Thoughts on buying steel

[Alpha Knife Supply]

Blade steel certification information is important and I always wanted to provide it to knifemakers. The post by Matt pushed us to develop a new process. Five months later our cert process went live.

We receive certs and heat numbers with every steel shipment. We convert each heat number to a unique three letter code. The three letter code is written on every piece of steel. Almost every piece of steel we have has certs. The exceptions are some very old pieces. We currently have more than 400 certs available.

If you want to see how our process works, click on the link below:
https://www.alphaknifesupply.com/shop/blade-steel-certs

Click on the red “Lookup Cert” button and enter APA. This will bring up the certs for one of our 1084 mill runs.

Let us know if our cert process works for you and how we can improve it.

Chuck

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Chuck,
I really like your new system. Each bar has a unique code that can be referenced easily. Kudos to you and your staff for coming up with this.
You can have 17,576 different batches of steel on hand before this system fills up and you go to 4-letter codes.

I would advise everyone buying Chuck's steel to write the code on each side of each end of the bar. When you cut a piece off the bar, remark the cut end. White paint markers are best. The white paint will even survive HT. Fastenal has them specifically for marking metal. Amazon also sells the oil base paint markers. They are great for marking the metal type, your name, and other data on blades being sent out for HT.
It would also be a good idea to print out the cert (or save it on your hard drive) and keep it in a shop log.
If you buy someone else's steel, get the cert and give it a unique four-letter code as well (to avoid confusion with Chuck's steel). Put that code on the bars and on the certs.

 

[Sando]

Blade steel certification information is important and I always wanted to provide it to knifemakers. The post by Matt pushed us to develop a new process. Five months later our cert process went live.

We receive certs and heat numbers with every steel shipment. We convert each heat number to a unique three letter code. The three letter code is written on every piece of steel. Almost every piece of steel we have has certs. The exceptions are some very old pieces. We currently have more than 400 certs available.

If you want to see how our process works, click on the link below:
https://www.alphaknifesupply.com/shop/blade-steel-certs

Click on the red “Lookup Cert” button and enter APA. This will bring up the certs for one of our 1084 mill runs.

Let us know if our cert process works for you and how we can improve it.

Chuck

Chuck,

When I first figured out what those three letter codes were, I thought "Gee that's nice; they keep good records." But I also thought it doesn't matter to me.

Well, what I'm experiencing over on the "1084 grain size thread" I really appreciate your cert process! It's gonna help my pretest process, by recording which batch I'm testing. Then, before I treat a blade I can look up the correct recipe.

Just knowing the type of steel isn't enough, I'm realizing.

Thanks!

 

[Ken H>]

Blade steel certification information is important and I always wanted to provide it to knifemakers. The post by Matt pushed us to develop a new process. Five months later our cert process went live.

We receive certs and heat numbers with every steel shipment. We convert each heat number to a unique three letter code. The three letter code is written on every piece of steel. Almost every piece of steel we have has certs. The exceptions are some very old pieces. We currently have more than 400 certs available.

If you want to see how our process works, click on the link below:
https://www.alphaknifesupply.com/shop/blade-steel-certs

Click on the red “Lookup Cert” button and enter APA. This will bring up the certs for one of our 1084 mill runs.

Let us know if our cert process works for you and how we can improve it.

Chuck

Chuck, I'm a bit confused (normal state of mind for me), looking at the specs for the example 1084, it shows carbon as actual 0.820 while the min/max is .080/.930 - isn't that .080% a tad low? Would 1084 carbon steel ever be that low? I suspect a typo and should be 0.80?

while on this forum using an old thread is frowned on, I think this was an excellent example how it can be good to resurrect an old thread.

 

[Alpha Knife Supply]

Chuck, I'm a bit confused (normal state of mind for me), looking at the specs for the example 1084, it shows carbon as actual 0.820 while the min/max is .080/.930 - isn't that .080% a tad low? Would 1084 carbon steel ever be that low? I suspect a typo and should be 0.80?

Thank you for catching my mistake. I have to admit I stared at the certs for a long time before I saw the error. I updated all the 1084 certs to show the correct range.

Just knowing the type of steel isn't enough, I'm realizing.

This is a fact that really surprises me. The same alloy from different mills can have significant differences in performance and structure.

Chuck

 

[deerrockknives]

Do you think it could’ve been work hardened? I’ve had that happen on magnacut and cru wear straight away when I have my band saw speed up way high. Slowed it way down and now I don’t have a problem.

 

[Matthew Gregory]

The post by Matt pushed us to develop a new process. Five months later our cert process went live.


Chuck

Chuck, I had no idea that I was the catalyst for this, and I know how much of a pain in this ass this may have caused for you - nonetheless, I’m glad you stepped up to the pump. As far as I can tell, you’re the ONLY one that has. I still talk to people all the time that continue to have issues with steel during heat treat, and surprise surprise they never have any of the corresponding documentation for it. Almost none of them are made whole by the vendor, and they have no recourse. You can bring a horse to water…