what steel for a bowie

Someone is going to say INFI, someone else will say Carbon V, then differentially heat treated 51050, 1095 from Newt or tops. I would like a 10in VG-10 blade or BG-42. I don't care if it won't perform or sharpen as easily as carbon steel. I just want a large knife that can take a soaking as well as lop off some tree heads. Stainless might not be the best for such a large knife, but at least with stainless steels you can do the stuff on land and the stuff in water. It would be cool if I just had one knife that I could take everywhere from hiking to surfing. (I don't really surf, but I do go swimming in the ocean with my sog seal) Now that I think about it, 10in anchor of steel wouldn't be such a good idea out in the water.

[This message has been edited by generallobster (edited 10-25-2000).]
 
5160 or L6 would be my pick. L6 is a real bastid to work (forge and grind), but is very tough when heat treated properly. 5160 is easy to forge, and is a good using steel for a large bladed knife.

[This message has been edited by MaxTheKnife (edited 10-25-2000).]
 
I wouldn't worry about the steel too much. Grind and balance are everything on a bowie. Once you find a maker who makes the best bowie in the world, ask him which steels he prefers to use. Most likely, if he makes real bowies and not show knives that look like bowies, he will be recommending a good tough steel. Anything with a differential heat treatment would be my first choice because it offers the best of both worlds, a hard edge and a tough blade (plus I like temper lines), which could be 1084, 5160, O-1, 52100, or L-6 (though not that many makers use L-6 anymore). Jerry Hossom feels that CPM3V, heat treated by Paul Bos is the ultimate. I have been very happy with my uniformly tempered A-2 bowies, and even with an ATS-34 bowie. The secret is in the heat treat. Whatever the maker is using, just ask what he does special in the heat treat to optimize the blade for fighting. If he can give you a detailed answer of how he arrived at the ht he is using, chances are, it is good.

[This message has been edited by Steve Harvey (edited 10-25-2000).]
 
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