Which stainless for guards?

I

irbailey

Joined
May 11, 2008
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I've been toying with the idea of trying some stainless for my guards, and wondered which would be the best grade to start with? I've never worked with it before, and know very little about which is easiest to work, solder etc.
Up until now I've used brass and soft solder, for guards, and any tips would be very much appreciated.
All my fitting is done by hand with warding files, as I have no milling machine:mad:

Cheers, Ian
 
Greetings Ian.
I'm pretty much at the same stage myself. I ordered some 416 last week, so hopefully I can give you feedback on it here shortly. ~Cliff
 
416 is pretty much standard as far as I know! Easy to work with and finishes nice. Just my two cents worth...
 
The few stainless guards I have hand have been from 416, and it works easily and slots pretty good with files.
 
Fastenal carries 18-8, 303, 304, 316, and 416 stainless steel stock.

I wonder what forged stainless would look like on euro type swords and complex hilts as opposed to just bolsters.
 
Hands down 416. It works easily, can take a very nice satin finish (my preference) or mirror polish. Most importantly for me, is that it's not super difficult to match it with wood, horn, ivory, etc. 300 series is very hard to blend with the handle material (IMO).

416 can also be heat-treated if you wish to do so.

416
416
416
:)
 
I only use 416 for bolsters and guards, works easily, takes a mirror finish that really stands out. No problem with solder, works great. Like I said, it's all I use except for bronze on occasions.
 
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NickWheeler said:
Hands down 416. It works easily, can take a very nice satin finish (my preference) or mirror polish. Most importantly for me, is that it's not super difficult to match it with wood, horn, ivory, etc. 300 series is very hard to blend with the handle material (IMO).

416 can also be heat-treated if you wish to do so.

416
416
416
:)
Click to expand...

Nick, what type of heat treating are we talking? Knife quality?
 
I've read one guys page where he extolls the virtues of using only 304 and how much better it is than 4xx series and that you have to HT 416 to get all the good qualities out of it.

Well, I haven't used either but I have used brass as have miriad others and all I have to say is that 416 is light years ahead of brass. Maybe 304 is better than 416, but who really cares??
 
I tried the 316 from fastenall. It was about as hard as supermans kneecap.The stuff
Tracy sells is a lot easier to work with.

Greg
 
Sam Salvati said:
Nick, what type of heat treating are we talking? Knife quality?
Click to expand...

416 will not harden enough for use as blade steel. What Nick Is refering to is when you heat treat 416 it toughens up a little and increases the stain and rust resistence while still being easy to work and machine.Some of the linerlock makers will use it in it's hardned state for the lock side liner.It is cheaper than titanium,and easier to work:D
 
416 for every size you can find it in and 410 for the real thin sheet if you can't find it in 416. From what I have been told, 416 is basically 410 with an added element to make it machine more easily. The 300 series stainless that the knife suppliers sell is rather "gummy" like nickel silver when you try to machine it.
 
While it may not be of interest to most, if there is any desire that engraving be done, use 416. Many, many engravers will turn down 300 series stainless out of hand.
 
Well, seems like 416 is the king of guards.
Thank you all for your help.
Anything scary I should know about soldering? I'm guessing its a different ball game to brass;)

Cheers, Ian
 
I agree with what every one else said about the 400 series of SS. Also on an added note 300 series ss seems to be harder to get solder to stick to for some reason you can do it but it is harder. I use 416, 410 and 420 for slip joints, guards, bolsters, and ferrules
 
I use Brownell's Hi Force 44, been using it for years along with the flux they recommend with it.......don't overheat it and should work just fine. There are several solder and flux combo's on the market, this is the one I use. Yes, there is a difference between it and Brass. Good luck.
 
I used 304L for a guard once, I wont again if I can get other types, the so called free machining 304L is not easy to shape. The hard as supermans Kneecaps line was a very good analogy.

Steve Sells
fenrisforge.com
 
I had another thread on how to drill 304, it is not worth the trouble. The other consideration is if you are going to pin you need ss pins to match. 416 is easy to work with and available so are 416 pins.
 
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