Which Sandvik steel & why?

[Darrin Sanders]

I've made a few blades out of 13C26 and I am sold on sandvik steel, but it only comes in .100 & .130 thicknesses. 12C27 & 19C27 come in heavier gauges. I was wondering which of these is closest to 13C26. And also any thoughts on good and bad points of all three of these. Thanks in advance for any and all info.

 

[Dan Pierson]

If you look up Sandvik's pdf on steels and hardening (don't have the URL handy right
now), they recommend 12C27 for knives in general. Both it and 13C26 have very fine,
well distributed carbides. The describe 19C27 as a large carbide steel to be used where
edge hardness is more important than a fine edge. The also claim that 19C27 is more
like, say 440C, than their other steels.

This is clearly a biased source but one that should be knowledgeable about Sandvik
steels

 

[Larrin]

Sandvik's site is great, it has lots of info: http://www.smt.sandvik.com/hardeningguide

In particular click on Picture Gallery -> Microstructure. They also have heat treatment procedures, explanations of the different grades, and some recommended uses.

12C27 and 13C26 are very similar, 12C27 is a little more corrosion resistant and a little tougher (and being available in larger sizes is good for larger knives). 13C26 gets harder and is a littler more wear resistant. Both are very tough and very easy to sharpen. They say that 19C27 is a "large carbide" grade. As you can see in the microstructure pictures, it's still a lot finer than many other conventionally cast grades (look at 154CM, N690, and 440C). It gets quite hard as you can see in the heat treatment procedures, and it has pretty good wear resistance. Its corrosion resistance isn't the most impressive I've seen, however.

 

[JTknives]

I have been looking at these steels for having a bunch of knives laser cut. it seames that for what we want 12c27 is the best acording to Sandvik. I will be getting 12c27 for my knives as i have heard nothing but goog about it.

here is there chart

 

[Don Hanson III]

If I had to use stainless, it would be 12C27.

Because it acts the closest to a high carbon non-stainless in use. Thin edge, tough, easy to sharpen, etc...

But I'll stick with W2

 

[Larrin]

Sandvik does seem to favor their 12C27. I prefer 13C26 for its greater hardness and wear resistance.