A1 steel?

silenthunterstudios

silenthunterstudios

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Stopped at a makers table last weekend at a gun show. He's been exhibiting for years and years, I remember seeing him when I went with my father as a little kid. Anyway, I had always taken a look at his knives, but never bought one. Passed on one of his knives yet again. The only reason was I had never heard of a particular steel he was using. When asked what he uses, he told me that the blades were made for him, out of 154CM and A1. The 154CM blade was not what I was after, but I was intrigued by a few A1 knives. I thought he meant to say A2, but when looking over the stamp, it was A1. After doing a Google search, I see that there is a company called A1 Steel in England, but I did not find anything pertaining to a steel designated as A1. The maker did not mention getting them from the A1 company, just stated that they were A1 blades. If I see him again, I will ask him if he got the blades from the A1 company. They appeared to be carbon steel blades, but I could have been mistaken.

http://www.a1steel.co.uk/
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20040028549.html

I would like to know if anyone here is familiar with either the A1 steel company, or a steel designated as A1. Thank you in advance, and have a good weekend!

Dan
 
That is mentioned in your link Jeff but that must be a typo .I think he meant O1 not A1. Mcmaster does not sell A1 as it doesn't exist !! BTW one clue is that he says A1 is half the price of A2 .That would fit O1 .
 
was searching around on some a10 as i have a bit laying around, came across this thread, thought i would drop some information for future readers as there's not much information out there on "A1" ...not the steak sauce though that is good too!

Type 303—free machining version of 304 via addition of sulfur and phosphorus. Also referred to as "A1" in accordance with ISO 3506
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_steel_grades
 
In my 9th edition Heat Treating Data Book there is no listing for A1.

It starts with A2 and goes to A10
 
What sends up my warning devices is things like "I get my blades made for me.....".
If he gets them made, he may have no idea what they are made of. Many re-sellers, or pre-made knife blade makers use such ambiguous terms, and have steel names that don't exist. I regularly see AUS-8 pre-made blades sold as being CPM154. I have no clue what his A-1 steel is, as it doesn't exist AFIK.

This guy brings to mind the long time seller at shows who still claims to make his damascus blades at home on his porch, ......when they are clearly from Pakistan. He even says that the Rc 52 is the perfect hardness as it comes from forging the blades ( which are clearly ground), and they need no further HT.
 
bladsmth said:
What sends up my warning devices is things like "I get my blades made for me.....".
If he gets them made, he may have no idea what they are made of. Many re-sellers, or pre-made knife blade makers use such ambiguous terms, and have steel names that don't exist. I regularly see AUS-8 pre-made blades sold as being CPM154. I have no clue what his A-1 steel is, as it doesn't exist AFIK.

This guy brings to mind the long time seller at shows who still claims to make his damascus blades at home on his porch, ......when they are clearly from Pakistan. He even says that the Rc 52 is the perfect hardness as it comes from forging the blades ( which are clearly ground), and they need no further HT.
Click to expand...

i don't claim any knowledge as to if this is good knife material or not, i just did the searching to find out what it was as i found some hanging around in the scrap bin, i just started this hobby/trade/craft and will be looking to you guys for lots of help and guidance in my time here.
http://www.perfect.hk/pdf/Technical/Stainless_Steel_Material_Properties.pdf
A1 Stainless steel = a free-cutting quality, having a superior machine ability due to a higher phosphorus and sulphure percentage. As a consequence, however, the general corrosion resistance is decreased. This “automatic lathe” stainless steel is seldom used for mass production fasteners.
 
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What I was getting at is that many sellers who don't make their own knife blades do is call the blade whatever they wish.....usually not what it actually is.

While there is no ASM name of A1 tool steel, the ISO uses A1 as an alternate name for free machining 303 stainless. This would make a very poor knife, as it wouldn't harden. When the seller called the blade A1 steel, he was either wrong, or saying it was a junk blade. I hope he was just wrong.
 
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