To steel ot not to steel?
As a rookie knife maker, I have started out with O-1 tool steel.
Why? (because Walter Sorrels told so :D:D) Joke by side, here are my reasons:
O-1 tool steel stock is pretty easy to find anywhere in the world, in Europe you can find it by the name 1.2510 steel. You will most likely find any thickness (2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm), any width (40mm, 50mm), so you can do almost any project with it.
Since it is a high carbon steel, it is easy to temper with home tools, like my trash can forge_
You do not need very sophisticated tools for heat treatment, all you need is to heat (~850C, no fancy measurements needed) it up untill the magnet does not stick to it, and dip it in any type of pre-heated oil (~50C). Literally any type of oil will do: used engine oil, sunflower seed oil, transmission oil, etc). You can easily achieve 60-61 HRC with it.
In its annealed steate, it is easy to work with, a regular bastard file eats it like a charm, and you can cut it with a hack saw.
As now I am building my own heat treatment kiln, I will check out some stainless steels too, like the world famous RWL34, and the AEB-L knife steels.
Theese two need significantly higher temperatures for quenching, you need to achieve 1050C.
The quest contimues :)
Cheers:
5
Why? (because Walter Sorrels told so :D:D) Joke by side, here are my reasons:
O-1 tool steel stock is pretty easy to find anywhere in the world, in Europe you can find it by the name 1.2510 steel. You will most likely find any thickness (2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm), any width (40mm, 50mm), so you can do almost any project with it.
Since it is a high carbon steel, it is easy to temper with home tools, like my trash can forge_
You do not need very sophisticated tools for heat treatment, all you need is to heat (~850C, no fancy measurements needed) it up untill the magnet does not stick to it, and dip it in any type of pre-heated oil (~50C). Literally any type of oil will do: used engine oil, sunflower seed oil, transmission oil, etc). You can easily achieve 60-61 HRC with it.
In its annealed steate, it is easy to work with, a regular bastard file eats it like a charm, and you can cut it with a hack saw.
As now I am building my own heat treatment kiln, I will check out some stainless steels too, like the world famous RWL34, and the AEB-L knife steels.
Theese two need significantly higher temperatures for quenching, you need to achieve 1050C.
The quest contimues :)
Cheers:
5
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