Best steel for chef knife.

M

Marlin01

Joined
Sep 20, 2011
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I hand forge my blades from high carbon steel. I use a lot of 5160. Anyway I had a request from this fella who wants a chef knife. He said he's cutting lots of veggies so any thoughts on this subject or steel recommendation would be helpful. Thanks in advance. Marlin:)
 
I use 1084 because that's what Dave Loukides made my stuff from. It is hardcore tough and easy to sharpen.
 
Any of the 10xx steels would do great. Great edge holding, fairly easy to sharpen, and they'll develop an awesome patina with use.

O1 tool steel would do well, too. It takes a really fine polished edge, so it'll slice rather well.
 
Like everything else, you'll be hard pressed to find a, "best steel." I'd say, go with what you know best as you'll be able to coax more out of something you're familiar with than something that is new to you. If your customer isn't partial to carbon steel, stainless is typically easier to maintain for the average user. In that case, CPM154CM is great in my book for ease of sharpening, rust resistance, price and edge. The only drawback would be having to do stock removal rather than forging and possibly having the steel heat treated out-of-house. Gator97 (fellow member) has a pretty comprehensive collection of information on kitchen blade steel (and others). Best of luck.

http://zknives.com/knives/steels/index.shtml
 
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If you forge it:
Aldos 1084 - reliable, tough enough, cheap. Makes a great knife.
1095 - hard and wear resistant.
W-2 - 1095 on steroids.
Hitachi Aogami Super ( Super Blue) - This may be one of the best carbon steels for a kitchen knife
Hitachi Shirogami #1 or Aogami #1 ( White and Blue) - Superb cutlery steel.

If you grind it:
CPM-154
CPM-S35VN
CPM-D2
Elmax
Cowry X
 
SRS-15 is my choice. Excellent kitchen knife steel.. nearly perfect for it's intended purposes, and almost flawless.
Pricey though.
 
if you use a lot of 5160 use 5160. it is possible to get 5160 to 61-62 hrc temper back just a little and it will make a great kitchen knife. if you want to go stainless then aebl. the only other thing is make it thin.
 
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