The steel

Evan Martin

Evan Martin

Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
521
I know this has been thrown around a hundred times but if I want to grind and heat treat all in house what is the best steal to use what works like butter and has a foolproof heattreat I have heard 1095 then I here don't use that 1084 is better then I here 5160 then 01 what do I need to buy
 
The thing you have to understand is that there are always trade offs. For the most part anything from 440c to the latest and greatest hyper alloy top secrete steel will work well for a knife and do a good job.

The best all around for the beginner that is not forging would IMO be 0-1, it's easy to heat treat, makes a good blade, is easy to sharpen holds a good edge. If you were forging I'd say go with 5160, it's very forgiving, makes a very tough blade and is easy to sharpen and holds a good edge. There are better steels out there, but there not that much better and the level of difficulty rises quickly

There's nothing wrong with 1095, you just have to be a little quicker on the quench, you've got something like 1 second to go from criticle to the the quenchant, 1084 is no longer made from what I understand and could be hard to find in sizes suited for stock removal, 5160 tends to work better forged and I haven't seen it much below 1/4" thick.

That said there's not that big a differance between those listed, pick one and learn everything you can about it and you'll have a good knife.
 
Well I have been called a fool and I have messed up all kinds of steel so I dont know if any of them are fool proof. 10xx steels are simpler steels so they take less to heat treat. 5160 and 01 are more complicated so they are slightly harder to heat treat. But if you have some sort of controlled heat treating oven/kiln/forge then any of these steels are fine. 1095 and O-1 will make blades that have better edge retention. If you are going primitive on the heat treat 10xx steels are the best bet.

I hope I am helping more than I am hurting. This is my $0.02.
WillCrump
 
The 'beginner' steels are 1070-1084 and 5160. They are easy to forge , heat treat and grind and are " forgiving" in that if you haven't done it perfectly it won't be a disaster.
 
What mete said. Also, L-6 is a good in shop steel. HT is not hard if you pay attention to the details. It also makes an excellent larger knife. L-6 is basically 1070 plus nickel.
Stacy
 
Well, I put my hat in the the 1080/1084 crowd. Anyone who's seen me post in these threads knows that though. 1084 can be had from Kelly Cupples, I don't know any other place to get it, but 1080 is close and available all over.
 
I made my first knives (stock removal) from O1 because I was told that if and when I messed the heat treat up I could anneal and redo the heat treat. Now that I only do forging I primarily use 1080 and 1095. I'm going to start using some W1 because I've seen some incredible hamon/temper lines with it.

Will
formerly known as badbamaump
 
Mr. Ev's, or may I call you hevy? I am surprised that the obvious question here has not been addressed yet, except for when Steelshaper wisely touched upon it. What sort of tools and equipkment do you possess for in house heat treating? And also what kind of knives do you intend to make?

If all you possess is a forge or a torch you steels will have to be simple enough to accomodate those rudimentary tools- 10XX series, or possibly 5160. If you have heat sources capable of holding precise temperature for extended periods of time, or even capable of progamable ramping features then the sky is the limit in the steels you wish to use.

If you have not equipped your shop yet or are considering upgrading the equipment then the first question that needs to be asked, but bladesmiths rarely do:(, is what kind of knives do you want to make. If they will be mostly small slicers like skinners and hunters then steels like 1095, O1, W2 etc.. will top the list. If you want to make big bruisers and choppers or a super duper-stab-your-car-door-and-stand-on-the-handle type survival knife, then look at steels like L6, 5160, S7 or anything with carbon at .8% or less (.5% or less for the stupid super duper-stab-your-car-door-and-stand-on-the-handle type stuff;))
 
Kevin R. Cashen said:
Mr. Ev's, or may I call you hevy? I am surprised that the obvious question here has not been addressed yet, except for when Steelshaper wisely touched upon it. What sort of tools and equipkment do you possess for in house heat treating? And also what kind of knives do you intend to make?

If all you possess is a forge or a torch you steels will have to be simple enough to accomodate those rudimentary tools- 10XX series, or possibly 5160. If you have heat sources capable of holding precise temperature for extended periods of time, or even capable of progamable ramping features then the sky is the limit in the steels you wish to use.

If you have not equipped your shop yet or are considering upgrading the equipment then the first question that needs to be asked, but bladesmiths rarely do:(, is what kind of knives do you want to make. If they will be mostly small slicers like skinners and hunters then steels like 1095, O1, W2 etc.. will top the list. If you want to make big bruisers and choppers or a super duper-stab-your-car-door-and-stand-on-the-handle type survival knife, then look at steels like L6, 5160, S7 or anything with carbon at .8% or less (.5% or less for the stupid super duper-stab-your-car-door-and-stand-on-the-handle type stuff;))
Click to expand...

haha well spoken
 
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