A question on appropriate steels..

[JamesG]

I have a question regarding the most appropriate steel(s)to consider for a custom blade I am considering. It would be a large bowie stle blade of 10+inches and would certainly need to be able to withstand "hard use". My main requirements would be edge retention and toughness. 52100, D2, and 5160 have both been suggested. could one of the fine gentlemen here explain to a relative novice the pro's and cons of these steels with regard to my needs? As a side note, the 5160 would be ground and edge hardened. (I'm not sure if that makes a significant difference, but I wanted to provide as much info as possible)

Many Thanks for the help!

 

[Will52100]

Out of those listed, 5160 has the best balance of toughness and edge holding. 52100 is king as far as edge holding but not quit as tough as 5160.

For me, I can find no tougher steel than L-6. The edge holding is about the same as 1084-1095, but when heat treated right you can bend it all day without breaking. Awhile back I made a 5" test blade out of L-6 with the lower 1/2 of the blade quenched and a double temper at 375. I bent the blade 180deg. 6 1/2 times befor the edge cracked. I probly could have gotten more bends by harding only the lower 1/3 of the blade, but I was just messing around seeing what the steel could do. It has to be the most underated steel around.

Btw, anyone have a supplier of clean 1/4" and up L-6 stock? I would like to use it for larg bowies and combat style knives. I have a little but it showes carbon banding in the grain and is usless for anything but damascus.

Thanks

 

[B . Buxton]

I agree with you again Will, all the steels you mentioned will make a great knife, but here again I would lean toward 52100 or 5160. I like L-6 , it sharpens easy and holds an edge well, but I haven't had anything compare to the strength of 5160 or 52100. I've got an old test knife made from 5160 hanging in my shop that has been bent 90 degrees I don't know how many times and still hasn't cracked. The only problem I had with 5160 was inclusions showing up in the final finish,I was told it was from trash from when it came off the hot rollers, its painful to have that much time in a blade and have all these inclusions show up, it doesn't hurt the performance just the finished appearance, so I would suggest 52100. But there are several steels that will make an excellent Bowie. This is just my .02.

Bill

 

[LaMess]

Mr. Courtney - what was your quenching media for your L6? I have some in the corner whispering to me 'camp knife I am a camp knife Oouuueeewaaaa'. Or something like that.

Regards

Lynn

 

[Will52100]

LaMess I used a mix of vacume pump oil(mineral oil) and used auto tranny fluid, about half and half.

Bill, I can't coment on 5160 much, because I havnt played with it that much.

To give you an idea of one test where L-6 outshined everything, I had a couple of blades that were in the scrap bin from misgrinding and decided to cut some 6 penny nails. The 52100 cut three or four nails with no edge damage, then chiped out. The L-6 blade cut about 10 nails and the only damage was a dulled edge, slightly blunted. All cuts were in the same spot on the blade with the nails resting against a piece of mild steel and drove through the nails with a 3lb. hammer. I know this is not a scientific test, but some times you just have to play around. Now, my heat treat may not be perfect, I'm continualy refining and testing, but those results and others showed me that while 52100 is very tough, L-6 with the addition of nickle has less metal fatige.

One other test that I do for hunting sized knives is that I have a old dried cow shin bone that I chop some hunks out with the final edge. I like to get as fine an edge geomitry as I can, and if it's to fine the bone chop will wrinkle the edge, then I change sharping angle slightly. I have noticed that stainless requirs a thicker edge, and that carbon steels will take a fine edge without damage. I also chop hardwood and cut lots of rope, but the bone chop I think comes close to acidental impacts while procesing game.

anybody have any other sugestions for test media I'd like to here them.