Steels best suited for different tasks?

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biscuits

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Mar 1, 2003
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In the March issue of BLADE there was an article on D-2. In the article, Eric Isaacson (of Swamp Rat) states “…D-2 is a top choice for knives designed for slicing and cutting chores. If a knife is meant for chopping, or for other tasks where the blade might sustain heavy impact or lateral strain, then D-2 is not the best choice.” This got me to thinking.

1) What steels would be good for a bolo or some knife that would be used like an ax?
2) What steels would be good for a drop point, or other hunting pattern, that would be used on wood instead of hide or flesh?

Thanks,
Biscuits
 
One of the basic carbon steels (like 1095) would be a good choice for a bolo blade. It doesn't hold an edge very well, but resharpening it is a breeze. You can chop with it and don't have to worry about serious edge damage you cannot repair.

A excellent drop point working knife like the one you described could be made of BG-42 or S30V for example. But 154CM/ATS-34 would be just fine as well.
 
Spring steel (5160 or similar) makes an excellent steel for a large blade that will see abuse.
 
For impact use the best are 5160 and L6 or in stainless steel maybe 440A or AUS6.
 
For impact, 5160/5190 are excellent steels, as is anything from the 10xx series, anything 1050 and above. For cutting wood and stuff, D2 remains an excellent choice, but 154CM and ATS-34 are excellent options as well.
 
In the steel industry, D2 blades are used for shearing steel sheet. Of course the blades are bigger and thicker than our knives.
But that should give you an idea about the suitability of a D2 blade. My D2 blade Benchmade Griptillian is a tough knife.
Cheers,
og
 
I disagree with that statement that D-2 is not good for chopping. I make knives with nothing but D-2 and customer feedback and my own testing has proven that my knives skin, cut meat, split bone, chop down saplings and cut thick cartalidge of a deer breastbone. I also took a 3" by 1 1/2 wide drop point and sliced and chopped a 2x2 in half. D-2 is diffenently tough enough for chopping. Blade thickness has alot to do with strength. Check out my knives and tell me whether you think they look tough enough to do these things.
www.knifeshows.com/gossman
 
Razorback - Knives said:
D-2 is diffenently tough enough for chopping. Blade thickness has alot to do with strength.
Click to expand...

and directly cutting ability. While you can make it durable enough by increasing the cross section you then lose cutting ability. Just like if you temper it soft enough to make it decently ductile the edge retention starts to degrade significantly. The impact toughness and ductility of D2 is many times reduced over steels like 5160 and L6.

I am pretty sure though the Swamp Rat D2 blades could chop a 2x2 in half, not to put words in Eric's mouth, but he probably meant something more extreme. Phil Wilson has cut such sized wood in half with his stainless fillet blades. The problem comes when you hit something harder, or try to bend the knife significantly.

Specifically if you vice one of your thicker D2 blade how much can it bend before it takes a set, how much further can be bend before it breaks. If it is subjected to a heavy impact such as an anvil slap how does it break. What happens if the edge is chopped into something very hard, does it roll, dent or chip. Will the steel readily resist propogation of the crack into the primary grind?

Nice looking knives by the way, though I generally prefer larger handles even on smaller knives :

http://www.knifeshows.com/gossman/knife3.jpg


-Cliff
 
I disagree with the post regarding 1095 not holding a good edge, I have a custom 1095 by J. Neilson that holds an excellent edge and is still easily resharpened.
 
Cliff, thanks for the complement. By the way I'll make the handle as long as you would like. I aim to please. I understand what you mean but I haven't had a problem with loss of cutting ability because of blade thickness. I filleted the sinew from the backstrap of a deer with the thicker blade. I've had no problem with edge chipping , rolling or denting after chopping and have had no customer complaints thus far. Besides I 100% stand behind my work. My blades are guaranteed for life and I will repair or replace it if there is a problem. I have started to thin the blades down a little more though to enhance cutting ability even more. Thanks again
 
berettaman12000 said:
I disagree with the post regarding 1095 not holding a good edge ...
Click to expand...

You really need to put such commented into perspective, most 1095 blades are on the softer side, and it doesn't have a lot of alloy carbides, so the edge retention can be far behind other steels on soft cutting. A lot depends on the heat treatment though, I have a 1095 blade at 65+ HRC that would do very well in most edge holding comparisons on light work.

-Cliff
 
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