- Joined
- Oct 22, 2012
- Messages
- 314
In a recent thread, I was introduced to using planar blades in knife making. The most common steel for planar blades is M2, which most of us know makes for a great knife steel.
Interestingly though, it seems M2 is only a low or mid-range choice in these applications, being outperformed most notably by T1, a Tungsten-heavy steel (18%!) That was invented over 100 years ago.I understand why T1 is not a common steel in knife making, it is expensive due to dwindling tungsten supplies, it is difficult to harden, requiring over 2300F sustained to treat, and it is hard to find in convenient sizes for stock-removal. However, if it has 25-30% an edge retention gain over M2 with the toughness of D2, I count it as a great choice despite this (it is also non-stainless, which is a black mark for many today).
This piqued my interest and I did a little digging into T type steels, especially T15, (with 12% Tungsten and 5% Vanadium), which according to Hudson Metals, Simply Tool Steel, and Crucible , is also a current CPM steel, and in this form at 65HRC has nearly the toughness of M2 (at 63, mind) and more than twice the wear resistance, if the second link can be trusted. These properties put it close to 10V in overall properties, so unless there are other factors involved here, I would submit this as a fantastic choice for custom knives if it can be sourced cheaply. Note, however, it shares a high hardening temperature with T1 (around 2250F) that would make it difficult to HT on-site for many.
Then there are the F-Class tool steels or "Special Purpose". These steels are also supposed to have high Tungsten and Carbon, but I can find little info on them as yet. What I have dug up is they are tailor-made for high wear applications but are relatively costly. These would seem to be good knife-steel candidates, but without more info, I can't be sure. Does anyone else have any info on these steels?
Lastly, am I missing any obvious choices? These higher-alloy tool steels are very fascinating to me since so much effort is put into developing new steels like S30V and 3V, when steels like L-6, S7, T1, and even 5160 (not a tool steel by definition, I know) have been around for decades (or in the case of T1 and 5160) over a century and deliver similar performance (minus the corrosion resistance of course). This isn't to say I'm not 100% behind innovation in metallurgy and new alloys however, it's just fascinating.
Interestingly though, it seems M2 is only a low or mid-range choice in these applications, being outperformed most notably by T1, a Tungsten-heavy steel (18%!) That was invented over 100 years ago.I understand why T1 is not a common steel in knife making, it is expensive due to dwindling tungsten supplies, it is difficult to harden, requiring over 2300F sustained to treat, and it is hard to find in convenient sizes for stock-removal. However, if it has 25-30% an edge retention gain over M2 with the toughness of D2, I count it as a great choice despite this (it is also non-stainless, which is a black mark for many today).
This piqued my interest and I did a little digging into T type steels, especially T15, (with 12% Tungsten and 5% Vanadium), which according to Hudson Metals, Simply Tool Steel, and Crucible , is also a current CPM steel, and in this form at 65HRC has nearly the toughness of M2 (at 63, mind) and more than twice the wear resistance, if the second link can be trusted. These properties put it close to 10V in overall properties, so unless there are other factors involved here, I would submit this as a fantastic choice for custom knives if it can be sourced cheaply. Note, however, it shares a high hardening temperature with T1 (around 2250F) that would make it difficult to HT on-site for many.
Then there are the F-Class tool steels or "Special Purpose". These steels are also supposed to have high Tungsten and Carbon, but I can find little info on them as yet. What I have dug up is they are tailor-made for high wear applications but are relatively costly. These would seem to be good knife-steel candidates, but without more info, I can't be sure. Does anyone else have any info on these steels?
Lastly, am I missing any obvious choices? These higher-alloy tool steels are very fascinating to me since so much effort is put into developing new steels like S30V and 3V, when steels like L-6, S7, T1, and even 5160 (not a tool steel by definition, I know) have been around for decades (or in the case of T1 and 5160) over a century and deliver similar performance (minus the corrosion resistance of course). This isn't to say I'm not 100% behind innovation in metallurgy and new alloys however, it's just fascinating.