Which 1095 from Admiral Steel

D

dphipps

Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
7
Hey, I wanted to finally start buying known steel and I went to Admirals web site and they offer; cold rolled 1095, hot rolled 1095, so which one do you choose.
 
I purchased the cold rolled as it has no scales to grind off. 1095 is not a good starter steel as it is hard to heat treat. I purchased a lot of 1080 prior because of that reason. Because it was hot rolled I went through a ton of belts before I as even able to actually grinding a blade. I sold every bit of it and purchased about 200' of the cold rolled 1095. I will just have someone heat treat it for me when I am ready.
 
I'll second Jim's post.

When/if you get set up for 1095 (consistent/accurate heat source and commercial quenchant) then cold rolled is really nice if you're doing stock removal. The cold rolled 1095 I have, darn near has a mirror finish it's so clean! :eek:
 
Don't buy from Admiral, buy from Aldo, Kelly cupples, Pops, or someone like that Admiral sucks! Oh yes, unless you have a fair amount of experience with heat treat use 1070-1084

-Page
 
HR P&O (pickled and oiled) is not bad at all. I got some 1075 from Admiral, and it had no scale whatsoever.

HR AR (as rolled) is where you'll get scale.
 
I just made 20 plus knives from 1095 cold roll from Admiral steel I bought in Jan. I quench in just water and used a charcoal forge I didn't have any problems. I love 1095 it is tough steel and cheap. Rat Cutlery use it in it knives and I use it in my powder coated tacticals also.
Keep it simple and have fun. It is whole lot more fun when you trash a 3.00 piece of steel than a 10.00 piece steel.
 
There have been loads of complaints about Admiral on here. So much so, that a few years back they decided to make a presence here to address customer wants/issues. That lasted about 4 days.

I think most of the folks there are nice enough, but I've personally had enough issues to not deal with them anymore. The most common one is receiving the wrong steel. I once ordered 6 - 3' bars of ATS-34 and received 8 - 6' bars of 440C. That one was easy to see as it was all marked.

The one that pissed me off most, was getting a couple of bars of 440C mixed in with my ATS-34 and I didn't know about it until Paul Bos sent me back my blades and told me that about 6 of them didn't harden because they weren't ATS-34. :grumpy: That sure was NOT Paul's fault.

Admiral shears their bar from plate, and it's VERY common to get steel that's warped all over the place.

There are guys that have always had good service with them, and I'm glad for them. However, I do not order from them now-a-days. :)
 
NickWheeler said:
There have been loads of complaints about Admiral on here. So much so, that a few years back they decided to make a presence here to address customer wants/issues. That lasted about 4 days.

I think most of the folks there are nice enough, but I've personally had enough issues to not deal with them anymore. The most common one is receiving the wrong steel. I once ordered 6 - 3' bars of ATS-34 and received 8 - 6' bars of 440C. That one was easy to see as it was all marked.

The one that pissed me off most, was getting a couple of bars of 440C mixed in with my ATS-34 and I didn't know about it until Paul Bos sent me back my blades and told me that about 6 of them didn't harden because they weren't ATS-34. :grumpy: That sure was NOT Paul's fault.

Admiral shears their bar from plate, and it's VERY common to get steel that's warped all over the place.

There are guys that have always had good service with them, and I'm glad for them. However, I do not order from them now-a-days. :)
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Nick I just ordered my last 1095 from Jantz when I ordered my other supplies.
Thank you for heads up.
 
And BTW- Nobody said 1095 is bad steel. It's very common and has been around forever. I happen to like it a lot :) Lots of folks have made decent knives out of it with simple backyard heat-treating methods. However, it's very unlikely the steel will reach its full potential with backyard methods. :)
 
If I was thinking about using something like 1095, unless I was buying it from someone I trusted to deliver product that worked as advertised every time, like Aldo or Kelly Cupples, I might consider paying a bit extra and using W1 instead so I would be a bit more sure of the quality control. Am I off base here?
 
I don't think so Joe... that's my take on it. The hang-up is stock removal guys. It's rare to find W1 in barstock, yet it's pretty common in 1095. The other thing is 1095 is pretty common in sheet, for guys that are going with water jet cutting.

The 1095 barstock I have, came from Kelly Cupples. It was so pretty, I wanted to frame it and leave it on the wall. :D Unfortunately I screwed up and made a 9" fighter out of it. ;)

Oh, and there's about 150# of that big ass 1095 from Aldo in my shop too :D
 
NickWheeler said:
There have been loads of complaints about Admiral on here.


The one that pissed me off most, was getting a couple of bars of 440C mixed in with my ATS-34 and I didn't know about it until Paul Bos sent me back my blades and told me that about 6 of them didn't harden because they weren't ATS-34. :grumpy: That sure was NOT Paul's fault.

Admiral shears their bar from plate, and it's VERY common to get steel that's warped all over the place.
Click to expand...


Oh my God, that is so unacceptable.

I heard enough bad stuff about them early on that I've never ordered from them, but that takes the cake.


Hot rolled / cold rolled.

Cold rolled has more stress rolled in it and is usually harder. Hot roll will warp less, and can be easier to work. Cold rolled is more dimensionally accurate, and has square corners etc.

The scale on HR can be a problem, but I can't remember the last time I got a piece of HR that wasn't pickled and oiled. If you ask for it, most places have it that way.

The rolling process can create an alligator tread Patten in CR that shows up while grinding.

HR costs less.
 
Mike Carter Custom Knives said:
Example?

I have only had very good experiences with Admiral.
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I called Admiral to order 25lb of 1/8" 1075 sheet. I gave them my UPS account number for the shipping, and I got a quote for the steel ($3.95 per lb). Then I said "are there going to be any other charges for this order?". "No" was the answer.

Then they charge my credit card $100 for the steel and $25 for packaging...
 
my last order from Admiral, I called them, I ordered 1095 cold finish, my card was charged as if that was what I was getting, I got a bar that is extremely scaled, with banding up the center. I'm afraid to use it, some a__hat might sue me for wootz patent violation, The L6 I ordered on the phone came as 5670, nobody told me that they substitute when I talked to them to place the order, the 1080 came as 1070. when I called them after finally getting my order they basically told me to piss off, that I should be grateful that they even bother with small knifemakers. I have indeed pissed off, and have never given them a second order. That order was overpriced, the order was completely wrong, and their customer service was unapologetic, actually rude

-Page
 
I have no problem heat treating 1095. If you stake with the improper heat treating process you will not have any problems at all. But if you try to do it your way and not the right way you will encounter problems and it will all show up in the end results. :yawn:

Second I would like to mentioned that I have ordered from Admiral Steel for years with no problems at all. They have always been helpful people to deal with. I just order up some more 1095 CRA just the another day. Lately it seem like I been using a lot of it. Most of my customer request this in knives. Sorry to hear of any bad experience with a supplier. The economy is bad enough without adding to the problem. But this is just my two cents worth. :)

Terry
 
The 200' I mentioned above was from Admiral and it was the second time I ordered from them with no problems?
 
I have had great service from Admiral....and have had screwed up orders. I agree that getting the wrong item is a common problem with smaller ( less than a ton) orders. The only good thing is that if you catch the problem, they usually just ship you the right stuff and tell you to keep the wrong stuff. Many smiths have stopped using Admiral. I use Crucible and Aldo. Crucible's rep comes to my shop and chats with me a couple times a year.
Stacy
 
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