Steels, the difference between them

[harry strasil]

This may Clear some things up about Steels, or it may Confuse some too.

http://www.cruffler.com/Features/APR-02/blade-april-02.html

[george wilson]

Some good info,Harry. There are so many steels out there now that it can be difficult to tell what a knifemaker is using,or if it's good.

I use 1095,01,A2,D2,52100,and W1, W1 is getting harder to get as it is such a simple steel,but it will take a great edge,though it won't hold it as well. D2 is a curious steel: it may not feel as sharp as it truly is. 52100 is a simple steel for ball bearings. I haven't decided how I like it yet,though I carry a knife I made with a 52100 blade in it.

For just about all of my punch and dies,I use A2 because it hardly changes size when hardened,and the punches still fit the dies extremely closely. It holds up well,though D2 is the best one for wear resistance on the list. It is difficult to machine with all that chromium.

[harry strasil]

George, this is approxiametly one half of a Timken Bearing Race from the rotary table of a water well drilling rig, that I forged into a little knife many years ago when I was a kid.
It has a handle made from leather circles cut from an old leather flat belt and it is so hard that I ended up Jeweling it to get a decent look to it. Its 52100, the other part is a yet unfinished Arkansas Toothpick.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/knife1.jpg

[george wilson]

It's only little if you intended to stab elephants with it,harry !

[harry strasil]

Well, I used to do a fair amount of hunting, and its kinda hard to pry yourself or someone else out of a coyote, bobcat or lion trap with a toy or to try and cut firewood, etc with a pocket knife. It has skinned several deer and you also don't need to carry a hatchet to split the pelvis. As far as throwing it, it don't make any difference what part hits the target. LOL

[harry strasil]

52100 doesn't forge easy like Wrought iron and I was going for this look, but gave up, and I even used a 50 Little Giant power hammer to help me.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/sprkla009.jpg

[Philip Duffy]

Hi Harry, Great info and site! Thanks for posting it. That is the best layout of info on knife steels I have ever seen and I have been subscribing to KI and Knives for 26 years. Phil

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

The Older Jap Stainless 400 series steels are pretty much impossible to find. They used to use a double process high vacuum melt which got a lot of the entrained gas out. That made for excellent Forging Stainless (almost a contradiction in terms) and fine blades. But, alas it was too costly.

The information there looks pretty good if albeit almost entirely from the perspective of making edged instruments.