Steel Thickness

M

MrFlea

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Jun 29, 2020
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So ive been experimenting with thicknesses. I like 1/4 but its super thick as known and takes a lot of time to work with. The pro's is that they're tough and supported. Ive made one bowie from 5160 so 1/4. Ive made like 3 or 4 others from 1/8. The problems with those is back then i wouldnt really expand my bevels so they're not very sharp. So i want to buy new steel for bushcraft knives, bowies, seaxes, and suck. Would a overall good thickness be 1/8?
 
For larger knives (anything with more than a 5" blade) I would like to see 1/4" thick blades. You might get away with 3/16" if the blade is wide enough. Ideally you want something that will help you to split wood. Making a good large knife comes down to the fundamentals: A good ergonomic handle, good weight and balance, a steel that can hold up to hard work and a sheath that makes it possible to safely and comfortably carry it. The win goes to the guy who can best use distal tapers, fullers and a good cutting edge.

1/8" in this size would work better for a machete-like tool. There is not much room on that stock for anything other than a flat blade, which means it will tend to bind in wood.

n2s
 
Sharpness is not a function of blade thickness. 1/8” is a great all around thickness. Generally 1/4” is to thick for must knives unless your doing a hallow grind or it’s a wide blade. If you are camping and need to chop wood use an axe.
 
Could compromise and go with 0.156"

Stronger than 1/8", but not such a huge pain to work down as 1/4", or even 3/16"

Depends on what you have to work with as far as tools, too.
The last knife I did was done primarily with files and hand sanding as far as bevels (belt sander is kind of on the fritz, and is small anyway), and I was really wishing the steel was around 0.145" instead of the 0.200" I had. It took WAY more work to make it function as a knife, and with a 4" blade, even 1/8" would have been fine. Going back I would have ordered thinner steel.

It's really going to depend on what sort of knife you're making, how big it is, and what it's going to be used for.
Match the stock thickness to the knife and what tools you have available. :)
 
not2sharp said:
For larger knives (anything with more than a 5" blade) I would like to see 1/4" thick blades. You might get away with 3/16" if the blade is wide enough. Ideally you want something that will help you to split wood. Making a good large knife comes down to the fundamentals: A good ergonomic handle, good weight and balance, a steel that can hold up to hard work and a sheath that makes it possible to safely and comfortably carry it. The win goes to the guy who can best use distal tapers, fullers and a good cutting edge.

1/8" in this size would work better for a machete-like tool. There is not much room on that stock for anything other than a flat blade, which means it will tend to bind in wood.
Wbar
n2s
Click to expand...

I have a hunting/survival/ camp knife 3/16. It feels like a crowbar. It sucks as a knife, it sucks as an axe. When i need both, I carry both.
 
Keith Nix said:
I have a hunting/survival/ camp knife 3/16. It feels like a crowbar. It sucks as a knife, it sucks as an axe. When i need both, I carry both.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you have a poorly designed tool. Steel thickness is just a factor, there are a lot of ways to mitigate, compensate or enhance the tool for a range of tasks and perhaps your tool is lacking in that.

n2s
 
I always suggest that a new maker go to a sporting goods shop with a plastic micrometer. Measure the thickness of some good looking and popular hunting/sporting knives. Most folks are shocked to find that .10" is very thick and .070" is the norm. Kitchen knives are usually less than .060".
 
Thick knives suck!

Use a tough steel and run it thin. My son has a seax knife made of 8670 at 0.136 inches thick at the spine, heat treated by JT, 17 inch blade, he beats the piss out of it with zero issues.
 
not2sharp said:
It sounds like you have a poorly designed tool. Steel thickness is just a factor, there are a lot of ways to mitigate, compensate or enhance the tool for a range of tasks and perhaps your tool is lacking in that.

n2s
Click to expand...
Its an Esee 4. I'd say its made right. It just feels heavy.
 
Keith Nix said:
Its an Esee 4. I'd say its made right. It just feels heavy.
Click to expand...

It is a decent knife, but it may not be the one that you need. For me it would be paired with a folder that would handle the fine cutting and used primarily for wood processing as a batoning tool for hiking. For chopping, you would do much better with a longer 9-10" blade, or a full size axe - which is again something of a bulky one trick pony.

Probably the best solution is to carry a 3" Mora, and to get your brother to haul the chainsaw and gasoline up to your campsite. :)

n2s
 
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1/4. That is thick as hell. Makers that use it hollow grind with distal taper and drill out quite a bit of the tang or use hidden tang for that reason.

I would hazard a guess that the longer one has been making knives the thinner stock they use.

Stacy has a great idea. Or just look at the knives in your kitchen or others that you buy. You would be surprised how thin they are.
 
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I have to agree even as a newer maker I am in the thin steel camp. 0.1” is the thickest steel I regularly purchase. You’d be very hard pressed to break a properly HT’d knife made with 1/8” without the use of a vise and a large hammer. I don’t make big heavy knives though. If you want something that performs like a hatchet, use a hatchet.
 
Don't get me wrong, I love thick steel. I stock it up to 1/2" thick .... it forges beautifly!
 
This has been interesting for me to read through, as I have recently been doing mental battle with this stock thickness question as i have been learning and trying different profiles. While I have been focusing mostly on kitchen knives, here is what I got:

first steel I ever bought was 0.06 O1. From that made a cleaver, a petty, a long slicer (sushi knife), and a modified paring knife. Worked ok for the smaller blades, but actually seems TOO thin for the slicer (too light to the feel, but a wonderful sharp blade). Also JT had some significant warpage issues with this stock. Overall thought - too thin.

made a couple skinners out of 0.12 ... while seemed to work ok, still seemed too heavy in the hand. Nice stiff blade ... but a skinner is not used as a hatchet, and should not be used as a pry-bar, right? Conclusion - too thick

WIP is a Yanagiba out of ~0.12. Still need to finish it, but I am worried it feels too heavy ..
Basically think it is too thick.

several styles (santoku, petty, paring knife) made from 0.09. Not bad. Users love them ... but even with a FFG grind, feel to me like they are too thick in the spine. Might be better on larger knives (western chefs knife, yanagiba, or gyuto), but too thick for others)

currently moving into the 0.07 range for (in progress) western chefs knife, santoku, western “utility” knife, and more of the paring knives. Will see on this, but I have high hopes for this thickness of stock (I wish it were more widely available in the alloys I want to try).

Trying to translate these thoughts to non kitchen knives ... styles that are used more for slicing rather than chopping without a lot of prying motion (skinners, filet, bird-and-trout), why not go with 0.07 - 0.09”? Something that is going to see more rugged use (EDC or bushcraft), maybe go up to the 0.09 -0.12 range?

FWIW...
 
Thick steel comes from the days when people forged, no normalization, or grain refinement, and no temp control in heat treat. You needed thick to compensate for the messes up grain structure and retained austenite. I rarely make knives even 1/8” thick anymore. I never get damaged blades returned.
 
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