What kind of steel?

[calharkins]

I am going to order some steel from Jantz to try to make a blade. I don't want to spend a fortune on the first few since I don't know how they will turn out. What would you guys recommend for me to get and what thickness?

Thanks
Cal

[GHEzell]

The only steel listed that can be hardened very well without expensive equipment would be 1095. Anything else they carry require at the very least an extended soak at a precise temperature to fully harden. The only problem 1095 may give is that it requires a very fast quench to fully harden. Use a very thin mineral oil, or professional heat treating oil to get full hardness (best to warm the oil to about 120-140 degrees, too). Or, if you're brave, an interrupted water quench will work, but there is a chance of cracking the steel from too fast of a quench. If you plan to send the blade out for heat-treating, you could use any steel they carry, but then you'd miss out on all the fun...

1095 is good steel, holds a great edge. Might not be the first choice for a sword (although some really nice swords have been made from it), but its just the ticket for a hunter.

[AcridSaint]

I would suggest looking at Sheffield supply, you can get 1080 and 1084 from them for a decent price in shorter lengths. These will be well suited to home heat treating and won't break the bank.

http://www.sheffieldsupply.com/index.html

[DiamondG Knives]

Cal
Kelly Kupples sells most 10 series steels, as well as 15N20 in various thicknesses. He will custom sheer to whatever width you need. His per pound rate is hard to beat anywhere and it includes shipping. He is a knifemaker himself,very knowledgable and easy to talk to. Plus he is a great guy to deal with to boot!
I do not have his contact info at hand, but hopefully someone on here will chime in with it. If not, do a search for Kelly Kupples.

God Bless
Mike

[Ray Rogers]

Cal,

Although all the advice above is 100% correct I think we may be over complicating the situation here. Let me try a different approach.

You say you are not sure how your blades will turn out. That makes sense because you have stated in other threads that you never made a blade before. There is no need for you to buy pricey steel to practice making a blade. You can shape a blade from mild steel like the kind you get at a hardware store or you can even use strips of wood for practice. Believe it or not, making a wooden blade will teach you most of what you need to know to shape a steel blade. I suggest you practice with wood or mild crap steel until you have the confidence you will need to work with good steel.

When you get to that point, your choices come down to carbon steel or stainless steel. Carbon steel (like the 1080, 1084, 1095 mentioned above) is a little cheaper and makes great blades BUT you will pretty much have to heat treat it yourself unless you get lucky and find someone close by who will help you. Doing your own heat treat is the right goal but maybe not for your first few blades, depends on your money, time, and willingness to have a few failures before you have success.

Stainless steel, on the other hand, doesn't cost much more (especially 440C) and can be heat treated professionally for about $5 a blade at Texas Knifemakers. There no shame in this, many pros send out their blades for heat treatment. It guarantees that if your first blade fails it won't be because of bad heat treatment and you don't have to invest or build any additional equipment just yet.

The size of steel you want to use depends on the knife your making. This is your first blade so my suggestion is you make a small one, no more than 4" cutting edge. You could use 1/8" or 3/16" stock for this blade or any other similar that looks right to you. With small blades it's easier to keep lines straight and you don't lose much time if you have to scrap it.

Jump in and start doing something and it won't be long before you learn to swim........

[calharkins]

I appreciate everyone's input. It is greatly appreciated.

Cal

[B.Finnigan]

Kelly Cupples steel list and contact info.

http://refractory.elliscustomknifeworks.com/

It won't hyperlink to the exact page so click on "knifemaking steel" at the bottom middle of the list.

[Doug Lester]

Kelly Cupples and Admiral Steel will beat any of the knife making supply stores on price on knife making steel.

Doug Lester

[dbalfa]

As far as type of steel, if your doing stock removal knives, I would consider precision ground 0-1. It can be resonably HT with oil and tempers nicely in a small oven. Sure you might not get it to the "ultimate" hardness but when testing my knives, they pass the brass rod deflection test just fine and get scary sharp with relative ease. If $5-8 in steel cost per knife is not too much, consider 0-1.

[AcridSaint]

1084 will run half the money and get a more optimal heat treat with basic equipment.

I'd be interested in a blind test to see if folks could see a performance difference between O-1 and 1084 knives heat treated with the same basic backyard heat treating methods. My guess is no.