Time to recommend a new beginner steel

I'm going to say I have not done well with 80CRV2. Not having a hardness tester makes it hard to say to say exactly what I am getting. My first blades with 80CRV2 felt kinda gummy when sharpening them like they had underhardend. Edge retention sucked as well. I did my best to give the next ones a 3-5 min soak by eye and they seemed better but they still seem prone to wire edges and feel gummy when sharpening. I received a small hunter from the KITH that sharpens up just like 1084 and it makes me feel like I am doing something wrong. I read on another forum that 5160 should be heated much hotter than 1084 because of the alloy. It didn't sound right to me but then I am still foggy about a lot of things. Do you guys have any suggestions?

I have never had problems with 1084 and also have been very happy with 15n20 with my little setup. I wish they made 15n20 in thicker stock. The best part of 15n20 is that it doesn't rust as bad. That is huge if the knife is going to go anywhere near a kitchen. I really want to like 80CRV2 for large choppers so I'm going to keep trying. Once work picks up i will get a oven and then a lot more steels open up. Can't wait.
 
I’m thinking that those having trouble with this steel need to refine the heat treat. Accurate time and temperature is always best.

80crV2 does require a little higher aus temp. Quenching from too close to non-magnetic will cause under hardening. I see a lot more smiths over heating more than under heating though.

Heat treating takes a lot of practice, it should be the easiest thing we do, but it’s not.

8670 will harden from lower aus temps because of the added nickel. For those having trouble with 80crV2, give 8670 a try.

Edit* Recommended aus temps for both 8670 and 80crV2 are ~1550-1620f.

Hoss
 
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skillgannon said:
I'm going to say I have not done well with 80CRV2. Not having a hardness tester makes it hard to say to say exactly what I am getting. My first blades with 80CRV2 felt kinda gummy when sharpening them like they had underhardend. Edge retention sucked as well. I did my best to give the next ones a 3-5 min soak by eye and they seemed better but they still seem prone to wire edges and feel gummy when sharpening. I received a small hunter from the KITH that sharpens up just like 1084 and it makes me feel like I am doing something wrong. I read on another forum that 5160 should be heated much hotter than 1084 because of the alloy. It didn't sound right to me but then I am still foggy about a lot of things. Do you guys have any suggestions?

I have never had problems with 1084 and also have been very happy with 15n20 with my little setup. I wish they made 15n20 in thicker stock. The best part of 15n20 is that it doesn't rust as bad. That is huge if the knife is going to go anywhere near a kitchen. I really want to like 80CRV2 for large choppers so I'm going to keep trying. Once work picks up i will get a oven and then a lot more steels open up. Can't wait.
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Some stock is course spheroidized, and needs to be normalized and thermal cycled. If you buy from AKS, it’s ready for heat treat without any cycling. The spheroidized stock comes out at Rc35-45 if you just try to heat treat it without normalizing. It’ll be Rc66 if set up properly.
 
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I'm always curious of how damascus with pure nickel as main composition perform? like W1 + nickel vs 1084 + 15n20.
 
Willie71 said:
Some stock is course spheroidized, and needs to be normalized and thermal cycled. If you buy from AKS, it’s ready for heat treat without any cycling. The spheroidized stock comes out at Rc35-45 if you just try to heat treat it without normalizing. It’ll be Rc66 if set up properly.
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It gets hard enough to pass the file test. It just seems to be harder to heat treat. I do get my steel from Aldo if that makes a difference.

What if any difference is there using a atlas forge for heat treatment between 1084 and 80CRV2?
 
I was curious how this steel would do in “standard” Damascus steel, both with the forge welding and in the contrast vs 1080/1084. Since I’ve ended up with good results (although I’m using my salt pot), I figured if it worked well with 15n20, it’d be worth using it for pattern welding, too?

Jeremy
 
skillgannon said:
It gets hard enough to pass the file test. It just seems to be harder to heat treat. I do get my steel from Aldo if that makes a difference.

What if any difference is there using a atlas forge for heat treatment between 1084 and 80CRV2?
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1084 heat treats well around 1500f, where 80crv2 needs a bit more heat, 1550f-1625f or so.

Try getting it a bit hotter, over 1650f for a few minutes, then three heats progressively cooler, cooling to black between each heat. Then do your heat treat and quench.
 
What about the quench oil for 80CRV2? I've heard that you want it to be a bit slower, so would canola be better than Parks 50? I have a few bars on hand that I planned on using for large choppers, but haven't used any yet. I haven't used canola at all since I got the Parks 50.
 
Willie71 said:
1084 heat treats well around 1500f, where 80crv2 needs a bit more heat, 1550f-1625f or so.

Try getting it a bit hotter, over 1650f for a few minutes, then three heats progressively cooler, cooling to black between each heat. Then do your heat treat and quench.
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Has your opinion changed since https://bladeforums.com/threads/favorite-80crv2-hardening-methods.1482539/ ?

I'm only asking because that thread was the last time I've heat treated 80CRV2 and 1500f seemed just fine.
 
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We need someone to make a few charpy coupons in order to find the sweet spot.

1500f, 1525, 1550, 1575, and 1600 would be nice.

Hoss
 
DevinT said:
I’m not sure why the recommended aus temp is so high. I’ve been doing my damascus at 1525 to match the core with good toughness and hardness.

Hoss
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I know AKS had a chart for 1550-1650 but that was assumed to be "industrial" heat treat. I could see 1500-1550 for us, with a sweet spot somewhere but 1600+ seems excessive.
 
I wish there was another recommendation for beginner steel that shared easy workability and heat treating at home.

As a beginner looking for 1084, I am finding it difficult to source in certain sizes, specifically 5/32 thickness. NJ Steel Baron is out of stock on their web page of many sizes. Alpha Knife has 1/8 and 3/16. A Canadian supplier has it but doesn't seem to ship outside the US.
 
Its pretty much all ive used. Besides some 15n20 and i much prefer the 80crv2. It forges pretty well, ht is easy in my 2 brick forge and i can get it pretty damn sharp. Dont really see a reason to change steel anytime soon
 
ashwinearl said:
I wish there was another recommendation for beginner steel that shared easy workability and heat treating at home.

As a beginner looking for 1084, I am finding it difficult to source in certain sizes, specifically 5/32 thickness. NJ Steel Baron is out of stock on their web page of many sizes. Alpha Knife has 1/8 and 3/16. A Canadian supplier has it but doesn't seem to ship outside the US.
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Aldo has .130 15n20 it's what I am switching to for smaller knives. 80CRV2 for larger ones.
 
So what happens after all of this foreign steel that we currently use gets the 25% tariff slapped on it?
 
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