~Project Complete!~ I'm making friction folders! What blade steels do you want to see in them?

Which blade steel would you most like to see in a 3" bladed EDC friction folder?

  • Total voters
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NJBillK said:
But AEB-L will be tougher and take a keener edge, as well as being more responsive to a strop and able to be touched up with a Butcher steel.

It also goes by the name 13c26, iirc.
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13c26 seems to be the Sandvik equivalent. The more I look into AEB-L, the more I like the sounds of it in general.
 
The_Iron_Joe said:
13c26 seems to be the Sandvik equivalent. The more I look into AEB-L, the more I like the sounds of it in general.
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I love AEB-L, but I do want to point out that least for me, part of the appeal lies in its low price. If you need to outsource the heat treat and thus charge more (i.e. same price as CPM154 or S35VN,) it wouldn't make as much sense to me.

To be clear, in the sub-$150 price range when you're talking about a few bucks here or there, no big deal. Just wanted to give the feedback.

The other thing I like most about AEB-L apart from the price-for-performance ratio, is how keen of an edge it takes. I heard someone say once that it behaves like a carbon steel moreso than any other stainless steel in common use, and I thought that was an apt statement.
 
mbp said:
I love AEB-L, but I do want to point out that least for me, part of the appeal lies in its low price. If you need to outsource the heat treat and thus charge more (i.e. same price as CPM154 or S35VN,) it wouldn't make as much sense to me.

To be clear, in the sub-$150 price range when you're talking about a few bucks here or there, no big deal. Just wanted to give the feedback.

The other thing I like most about AEB-L apart from the price-for-performance ratio, is how keen of an edge it takes. I heard someone say once that it behaves like a carbon steel moreso than any other stainless steel in common use, and I thought that was an apt statement.
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I have heard AEB-L described as acting similar to a stainless 52100.
 
mbp said:
I love AEB-L, but I do want to point out that least for me, part of the appeal lies in its low price. If you need to outsource the heat treat and thus charge more (i.e. same price as CPM154 or S35VN,) it wouldn't make as much sense to me.

To be clear, in the sub-$150 price range when you're talking about a few bucks here or there, no big deal. Just wanted to give the feedback.

The other thing I like most about AEB-L apart from the price-for-performance ratio, is how keen of an edge it takes. I heard someone say once that it behaves like a carbon steel moreso than any other stainless steel in common use, and I thought that was an apt statement.
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I agree with the bolded whole-heartedly. Also looking into testing AEB-L with my one-kiln-setup. If my kiln can ramp up temperature quickly enough to give a proper hardening/tempering cycle, I'm more than likely going to include it as an option.
Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!

NJBillK said:
I don't know if you have seen this thread, but it should contain some information relevant to your interests.

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...eb-l-niolox-cpm-154-19c27-40cp-and-d2.1546412
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That thread was extremely useful! Thank you very much for the link. For sure reinforces my enjoyment of CPM154; I hadn't realized it was rated to be that tough compared to D2 at similar hardness.
 
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I guess a good question is what super steels do you have the setup to heat treat right now? I would assume S35VN and CPM-154 as you've explicitly mentioned those. Don't get me wrong, a thin stock blade in either would be wonderful, I'm just a sucker for options.
 
dkb45 said:
I guess a good question is what super steels do you have the setup to heat treat right now? I would assume S35VN and CPM-154 as you've explicitly mentioned those. Don't get me wrong, a thin stock blade in either would be wonderful, I'm just a sucker for options.
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It's also a matter of which steels are available in what stock thickness locally. As soon as I order much else, I have to import. Those two are the best available currently.
 
M mbp 19-3ben 19-3ben

Sorry for the delay, I'm finishing my final projects and exams for college, so I've been very swamped lately. However, today is the day I write my last exam, so I should be much more active again soon.

I'm still on track to make functional prototypes by the end of next month! I'll probably get enough materials to make a few different iterations (bottle openers vs plain mostly) and I'll be sure to update this thread as well as make a new one for the completed prototypes. I have also been talking with a few friends locally about making leather slip-sheaths for me, both with steel clips for the pocket/belt and without.

I'll be sure to post pictures of the process and the completed work!
 
Best of luck with your exams. I hope they went smoothly.

I am looking forward to seeing what comes of this.
 
Minor update since it is the end of the month. A few unexpected expenses set me back by a week or two, but it was just as well. The steel and G10 that I ordered turned up yesterday. Currently I am waiting on the chance to go and pick up a lathe that I have had my eyes on for a while, which will be used to create the spacers for the friction folders. The only other thing that I'm waiting on are steel plates to be milled into fixtures, then I'll have what I need to make functional prototypes! I may become impatient and simply use 3D printed spacers for the time being.
 
So do you have a final set of options for blade steel and handle color now?
 
dkb45 dkb45 Yeah, I've pretty much narrowed it down to black G10 and CPM-S35VN for the standard offering, with an option for CPM-154. I'm probably going to have some limited runs of other handle colours in the future as well, or include them as limited options when they are available.
 
Another quick update. I got my lathe! An old Atlas. It really needs some good cleaning before I can make use of it, although the actions are surprisingly smooth considering that this thing was sitting unused for nearly ten years...

By the end of the week I should have all my fixture plates milled, and the lathe cleaned and ready to make spacers.

dLSPNB4.jpg
 
I chose 1095, it’s very common and inexpensive. Btw, I really like your designs, could you give a rough estimate on what a knife like that would cost if you made one out of 1095?
 
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