which steel for a tough, forged 5"?

[hardheart]

Trying to figure out what steel I'd like on a smallish utility knife I'd like to have forged. It would be full flat ground and a somewhat narrow profile. I also want this to be tough (I think that is the right term) as far as flex and resistance to breaking. Don't want it run too soft though, as it will be short & light and I wouldn't plan on heavy impacts. Something in a brushed finish that won't pit terribly in storage (though I would keep the blade coated). On that, I want it to have a hidden tang (micarta handle), dunno if there's really much of a corrosion issue there. I get my stock removal whiz bang stainless steels fix in folders, so I'm looking for something different in the steel for this. Might even want a nice hamon on it, so a steel type that shows that well with an etch would be nice.

 

[raylaconico]

Try 1095 or 1084 steels if you want a nice hamon. It's not the toughest steel but it's pretty tough and gets bold hamons IMHO.
-Ray

 

[John Frankl]

At that length, with that profile, and for that purpose, there won't be huge differences in toughness and strength (not the same thing) among the various popular forging steels. The differences will come more from heat treatment, that is hardening (full vs. hamon), tempering time and temp, etc. Any good maker can dial in things pretty close to your specs. Price range is what you want to decide on first, and then time you are willing to wait for delivery, and then you will have a wide variety of choices.

If it were me, and bang for the buck was a major concern (like it is with me), I would go with IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER (because I believe all these guys are great in the category you mentioned):

Bailey Bradshaw
Kevin Cashen
Burt Foster
Terry Primos
Nick Wheeler (sorry to back up your waiting list even more, Nick)

If you want to break into the $500-750 range you can get fancier stuff from the above makers, as well as add a bunch of other great makers to the list.


John