input on your chosen topic. However, you seem to be asking a wholly subjective question. Then, when folks try to help you nail down the objective side of what you're looking for (or in one case inject a little humor), you get combative. Stop for a second, take a look at the questions that you're asking, and possibly re-evaluate what you're asking.

What you may or may not realize is that each maker's opinion will be based on his or her experience, tools, methods, training, etc. As an example, I know folks who would say that they hate O-1 because to heat treat it properly requires soaking at an accurate temperature for 10-15 minutes and they don't have a kiln. Somebody else will love it because of it's ability to get screaming hard and remain very fine grained with their digitally controlled kiln. The question you've posed is not simple and the answers will be based on many variables, none of which you're accounting for.

We want to help youas much as we can, which is why we're asking YOU questions. Take that help as it's intended and I bet you'll learn a lot from this project and your data gathering.

-d
 
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QuietBearr said:
Fine then, if no one wants to help in the project that is fine. I guess in your opinion there is no difference in any of them.

I will just remove the category from the project since it seems no one wants to give any real opinions, except for one person.
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You are not very quiet to be named Quietbearr. Have patience with us we are just humble knifemakers and have feelings.

I think the easiest is 5160 to make a knife from. It forges, grinds, drills and heat treats with ease with minimum tools and performs well enough to pass some cutting and bending tests without years of experience under your belt.

BTW you have some stainless steels in the list.
 
I'm with some of the other quietbear. I know you aren't asking which steel performs best for the end user - or which is the most trendy, but the criteria 'workability' is confusing me. Would that include forgeing? Would that be just removal of stock? Would it include ease of finishing and mirror polish?

As an example, in a blind test, I'd be hard pressed to tell you whether I was grinding bevels on 154CM or S30V. If I was trying to work up a mirror polish, I sure be able to tell you in a hurry.

We just want to be sure we are answering the question you are asking.

Rob!
 
Easy to hard:

1095
D-2, O-1
5160
A-2
.
.
CPM 3V

I think that this is somewhat of an unfair comparison because there are a few factors that will effect workability. My bar stock of 1095 seems to cut like butter and grind easily. My annealed 5160 seems to be a bit harder to work than the D2 and 01 I've used, and my A2 seems a bit harder than 5160. And my CPM-3v is WAY harder to work than any of these. Again, there may be variables here that I am not taking into account. For instance I was told the 3V was annealed but I can't verify this.
 
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