Astralloy??

69_knives

69_knives

Joined
Nov 20, 2008
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Has anyone tried making a knife out of this stuff?

A machinist friend uses a lot of it for making large gears and what not and he is convinced that it will make a good knife because of it's toughness. I looked around for some info on it and all I found was a PDF that stated that the carbon content was around 0.3% so I immediately dismissed it as a blade steel.

Any thoughts or experience with this material?
 
toughness does not always equal edge retention. Plus, some have different ideas of what tough is. To me it is ability to take impact and considerable flex before it reaches its failure point. Mild steel can do that. 5160 is good at that and fair at edge retention. I have heard D2 referred to as tough because it can be used in shears and punch presses, but as a blade it isn't what I would call tough at all. Gears and knives don't do the same thing. Having only .3% carbon I agree that its difficult to believe it would make a good blade.
 
A mild steel like that does not have enough carbon to harden at all, might make a nice prybar however
 
I get an email once a month on some steel like this. The sender is sure it will make the best blade possible. My answer is that if there was a better steel available than the ones knifemakers are currently using..... they would have switched the day after it became available. Toughness, taking a sharp edge, and keeping that sharp edge are the attributes a top blade steel needs. Excelling in one field will not replace the others.
 
toughness does not always equal edge retention. Plus, some have different ideas of what tough is. To me it is ability to take impact and considerable flex before it reaches its failure point. Mild steel can do that. 5160 is good at that and fair at edge retention. I have heard D2 referred to as tough because it can be used in shears and punch presses, but as a blade it isn't what I would call tough at all. Gears and knives don't do the same thing. Having only .3% carbon I agree that its difficult to believe it would make a good blade.
 
I use astralloy for the cutting edges on my reforestation equipment, and this stuff is tough. It outlasts all other hard plate that I have tried. Quite expensive for the 3/4 inch stuff that I use. I think the last time I bought it was close to three thousand for a 4x8 sheet. I don't know how it would work with a fine edge for a knife , but it is invaluable in its longevity in ground engaging application that I use it.

As much as I like this steel for a long wearing abrasive resistant plate , I would not use it as a blade steel. There are too many great steels on the market , that are proven.
 
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There is an astralloy-V that would probably make a good anvil or a hot cut. The HRc tops out @ 54. It looks like it would also make a good ax or hatchet or machete.
 
Bo T said:
There is an astralloy-V that would probably make a good anvil or a hot cut. The HRc tops out @ 54. It looks like it would also make a good ax or hatchet or machete.
Click to expand...

.....As would 3V and many other available knife steels.
 
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