316 inox stainless steel?

K

Kranvagn

Joined
Jul 16, 2019
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I just got interested in knife making so I wanted to try to make a simple knife. I wondered what steel to use and I read that 1095 and 1075 are very beginner friendly and good because of their high carbon composition. The problem is that I really cant afford to buy any steel right now so my father suggested to bring me some from his firm. I asked him for either 1095 or 1075 and he said that he would rather bring me 316 inox stainless steel. I searched for it and found only information about 316L which said that it isnt good for blades because of the low carbon composition. I wonder if thats the case with inox and are those maybe same steels? I would also like to learn heat treatment which I currently dont know alot about, so im not sure if 316 will benefit from it or even change in any way.
 
Adding “inox” to the name wouldn’t change anything. 316 can’t be heat treated like typical knife steel. You can afford some steel. Unless you don’t have $20 in which case you have bigger problems than finding steel.
 
inox is just another term for stainless. As Larrin said, 316 is not a knife steel.

The steel is the cheapest part of a knife. If you can't afford a piece of steel, you can't afford to make a knife. I'm not saying this to sound mean, only to point out a fact.

That said, there are things that will work for knives.
Welding shops often carry O-1 and W1/W2 steel.
Leaf springs from cars will make knives. They are various alloys, but use the HT for 5160.
Coil springs are usually good knife steel. Use 1095 HT for them.
Cheap crowbars are usually medium carbon steel. Use 5160 or 1070 HT for them.

There are many other knifemakers in Croatia. Contacting one of them may help you with finding supplies. There are several folks in Croatia that make knife grinders, and other knifemaking stuff.
 
I think you missunderstood me. I currently cant afford buying steel so I will get it from my father as I said. He can still bring me 1095 or 1075 but he thought that 316 is good just because it has stainless in its name. Thats why I wanted to do research on 316 just to check if it will be any good as a blade steel. Im pretty sure I have all other tools and materials for a simple beginner knife. Also, I didnt know that inox was another term for stainless and thats why I thought it was diffrent from 316L. Thank you for information.
 
Kranvagn said:
I think you missunderstood me. I currently cant afford buying steel so I will get it from my father as I said. He can still bring me 1095 or 1075 but he thought that 316 is good just because it has stainless in its name. Thats why I wanted to do research on 316 just to check if it will be any good as a blade steel. Im pretty sure I have all other tools and materials for a simple beginner knife. Also, I didnt know that inox was another term for stainless and thats why I thought it was diffrent from 316L. Thank you for information.
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From old file you can make good knife ? No need to HT , just temper it twice in kitchen oven .But you need grinder for that , file will not work on file .I just finished another one from file

rx2n1v9.jpg
 
Kranvagn said:
currently cant afford buying steel so I will get it from my father as I said. He can still bring me 1095 or 1075
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Since your Dad can bring 1075 then that's the steel to use. It's one of the simplest high carbon steels to heat treat and make a decent knife from.

If you care to share what equipment you have and what design you wish we might could offer some useful suggestions about making the knife.
 
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