What steels are you making knives with

[C L Wilkins]

I have been making knives only a few years now and to be honest with you, I don't really KNOW that much about the "newer" steels available today. I have no idea what 3V is and just recently became aware of Talonite only by the discussions on this forum and visiting Rob Simonich's site. I have made knives out of the following:

440V
Cruwear (I love the stuff!)
154CM
440C
D2

What are some the "newer" steels available and what properties do they have as far as toughness, edge holding, etc go? How difficult are they to grind in the annealed state?

I primarily make hunting knives and the blades I make are rarely if ever over 4 inches long and I only do stock removal at this point.

Any "education" in this area would be appreciated.

CLWilkins

 

[amacks]

I've heard very little about Cruwear, could you give me some details about alloy content, and why you like it so much

Aaron

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Why did you stab that girl?
You won't believe this, but I had too much coffee!
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aaronm@cs.brandeis.edu

 

[C L Wilkins]

Cruwear is still manufactured by Crucible.
Vascowear, which was manufactured by Vasco Pacific, is no longer available. This is not a "stainless" steel. It holds an edge forever, plus a day. I primarily make hunting knives and from what I have used, this has proven to be my favorite. It cuts and cuts and cuts and......
There are a couple of things that I will caution you on. It will rust if not cared for properly. When grinding the blade, I recommend not wearing gloves so you can feel the heat. When it gets too hot in your hands, dunk it in water. I once got a blade too hot and it "work hardened". It just started knocking all the grit off of the belt! It was totally useless afterwards. That piece is now used to open paint cans and such. This steel is fairly hard in its annealed state as well. It is about like grinding 154CM or 440V. No where near as soft as 440C or D2.

One other thing, don't expect a super clean mirror finish. About 800 to 1200 grit is about it, I may even be exagerating a bit.

The makeup is as follows for both steels:

Vascowear Cruwear

C 1.10 1.10

Cr 7.75 7.50

Mo 1.60 1.60

V 2.40 2.40

Si 1.20 1.10

Mn .30 -

Ni - -

W 1.10 1.10

Texas Knifemakers Supply carries this stuff.
They charge a little more to heat treat due to it having to be double drawn but in my opinion, it is worth it. Just don't go buying all of their stock!

CLWilkins

 

[Darrel Ralph]

The 3v and 420 v and 440v seem to be the hot tickets along with talonite.

I use them all. A month ago or so I had a collector maker up . We made a chef knife out of 420v. Its fantastic..

BUT I just made two bowies today out of 5160 . So the steels fit the knife there going to.
Nothing like a temper line in a 12 in bowie

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