What is the single best steel for knives in use today?
>>973036
chinese steel
316 stainless steel
>>973036
There is no single best steel, every knife is different and needs different steel properties
Carbon steel (High tensile) rebar should do
>>973036
glorious nippon steel folded 1000 times over
>>973049
Lel
US 2000 steel
>>973036
What kind of knife you are making will decide what kind of steel you want to use.
>>973047
There you go.
>>973047
Exactly. At the very least you need to balance corrosion resistance vs edge holding ability.
Beyond that you can decide how much impact you need the knife to absorb vs how sharp you need it to be.
If you want a basic 'gud steel' you can use spring steel which is pretty good for most general knives it's pretty easy to find, and it's easy to work with.
If you need an ultra-sharp chef's knife, you want high-carbon steel, but you need to take care with your heat treating to ensure it isn't too brittle.
If you need corrosion resistance, stainless steel is what you need, but the more chromium in the alloy, the more 'stainless' the knife is, the worse the edge it will hold compared to carbon steel. It's also a bit more complicated to work with.
If you need to take the knife with you into the ocean, titanium is the gold standard for corrosion resistance. It's almost maintenance free, as compared to a 'stainless' steel knife which needs to be washed and oiled after every dive. However, titanium is much more expensive than SS, won't hold as good an edge, and the material is very difficult to work with.
>What is the single best steel
no such thing
every steel is engineered for specific properties, and which properties you want will determine the best option.
forging and heat-treating without a salt bath? then 1084 is one of the best.
Edge-holding on a carbon steel? O1 performs better than most.
Crack propagation resistance under repeated strain cycles? BS. EN45, and 5160 both perform excellently.
Wear resistance in heavy use? D2
Corrosion resistance? Bohler-Uddeholm S7 stainless.
Corrosion resistance *and* edge holding? Werkstoff 1.4153.03 Niolox
Pattern-welding? 1095 and 15N20 sticks together like shit to a blanket.
Every steel has a specific application, Each one has advantages or disadvantages, be it in performance, or production criteria. If you have someone saying that X steel is the best, they have either a lack of knowledge, or they're trying to sell you something.
>>973099
Stainless knives have better edge retention than "carbon steel". Chromium is some hard ass shit.
What they don't have compared to ordinary steel is toughness. And they're harder to get very sharp because of the presence of very hard materials in the steel.
>>973172
not true. stainless doesnt sharpen well.
>>973181
..that's pretty much what I said. Unless if you mean 'stainless can't get sharp', which is just nonsense.
>>973042
He didn't ask what is the only steel being used today
>>973181
That's what he said.
>>973172
Agreed, SS til the end
Once I get my cnc plasma I have a shit tone of C67 or I think others know it of 7010 or 1070?
I just need my cnc.
>>973181
Edge retention: The knife's ability to preserve an edge despite use.
To say a knife does not sharpen well is to say that whatever edge it has, it is retaining. In short, you contradicted him by agreeing with him.
Where does /diy/ recommend I get steel?
>>974890
Well, since there's only one country in the world, I recommend you get it from my preferred supplier in outer mongolia.......
Or to put it another way, We're not fucking psychic, how the hell am I supposed to know where you live, on an anonymous board with no identifying details? use your brain a little, FFS?
>>973172
Most stainless steels are softer than carbon steels. I'd take W1 or 1090 over stainless steel any day of the week.
best knife steel is 9260 spring steel, but it's pricey
best bang-for-buck knife steel is 420HC steel
>>973049
I quench my blades in 800 degree f ammonia and bleach solution. It makes the blade pretty and blue and shows the steels many layers
>>973255
>>975037
This is the best way to quench your blades
S30v.
>>974890
what the fuck is going on in your pic?
>>975037
>>975320
>>975373
3% battery? Come on anon... If you had just 10% you could Google where to buy said steel and the price for poor OP.
o2 any good?
Durability: Cromoly
Edge: 1-2% Carbon steel
Any knife you buy today will be chrome steel unless specifically mentioned otherwise. Carbon steel is brittle and rusts. It is useful in a much smaller range of applications, but just that little bit more useful. Some vendors provide carbon blades as an option, some sell aftermarket carbon blades.
Some tools are specifically made from brass or copper so as not to scratch steel.
Is the % of carbon in alloys indicated in mass or mol?
Is there a carbon atom for every 100 iron atoms, or more like for every 25 iron atoms?
>>977260
Or spark.
>>977261
Mass, like all the other alloying elements.
>>977286
So more like 1:25 then.
I still like ATS34.
One interesting one I saw was made from stainless steel wire rope. The bundles of wires fuse together to form interesting patterns.
>>977315
>bundles of wires fuse together
There is so much more that can go wrong with something like that than with an industrial piece cut to the right dimensions, I would only get one from a blacksmith whose experience and sense for the material have my deepest confidence.
It's just something that inexperienced hipster blacksmiths like to make to such a degree, if you don't know the maker assume it is shoddy work and potentially dangerous. At best the steel just doesn't have enough carbon in it to really temper. But it can easily be too brittle, or at worst, and this is quite likely, improperly forge welded with cracks or even inclusions inside the blade.
A piece like that can suddenly fracture into several sharp pieces at a heavy impact.
>>977317
Yeah but you've also got thousands of actual master knifemakers you can order something like that from that know what they're doing.
my primary concern would actually be in acquiring the proper type of steel in wire form to bundle in the first place. This would be a very, very expensive knife. Perfect centerpiece of a collection though.
>>973036
>best steel for knives
>best steel
>for knives
3d printed knives masterrace faggot go plastic or go home
>>973036
Valyrian steel.
>>973036
depends for what you're making. if it's for something like a chef's knife that'd be hitachi super blue. You likely won't be able to obtain any outside japan and even if you were in japan it wouldn't be easy.
I used 440 stainless bar stock and oil bathed it up with an acetylene torch
>Steel
>For knives
What is this 1700?
Ceramic > rust
>>973036
If you plan to attach a torch close to the blade i'd go for Invar.
please OP, be more specific.
IMHO, the best knife steel is VG-10.
My Shun kitchen knives use this steel and I find it easy to get it incredibly sharp.
I also have this steel in two of my Spyderco folders. I have two Spyderco ZDP-189 folders and though the price and online pundits suggest this is a superior steel to VG-10, I found that not only can the steel not attain the sharpness of VG-10, it chips and fractures way too easily, and is brittle enough that courser stones will fracture it some more. I also have a Spyderco in CPM-S30V. It doesn't get as sharp as VG-10 either. I'm disillusioned with ultra high-alloy steels. They just can't attain a hair-raising edge like the cheaper stuff.
>>973036
mall ninja black tanto tip spring assist folder $10 lower right on the second shelf behind the glass counter.
REX 121, it has a WHOPPING hardness of 70RC even after being tempered! It can maintain it's hardness at temperatures above 1000F! This steel is almost fucking carbide.
You can all go home now.
>>973036
Since you had to ask that question I'd just say 1095 carbon, dipshit
Listen you fucks
these are words of wisdom my old man told me
Everything in life is constant compromise.
take a car
if it's a sports car, you can put a wide, free flowing exhaust on, and sure it will probably go faster
but it will also be louder, and probably produce more emissions
if it's a family car, you could put a tighter exhaust, and more baffles, and it will be quieter.
but it will also run slower, and could put more strain on the engine
both examples need to find some level of compromise a sports car still needs to be quiet enough to be driven on the streets, and a family car still needs to go fast from time to time. the way you swing the compromise is always dependant on the project.
so the real question is what kind of knife are you making? and then you can find the right steel.
>>980311
and im sure its not brittle at all
>>975864
Looks like some dick trying to melt a lock
>>973099
Wow, you have a lot to learn. You should stop giving bad information.
>>973181
Incorrect. There are a wide array of stainless blade steels. Some will take a very very fine edge, others will not.
Generally, the steels with the best edge retention will be the hardest to sharpen. Think about it.
>>975017
You just simply don't know what you're talking about. 440c and better will all reach the same or higher rockwell than w1 or 10XX steels.
>>975028
Nobody in the custom/small-scale knife making community uses 420hc.
>>977260
You almost know what you're talking about. How brittle a knife making steel is mostly based on tempering. Untempered stainless is just as brittle as untempered carbon steel.
>>977261
It's a percentage of the whole. So 1095 has (should have) 0.95% carbon per volume of steel.
Lots of alloy steels have above 1%. 440c has like 1.5%, zdp189 has something like 3%.
>>978716
440 is a category, not a specific steel, you bullshitter.
>>973036
Op, what's "best" is a matter for debate. What makes a good beginner/home-maker steel? I'd say 1084 because it's got the simplest heat treat of any of the carbon steels. No soak required, just take it up to non-magnetic and quench in oil. Done, it's hardened. Then temper for an hour or two at 350f.
>>973036
Go to a wrecking yard, get leaf springs off a wrecked pickup truck, use those. Best goddamned knife (or sword) you'll ever make.
>>983352
how many times do we have to say that scrap metal from old trucks, mower blades, railroad spikes, and whatever other shit you might find does not make "the best swords".
or knives.
or anything.
what part of "scrap" makes these fucking idiots think that its going to be a steel alloy that they can heat-treat correctly?
>>983368
I used to know guys who were blacksmiths and made custom swords and knives for people. They'd use leaf springs as raw material, and they made fucking awesome knives out of them. YMMV. Maybe you just aren't as skilled as they are.
>>983370
Maybe your eye for a quality knife isn't as good as you think it is. Just because a knife looks good it doesn't mean it works well.
>>983368
Leaf springs are made of 5160 or something nearly exactly like it. 5160 is a good choice for a large blade, like a chopper or a sword. Knives made from 5160 are often found in the winning circle of chopper competitions. For quite a while Trollsky (youtube blacksmith) only used 5160.
In his book, The $50 Knife Shop, Wayne Goddard talks about the great blades he's made from leaf and coil springs pulled from auto wreckers.
Only sheet metal is really ruined by rust. Thick pieces would have to be outside for centuries to become useless for a purpose like blacksmithing.
Decent blades can be made from mower blades. RR spikes are fun to work with and make some really cool looking stuff but their carbon content is way too low for edge retention. They're decoration pieces.
Only problems I've ever found with spring steels is that you don't quite know what it is, sometimes its 1095, 1075 or 5160, so it can be hard to duplicate results with it unless you've got quite a lot from the one source. For one-offs and mucking around on it's generally ok.
Some of the sharpest butchers knives I've made where made from old US Disston saw blades made between around 1900-50- some of those are very good quality crucible steels, but the cost of cutting up an antique hand saw is generally more than buying a modern carbon steel length. But if you come across them for cheap or free- jump on them.
>>983450
>are made of 5160 or something
>or something
And that's your problem
Leaf springs are not 5160.
*some* leaf springs are 5160 - those from mid-90's Fords, for instance.
But what ford exactly? What about a Toyota Hilux?that's made in japan, they dont use 5160 over there. OR a Land Rover? that's not 5160, because that's BS ENxx spec steel. and so on.
Can you identify what brand, make, year and model a leaf spring came off? And then are you able to find the propietary data from the manufacturer of the design specifications? I doubt it.
You do not know if that one batch for that year's model was 5160, or something else entirely.
More importantly, is that leaf spring new, out of a spares bin? No. its off a wreck. Is it a replacement that was put on a week before it crashed? Or is it a spring that's been flexed 10 million times and that's done 500,000 miles on dirt roads hauling lumber? has it been thrashed? You cant tell. So your scrap may have tiny microfracture cracks all the way along it.
Only fucking idiots use scrap
>Decent blades can be made from mower blades.
Ah. yes, I see. you are a FUCKING MORON.
I got a leafspring off a truck junkyard to practice making knives.
Spring has a slight curve. How do I straighten in out if I dont have a forge?
>>983535
what the fuck do you expect to do with a leafspring without a forge?
>>983535
best method is to take the scrap to a junkward, get some money for it, and buy proper steel that you know the composition of, that is straight and unused.
>>983520
It doesn't matter if it has microfractures in it, you're going to be reforging it anyway doofus.
>>973099
Titanium is a shit material only used by rich kids who occasionally take daddy's yacht out of the harbor and look at coral.
It's only useful property is corrosion resistance, it sucks at every other aspect of being a knife.
>>973278
Meine Ehre heißt Treue
>>974890
From the internet, duh.
>>983546
>It doesn't matter if it has microfractures in it, you're going to be reforging it anyway doofus.
Wrong.
and confirmed for having never forged, nor studied the metallurgy of manufacture.
You do not "forge out" microfractures. heat-treatment and quench cause further propagation in the structure from fractures. You cannot forge then out, because they, by definition, are too small to see, and are scattered throughout
stop being a fucking idiot, and playing around in a scrapyard. Go buy some proper steel from Aldo Bruno if you're in the US, from Funrnival if you're in the UK, or a similar supplier.
Dont be a fucking idiot, wasting your time with scrap metal to save $5 worth of metal to start off with.
this is the year 2016. not 1016. Steel is not a rare material. You do not need to fuck round with scrap to get good steel. Doing so, you are simply ensuring that you start off with an uncertain element, and have introduced a failure point *before you even start*. That is the mark of an idiot.
let me repeat. Do not be an idiot.
>>983546
Confirmed for not knowing what the fuck youre talking about.
>>973042
Guys, if you take in consideration how fucking contaminated chink steel is (that being heavy metals and such) its a no brainer why you wouldn't want your dagger with +20 poison.
>>984898
hahahahaha you win the prize!
Best machete i have I hammered out of a train track
>>973036
Lam Cos
Just repurpose some solingen steel you hipster douch
>>984935
Saw a couple full tang fallkniven at a local shop lately for like $400 CAD. They both had finishing defects on the blade. Small defects, but IMHO quality of finish matters in a fucking $400 knife.
The handles were gorgeous, but mediocre steel coupled with finishing flaws makes those knives about $300 more than I'm willing to pay.
>>973036
Not OP but let me rephrase the question to be more specific:
What is the single best steel for a general purpose EDC knife--cutting things from wood to rope to vegetables--in terms of performance alone? (so disregard things like maintenance required, difficulty of heat treating or working, etc.)
>>985029
eh their 3G and Lam Cos steel that the newer knives use is spectacular minus the high price
I have a PXL WH that I ordered off Amazon and it was in pristine condition
i wanna go scrapping for steel for a kukri what kind of steel should i look for
like from a car/truck or what
Heat and hammer a timing belt into a blade. There you have it, best blade with multi layers
>>985341
For the hefty sum of $8, you can get a brand spanking new 18" piece of 5160 spring steel from Jantz knife supply.
>>985034
That depends on what you consider an EDC. For me, an EDC is a folding knife with a locking blade that is around 2.5 inches long. I don't use it as a pry bar, a paint can opener, or a screwdriver. I want edge holding over toughness. For me, S30V is the best for that kind of knife.
>>985089
I think their knives a really overpriced.
I dunno about knives, but I have a set of woodturning tools made from standard M2 HSS (standard drill bit steel), a couple M42 gouges, and three very special bowl gouges made from triple-tempered, cryo-treated, CPM-10V. It lasts about 10x as long between sharpening. It matters too, because absolutely nothing is tougher on edges than woodturning and standard HSS goes dull less than 10 minutes.
