1084 vs 1095,5160,o1,etc.

M

manassas dragon

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Dec 3, 2009
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i see that 1084 is reccommended for us beginners as opposed to the other commonly used steels. so, far someone who knows what they are about would a knife made from 1084 compare favorably with the same blade made from the other commonly used steels. in other words,how does a 1084 knife compare with the other steels used by the pros.
 
Lots of pros use 1084. It compares very favorably with other simple steels for knives. 1095, W1 and W2 are better for hamons, if that's what you want.

Other steels have advantages if properly treated, but at that level I'd consider the knife itself and the maker much more important than the steel selection.
 
Every steel has specific qualities that make it desirable depending on what the knife will be used for.

With that said....I prefer 1084 because of it's general purpose performance. I have been very impressed with it. I also happen to like carbon steel. It's a significant plus that it is easy to work with.

Brad
 
Pretty darn well, is how it compares. It really depends on what you're making. 1084 is significantly tougher than most stainless steels, but lacks their corrosion resisting elements. It's a bit lighter than many of the more exotic steels in wear resistance but if you were making a heavy duty chopper the toughness would be more important. The short version is that 10XX is tougher and will generally give a better blade than most any stainless factory knife but will rust if not cared for or otherwise protected.

Compared to other non stainless steels it lacks things like vanadium or manganese that enhance various properties at the expense of toughness (usually). In another thread about steel someone mentioned a particular 1084 and I asked why it was better than other 1084 out there. The response was that it has just a bit of vandium added. This helps reduce grain size, giving a better performance almost across the board at the expense of a slightly pickier heat treat.

1095 is one of the most popular non stainless knife steels and the difference between 1095 and 1084 is pretty minimal compared to other factors in the knife's end performance. If you're heat treating yourself and not using temp controlled equipment the possible improvements from 1095 might be lost relative to 1080 or 1084, without the improved toughness that the simpler steel's offer.

Here's a good reference for most of the popular steels that I often use as a starting point when trying to compare steel.
http://zknives.com/knives/articles/knifesteelfaq.shtml
 
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Properly heat treated, 1084 should be indistinguishable from 1095, 5160, O-1....as far as performance goes.
 
bladsmth said:
Properly heat treated, 1084 should be indistinguishable from 1095, 5160, O-1....as far as performance goes.
Click to expand...


Thank you Stacy... This is the simple reality of it. Proper heat treat practices catered to the specific needs of the steel result in great performance.

:thumbup:
 
I like 1084 a lot. It can and does make a wickedly sharp knife when treated right. We have used it for cutting bits in axes and hawks before. We just temper it back more for an axe.
 
I do have a temperature controlled kiln for doing heat treating with and I use Aldo's 1084 (the stuff with a pinch of Vanadium for fine grain and a touch of Manganese for deep hardening) as the primary steel for almost all blades I make. It forges beautifully, the heat treat is dead simple, and the results are blades that will take and hold a very fine edge

-Page
 
That extra .15 Carbon of an O-1 is worth something in wear resistance .
But for all around features , forging, HT, performance it's hard to beat that 1084 !!
 
My understanding is, 1084 is probably the easiest steel to heat treat properly, with minimal tools. 1084 is one of my favorite steels; both to work with and to use. After watching John Fitch forge out a big 1084 blade, grind it, heat treat it by quenching in Peanut Oil(not optimal) and then use said blade to chop down small trees with ZERO edge damage, I was pretty impressed.
 
Perhaps the best analogy I can come up with is that 1084 is the AK-47 of blade steel. It is the solid performer in most general applications for the average man who doesn’t want to have to be an expert in tending to special considerations. It is hard for too many things to go wrong with 1084. However...

There are shotguns that pack more close range wallop, pistols that are more portable, and sniper rifles that are very much more accurate. 1095, W1, O1, 52100 or W2 properly heat treated should be able to easily outlast 1084 in wear resistance and edge hold that benefits from the same. 5160, L6, 15n20 and some “S” series with proper heat treatment should have little problem handling many times more impact force than 1084. If you want a pretty good edge holder that can do some chopping as well and you want to heat treat it by eye... yep 1084.

I myself have pushed 1084 hard for folks with limited heat treating equipment but I would not want to create yet another “ultimate steel” myth in the process of recommending a trouble free steel. I believe 1084 should be the easiest steel to get a really good knife from without much hassle, but the same is even more true of many other steels if you know exactly what you want and have the means to get it.
 
I love 1084 and have made some excellent blades (forged) with it over the years. I live near Seattle these days....does anyone know where I can get the stuff in my area?
thanks!
Roger
 
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