What steel to buy in addition to 1084?

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b_rogers

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Sep 25, 2011
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I am putting together my first steel order, (Aldo) and want to buy something different or "upgrade" in addition to 1084 that I will send out for heat treat. I was thinking cpm154cm? I have a Benchmade with that steel and I really like that knife, it has held a great edge for a long time.

I have a 2x42 but mainly use files for shaping if that matters..

I noticed that 52100 is VERY reasonably priced, why is that? I noticed some heated discussions on heat treating that stuff. Would that steel make a good steel for short Japanese style swords?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm trying to sift through all the info in the stickies and stuff.

Thanks a bunch

Brent
 
For a basic steel 1084 is excellent .It's easy to work and HT but if you're sending it out it doesn't much matter. You might try A-2 , non-stainless it has excellent wear resistance , good toughness.CPM154 [the proper name] is one of the best stainless powder steels .
 
CPM-154 is an outstanding steel, makes excellent blades and is available in a wide range of sizes. It's a great choice if you want to work with stainless steel and have access to pro HT. :thumbup:
 
mete said:
For a basic steel 1084 is excellent .It's easy to work and HT but if you're sending it out it doesn't much matter. You might try A-2 , non-stainless it has excellent wear resistance , good toughness.CPM154 [the proper name] is one of the best stainless powder steels .
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Thanks for the quick reply and info! Wear and toughness are important to me for sure, that what got me interested in the 52100 bearing steel.
 
If you order CPM 154 from Aldo, see if he'll surface grind the scale off for you. Trust me, pay extra to have this done. Especially with your 2x42! And if you don't have some 60 grit Blaze belts on hand waiting for that CPM 154, better pack a lunch and have a lot of other belts because you're gonna need it! I love CPM 154, but it will take a toll on you if you don't have the right equipment. Also, grind it to nearly finished before sending it out for HT.

Don't do like I did and grind out the profile and send it out for HT thinking you'll grind it hard to finish when it comes back, because you'll get a whole nother definition of grinding hard if you do!!!
 
Mudbug007 said:
If you order CPM 154 from Aldo, see if he'll surface grind the scale off for you. Trust me, pay extra to have this done. Especially with your 2x42! And if you don't have some 60 grit Blaze belts on hand waiting for that CPM 154, better pack a lunch and have a lot of other belts because you're gonna need it! I love CPM 154, but it will take a toll on you if you don't have the right equipment. Also, grind it to nearly finished before sending it out for HT.

Don't do like I did and grind out the profile and send it out for HT thinking you'll grind it hard to finish when it comes back, because you'll get a whole nother definition of grinding hard if you do!!!
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Thanks for the heads up! Its that big of a bear to work with huh? Maybe I should wait on that until I get some better belts.
 
b_rogers said:
Thanks for the heads up! Its that big of a bear to work with huh? Maybe I should wait on that until I get some better belts.
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As I understand it, Aldo will grind the scale off. I still have quite a bit from my first order, but you can bet that the next time I buy it, I'll have it ground off. That scale is SUPER hard. Once I got past that, it wasn't bad. Just don't send it off to HT before you get most of your grinding done.

BTW, you can get the Norton Blaze belts for the 2x42 at TruGrit.
 
I will second everything MudBug said. When possible, pay a couple extra bucks and let your supplier surface grind your barstock for you, it's worth it. Pickling unground barstock makes it somewhat easier to grind the mill-scale off. Once clean and bare, annealed CPM-154 isn't noticeably more difficult to grind or drill than any other steel I've used. Pro HT shops like Peters' and Bos will keep your blades very clean and straight, so you can go right up to final dimensions and finish before HT.

Go for it!
 
Excellent info guys, thank you so much. It should be ready to grind, (provided he takes the scale off for me) in annealed state from the Baron correct?
 
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