What are the best beginner stainless steels?

300 AUD for how much AEB-L? I typically count on a piece of AEB-L big enough for a 210-240mm gyuto to cost around $6.50-7.00 US. An 8 x1.5 x .118 piece would cost you a bit over $3.
 
WoW...^^^What JDM said...My experience for cost is about what he said...I get mine from Chuck at AKS since he ships in Flat Rate boxes to keep the price of shipping down!!
 
Ok sure. I am hoping to begin making an electric heat treatment kiln sometime during this week. So hopefully I will be able heat treat stainless steels fairly soon.
 
jdm61 said:
300 AUD for how much AEB-L? I typically count on a piece of AEB-L big enough for a 210-240mm gyuto to cost around $6.50-7.00 US. An 8 x1.5 x .118 piece would cost you a bit over $3.
Click to expand...
I just had a look at a different website and I found a range of different sized AEB-L from Aus $75+ which is within my budget. Here is the website: https://www.artisansupplies.com.au/product/stainless-steel-aeb-l-3-3-x-50-x-1220-mm/ . Sorry for stating the wrong price for this steel :( Beginner mistakes...
 
Gregor133 said:
Sorry for not specifying what I will be doing with the knives. The knives that I am planning on making are small bushcraft/neck knives, that will probably be used for light bushcraft and general everyday use around a farm. Thanks for all the helpful suggestions! I live in Australia and the steel that you guys have suggested - Aeb-l - costs Aus $300+. 154CM looks pretty good and is not to expensive, so I will definitely consider this steel. What about 12c27? Is it any good? Thanks for all the help!
Click to expand...
Gregor I would steer clear of the 12c27 available in Australia I got some via Gamecos artisan supplies at a really good price. The kicker was it was sheared from previously rolled steel and anytime it got near any heat it warped. I found out subsequently 12c27 is sometimes known as memory steel because it wants to go back to its rolled state. Even grinding off the "skin" on the steel first didn't help. Unless you are good at controlling warp then I would stay away from 12c27. As a beginner I have used D2 (almost stainless) but it is a lot of work to finish by hand once hardened and am now using A2 both available at reasonable prices in Aussie and no more difficult to heat treat than stainless. I paid less than Aus $55 for a piece of A2 3.2 x 38 x 900

kevinc
 
i am a decent knife maker, but not a very good sharpener. With that said, i had an AEB-L gyuto at like 61Rc that I had taken down to like .007. I knocked the corners off with a worn 400 grit belt and low speed and then spent less than 10 minutes on a King 1000/6000 stone and a "flesh side" leather strop from Woodcraft loaded with aluminum oxide powder. The knife will now push cut a tiny 1 x 1.5 piece of the very thin bag paper that you get from Starbucks when you order a muffin while being held out with two fingers grasping one end. I love this crazy Swedish stuff!!!!
 
kevinc said:
Gregor I would steer clear of the 12c27 available in Australia I got some via Gamecos artisan supplies at a really good price. The kicker was it was sheared from previously rolled steel and anytime it got near any heat it warped. I found out subsequently 12c27 is sometimes known as memory steel because it wants to go back to its rolled state. Even grinding off the "skin" on the steel first didn't help. Unless you are good at controlling warp then I would stay away from 12c27. As a beginner I have used D2 (almost stainless) but it is a lot of work to finish by hand once hardened and am now using A2 both available at reasonable prices in Aussie and no more difficult to heat treat than stainless. I paid less than Aus $55 for a piece of A2 3.2 x 38 x 900

kevinc
Click to expand...
Thanks for that Kevinc. I was looking at artisans supplies aswell. So with A2 how good is it at avoiding rust? Gough customs on YouTube said that he uses it on his production knives, so is it really that good compared to other steels?
 
jdm61 said:
i am a decent knife maker, but not a very good sharpener. With that said, i had an AEB-L gyuto at like 61Rc that I had taken down to like .007. I knocked the corners off with a worn 400 grit belt and low speed and then spent less than 10 minutes on a King 1000/6000 stone and a "flesh side" leather strop from Woodcraft loaded with aluminum oxide powder. The knife will now push cut a tiny 1 x 1.5 piece of the very thin bag paper that you get from Starbucks when you order a muffin while being held out with two fingers grasping one end. I love this crazy Swedish stuff!!!!
Click to expand...
I might have to buy some AEB-l to see how good it really is. Seems like an excellent steel choice. Thanks for all the help!
 
Question: DOES it have to be Stainless Steel?

The reason I ask is that you are not yet able to do heat treatment required for stainless blade steel. You still need to build a furnace capable of reaching Austinzing temperature and on top of that you will need Stainless Steel FOIL to wrap the blades prior to heat treating to preserve the surface and keep it clean. All of these items will add up quickly. A DIY Furnace with PID controller and thermocouple will run about $400-$500 before you ever get to purchasing steel. Unless you can find someone local to do your heat treating you might want to rethink Stainless.
 
Busto said:
Question: DOES it have to be Stainless Steel?

The reason I ask is that you are not yet able to do heat treatment required for stainless blade steel. You still need to build a furnace capable of reaching Austinzing temperature and on top of that you will need Stainless Steel FOIL to wrap the blades prior to heat treating to preserve the surface and keep it clean. All of these items will add up quickly. A DIY Furnace with PID controller and thermocouple will run about $400-$500 before you ever get to purchasing steel. Unless you can find someone local to do your heat treating you might want to rethink Stainless.
Click to expand...
Yeah I've realised that its going to cost me a packet to make the kiln. I have been given a bit of funding from my relatives and parents to go towards purchasing a steel, so all i have to pay for is the kiln. I am hoping to make a kiln capable of temperatures 1100°C. Is this hot enough?
 
Gregor133 said:
Does it require much maintenance? Like oiling?
Click to expand...
I live on the island on the west coast, and my EDC for all of last year was a bird and trout knife made from A2 with a mirror finish.
I might have oiled it once all year, and it got uses constantly. No rust issues.
It's not stainless, but is fairly stain resistant as far as carbon steels go
 
Yes if you can reach 1100C and maintain you will be fine. That is a bit higher than you will need to Austenize any of the stainless that's been discussed but that is not a bad thing.
 
Geoff Flato said:
I live on the island on the west coast, and my EDC for all of last year was a bird and trout knife made from A2 with a mirror finish.
I might have oiled it once all year, and it got uses constantly. No rust issues.
It's not stainless, but is fairly stain resistant as far as carbon steels go
Click to expand...
That suprises me. Good steel then. Thanks.
 
I liked AEB-L before it was cool.
 
Gregor133 said:
Thanks for that Kevinc. I was looking at artisans supplies aswell. So with A2 how good is it at avoiding rust? Gough customs on YouTube said that he uses it on his production knives, so is it really that good compared to other steels?
Click to expand...
Gregor
A2 is not a stainless steel or even a near stainless steel like D2 but with approx 5% chrome it won't rust quite as quickly as any of the other simple carbon steels. It will develop a patina with use but if heat treated to say 59-60 rc and given a good polish it will work fine just don't expect it to not need any care. If its kept clean and dry it'll be fine. Bark River Knife and Tool use A2 a lot. A2 is known as a tough steel that is relatively easy to sharpen and keeps an edge for a reasonable time. Like D2 it is used a lot for the big industrial planer blades.
I started out on D2 and like it a lot but because I am low tech and do a lot of work by hand I got sick of the amount of work involved in finishing D2 by hand. So I switched to A2 its easier to cut out with a hacksaw, grinds easy and finishes by hand much better too.
Rather than invest in your own kiln at this stage you are better off sending your blades to a professional heat treater like Hills Heat Treatments in Melbourne. I understand they do knives for others in Aussie. It might cost you $40 for a batch of 5.

kevinc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top