AR500 for knife steel?

19-3ben

19-3ben

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Jul 27, 2015
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I was at Cabelas over the weekend, and looking at shooting gongs made of AR500 steel and a thought occurred to me (usually a dangerous thing). I realized that AR500 must have some incredible impact toughness.

Assuming that's true:

a) How would it compare to S7 tool steel, which is also known for being very very tough stuff?
b) anyone make knife blades out of it?

I figure the toughness would be wasted on something small like a folder, but what about something like a Kukri made of a very impact tough steel like AR500? Is there any benefit? I assume that if there were a benefit, it would be done already...
 
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It dosnt compare really. About 51-52rc is all you'll get out of it. Low/mid carbon with some Ni,Mn,Cr and other small amount of alloys that make it tough and deep hardening
C-.30%, Si-.70%, Mn-1.70%, Cr-1.00%, Ni-.80%, Mo-.50% and B-.004%
 
I'm fairly certain Mick Strider made some custom knives with it as a blade steel. I think he put some carbide coating on the cutting edge, though.
 
If it can't be hardened sufficiently it won't take and hold an edge well enough to be worthwhile.
 
Current use is called Armour Core San Mai (the core is AR500 plate). You'll see it on custom knives, takes a very nice etch and maintains amazing contrast. Doesn't perform for shit. As Kentucky mentioned, it only goes to around 50 hrc. One of my custom folders uses it; really nice peice of steel, perfectly centered. The carbidized lockbar face actually created a divot where it contacted the AR500 steel core upon opening. Still a beautiful knife, and certainly not the makers fault, as I chose the steel.
 
Please pardon my thread necromancy-

I have some scrap pieces of AR series steel, was googling on knife making with this material.

San mai with AR for the core was said here not to work well due to low ultimate hardness the steel can achieve.

So why not use it for the CLADDING instead? Forge welded around a high Carbon steel core, the toughness and shock resistance of AR steels could be desirable for outer laminations supporting harder/more brittle steels?
 
Isn't that steel mostly used for armor and shooting targets ? It's made for high impact and abrasion resistance. But the formula of the steel indicates it wont harden much and will not be developing many carbides. So I wonder how abrasion resistant it really is. But it's stainless. It could make a good cladding material.
 
AR400, AR450 and AR500 plate are used in applications where abrasive materials such as grains, coal, ore, cement, gravel, light aggregate, and earth are being handled. It is a common material for conveyors, chutes, linings, hoppers and handling equipment in the materials handling and mining industries.


Abrasion resistant steels are not intended for structural applications. These steels should not be used for structural or main load-bearing members because of the possibility that brittle fracture may occur in these high hardness steels at the high stress levels encountered in such applications.

It's not stainless.
 
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