5160 steel for what kind of knives

[Knife devotee]

Hello everyone can anyone tell me what knives would be good to make out of 5160?

 

[Ian Fifelski]

5160 is great for larger blades because it is very tough. Make a large chopper, sword or large bowie with it and it will not disappoint!

 

[jdm61]

Darn near any knife.

 

[Tom Lewis]

I used that to pass my ABS Journaman's test.

 

[AVigil]

It has been used from slip joints to choppers.

 

[Knife devotee]

Wow did not think they it could work for that many knives. Thank you everyone and much appreciated

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The only knife type that I would say it was not a good pick for is a fine slicer - kitchen knives, wood carving tools, etc.
Otherwise, it works for any general use knife like a hunter, and is great for rough use knives like choppers, camp knives, and bush swords.

 

[JTknives]

The only knife type that I would say it was not a good pick for is a fine slicer - kitchen knives, wood carving tools, etc.
Otherwise, it works for any general use knife like a hunter, and is great for rough use knives like choppers, camp knives, and bush swords.

You forgot zombie apocalypse

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

When the first zombie shows up, I will have plenty of time to forge 5160 zombie decapitators. I'll wait until then to list those type blades.

 

[stezann]

It is a steel that won't shine for fine edge holding, but for making blades that might get banged up.
Imagine an edge on the soft side of the hardness spectrum that won't chip easily.

 

[kuraki]

Seems like AEB-L and 5160 are nearly identical other than chromium content, and neither have enough carbon to form carbides.

 

[jdm61]

As with 1095 and 1075/80, you can have some quality control issues with 5160. AEB-L may be the "magic" steel because it seems to do a lot of things that its chemistry would lead you to believe that it can't do. I know that some people don't always take Ed Fowler seriously, but I have heard him say that really high quality 5160 like the John Deere output shaft stuff can get fairly close to 52100. One thing that you hear about AEB-L is that it is very clean.

Seems like AEB-L and 5160 are nearly identical other than chromium content, and neither have enough carbon to form carbides.

 

[kuraki]

Well, define quality. 5160 that is "fairly close" to 52100 in chemical composition is wildly out of spec. If you mean close to 52100 performance, I still find that hard to believe unless it's out of spec because that .4% difference in carbon is about the most important .4% for performance, everything after being carbide fodder. Even if it makes a knife that's superior to 5160 that is in spec, to me that's not quality.

I don't think AEB-L is magic. I think it's relatively poor wear resistance and excellent toughness line right up with the fact that it's nearly identical to 5160 in everything but chromium content, which being free chromium likely does little to reduce toughness. If it has any performance outside corrosion resistance that seems to exceed 5160, then I would say you're more than likely correct in that it's because it's made to a higher quality standard with tighter controls than most 5160.

 

[Larrin]

Seems like AEB-L and 5160 are nearly identical other than chromium content, and neither have enough carbon to form carbides.

AEB-L has plenty of carbides in it, just much less than most other commonly used stainless steels.

 

[kuraki]

AEB-L has plenty of carbides in it, just much less than most other commonly used stainless steels.

Sorry, I meant relatively speaking, but should have been more clear.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Wrong info removed. It has fine carbides (not iron carbides).

As far as 5160 from John Deere shafts being close to 52100 ... well we already said that Ed Fowler said it. He also says that every thermal event steel experiences is permanently remembered by the steel and cannot be erased.

 

[Larrin]

Adding chromium is not "just" adding chromium, the location of the eutectoid is greatly shifted. You can't call 5160 and AEB-L similar.

 

[kuraki]

Adding chromium is not "just" adding chromium, the location of the eutectoid is greatly shifted. You can't call 5160 and AEB-L similar.

How does that impact their performance relative to each other?

 

[Larrin]

How does that impact their performance relative to each other?

A better carbon steel equivalent would be 52100 with its small volume of fine carbides. But AEB-L has harder chromium carbides for better edge retention and wear resistance.

A closer approximation of stainless 5160 would be something like 12C27M.

 

[Darrin Sanders]

As with 1095 and 1075/80, you can have some quality control issues with 5160. AEB-L may be the "magic" steel because it seems to do a lot of things that its chemistry would lead you to believe that it can't do. I know that some people don't always take Ed Fowler seriously, but I have heard him say that really high quality 5160 like the John Deere output shaft stuff can get fairly close to 52100. One thing that you hear about AEB-L is that it is very clean.

Ed Fowler is full of fertilizer. He spreads false information and anyone who does that is doing this craft a dis-service. I don't care who he is or how many fan boys he has.