Everything you Need to Know About Spyderco AEB-L

I worked with Spyderco to improve the heat treatment from the previous iteration, these mules will be available 4/18/2023 directly from Spyderco.com

[@thiago.assumpcao]

When the heat treatment is good AEB-L is such a beast. Edge stability really is top tier. I'm surprized most major knife brands have not updated their steel portfolio. Why the hell we still get 1.4116 on Kitchen knives while AEB-L and 13C26 cost the same and have so much better quality?? This makes no sense.

[@NedKnives]

maybe the abrasives needed to grind correctly heat treated steel are more expensive? Just a guess though 😅

[@thiago.assumpcao]

@@NedKnives AEB-L is a clean steel, it has very few carbides so it's easy to grind. I think they still use 1.4116 steel because great companies are behind it. Zwilling, Wustoff make great knives. Good geometry, good heat treatment, good ergonomics but their knives are good despite the steel choice and not because of it. People confuse and think the steel is good. Their steel choice was good over 50 years ago but now it's just outdated and only makes sense because people have no idea there are much better steel options on the market for the same price.

[@NedKnives]

@@thiago.assumpcao definitely time to update then💯😌

[@ninemimesleft]

I love aeb-l. I hope Spyderco releases their enuff series in aeb-l.

[@Klayheart21]

Very happy to see you continuing to work with Spyderco on more steels!

[@GunnysSharptalk]

I have always love AEB-L. Dude amazing HT! I can’t wait to get my hands on one. You are killing it man. This is turning into a killer year for steel and sharpening geeks!

[@JMProjects05]

Not only is AEB-L an exeptional steel for edge stability and carbide structure, I find it very easy to work with and very versatile in different knife designs. I can not recommend it enough❤

[@bobhabsolute4995]

Like most users, I love aeb-l. But yet, the magic you are performing with your HT and your sharpening never ceases to amaze me.

[@FearNoSteel]

Thanks Bob

[@Cid_1]

I really like AEB-L/13C26 & 14C28N due to their ease of sharpening and fair balance. It's probably one of the most common/favorite stainless steel with traditional knife makers and users here in Scandinavia. I've not had a bad experience with it so far, and it seems to perform really well in a wide range of hardness (usually see it at anything from 57-61HRC). I know it can go even higher than that but would assume one would lose out on toughness, so might be better to move on to a different steel that's more balanced at a higher hardness. Some people call AEB-L & 14C28N the Stainless 3V, but I don't know how fair that comparison is considering 3V is a PM steel. And I have not seen anyone compare the 2 with the same sized coupons or test blades. But it would be interesting in seeing some tests done. I would absolutely love to ask you some questions sometime regarding some thoughts on some high wear-resistant steels for various bush tasks. If you ever got some spare time, I know you don't take message requests on IG. Keep up the great work. Greetings from Norway.

[@JackNSally80]

AEB-L actually still has good toughness at higher HRC. It has very small carbides, and not a lot of them.

[@lionknives3]

Thanks for the Video Shawn!

[@spiritbender639]

Excited to get my hands on the mule! 4 more days!

[@eddielittleii8919]

Nice magnified shots. Thanks.

[@jkanecutlery]

I think it really shines in the kitchen and camping, when abrasive wear resistance isn’t the biggest factor. Hopefully I can get my hands on one 👍🏻

[@W5rr2nG]

killing it!

[@tombrown4683]

You are way beyond me in this area but I love learning about it !

[@tecnotrog1]

Nice video and I subscribed 🦉

[@BLADESANDFADESOFFICIAL]

Looks very appealing!!

[@sharpfactory3705]

AEB-L is an amazing steel especially for bushcraft knives with a scandi grind, the fine microstructure and toughness gives a great Support for the scandi and you kan polish the edge for very clean surfaces on wood while you carving and on top of it you dont have to worry about rust so much while you in the outdoors.

[@ZillaCrew]

William Collins at WC Knives has been using AEB-L on his fixed blades for quite a while and I love how he does it. He has the heat treat and testing really dialed in. All kinds of thicknesses from small skinning/hunting blades to big chopper style survival knives. All are slicey sharp and tough as hell! AEB-L became my favorite steel after getting into his knives. Kept with a toothy edge its perfect!

[@FearNoSteel]

Be sure to give this mule a try and compare 👌

[@Apex_grind562]

Great info man!!!

[@Acuteknife]

Shawn has an effective video edit style that supplies potent information quickly… he cool AF.

[@kevindeuschle3413]

Still rockin my Devin Thomas 270mm ITK gyuto in AEB-L at work daily more than a decade after I picked it up. It's an amazing all around workhorse of a steel. Love that knife so very much.

[@CJ-hw4zc]

Damn, nice demonstration 👌

[@sandorandras4148]

The Mule series from Spyderco is just awesome!! Would love to have one! Nit even in a super special mega super duper steel 12c27 would be more than enough! Great video!

[@ryanosourus]

I love AEBL I hope that Spyderco makes a pm2 with it. Great video. Thanks for the hype.

[@BLADESANDFADESOFFICIAL]

My man 👊🏼

[@gaberoo9099]

Definitely plan on getting the Spyderco Mule in AEB-L. Right now only have the small spyderco Urban (?) in AEB-L and really like the steel.

[@DavidNefelimSlayer]

high value educational

[@spaghettisama]

I've been singing the praises of AEB-L since I seriously got into knives a couple years ago. If a knife comes in AEB-L then I want it damnit! It's got my personal perfect distribution of traits, being that it takes on a keen edge, holds it long enough, and sharpens right back up without too much hassle.

[@gaberoo9099]

I wish the Kramer knives were done in AEB-L. Great review. Thanks.

[@Chriscueva]

Hell yeah 🤘🏻

[@trapmonk6597]

Idc how many fingers i loose. I NEED to learn that sharpening man impressive.

[@chasetoncain]

aeb-l is awesome it’s what i make all my kitchen knives out of the stuff is super easy to work with, gets screaming sharp, and is honestly super cheap to get your hands on. it does really well with a cryo treatment especially but i’m not sure what the heat treatment is on the spyderco aeb-l. awesome video!!

[@redastrachan8978]

Succinct but informative. Great vid!

[@breoganlopez3943]

🎉🎉🎉nice , very interesting steel❤

[@glockgaston2922]

CRISPY AF 👊🏼🍻

[@codyshannon24]

So fascinating! You are a gold mine of knowledge and talent, Shawn! ❤

[@lawrencem5943]

I was going to pass on this one but with the hardness being 62-63 I have changed my mind. Thank you for steering Spyderco in the right direction. I hope you continue to collaborate with them. Perhaps you could suggest they increase the hardness on their VG-10...

[@FearNoSteel]

Nope

[@lawrencem5943]

@@kroodle8 thanks for that info. I didn't know that.

[@FearNoSteel]

That is incorrect information. VG10 doesn't require lamination for increased toughness to make high hardness work, also, the lamination is not at the edge to make any difference in edge toughness.

[@barrybueler3356]

Always been one of my favorite steels always wondered why it’s not used more.

[@NedKnives]

I just bought some AEB-L to make some kiridashi blades out of. I’m aiming for 62-63 HRC🤙🏼

[@nandayane]

I was gonna sit this one out, but looks like it might be worth a try. I don’t really own too many “sharpener’s steels”

[@dmw_cutlery]

I love aeb-l

[@rwstubbz]

Thanks man the info is good. I hear it was a razor blade steel. Pretty effective cutter at high HRC I hope. Got my 2 on the way right now. 😎

[@gway9226]

Got my custom made tracker in aeb-L

[@tanto2868]

ASMR on AEB-L. I like it a lot!👉

[@scrick7112]

AEB-L has been arround for years. LTWright and other knife makers use it mostly for kitchen camp knives. I recently started collecting folders and wondered why I have never seen AEB-L on a folder.I’m in the out doors a lot that’s why I like Vanex, AEB-L and other rust resistant steel. Just my thoughts. Thx

[@johnscarborough4746]

I was wondering what HRC it was going to come in at, very impressive performance.

[@RubricoA.]

I hope that the big foot is still with us. I've always hear him talked about AEB-L most of his videos

[@stevenlachance8576]

Shawn thanks for being the working knife evangelist Larrin is the academic evangelist. Can you get us m 390, 20CV, and 204p at 64? Was going to pass on the Aeb-l but now I’ll see if it is still available when next mule drops, just to get both and save on shipping.

[@lorenjones7222]

Big brown bear, thanks for this video. I have been getting more excited about AEBL. I want to try to make a kitchen knife with it. I saw your recent video with your 15V kitchen knife. Would you be able to do a similar knife in AEBL and compare the two for kitchen knife usage? I’m pretty intrigued by both of these extremely different options as an approach to kitchen knives. What I value most is the ability to take and hold an extremely keen edge. Once it no longer shaves arm hair easily, it’s not sharp enough for a kitchen knife in my book.

[@lorenjones7222]

I would buy a knife in each if you would build and do comparative testing.

[@matusknives]

I think that this steels gets overlooed a lot these days. The 'recipe' is quite old and I seem to recall that it was specifically designed for super fine grain for extremely fine edges (e.g. razor blades). It is a bit of an anti-thesis to the modern super-steels, but it really has different charms. Thumbs up to Spyderco for getting it to 62+ HRC. Yes, it can go even a bit higher, but at this hardness it should really show what it can do.

[@FearNoSteel]

Got them a protocol to push the hardness up, it was being run at 58-60 in the past.

[@matusknives]

@@FearNoSteel awesome! 👍

[@stevenlachance8576]

Thanks shawn for being the working steel evangelist, Larkin is the academic evangelist. Now get them to push m390, 20 cv and 204p to 62-64+ and you crack smiles on many faces.

[@ChateauBeaufort]

Got a lovely 6” “BASELARD” DAGGER, Scandi-double edged: The Steel toughness, & the Acute Apex (@ 16 degrees/side) works beautifully for both feather-sticks & Salman “filleting”… & it gets screaming sharp. No brokers tip, despite all the “point”work

[@camorakidd_edc]

Honestly from previous experiences I don't like AEB-L to much. Obviously that was with mediocre production heat treat. My problem with it was always that the edge lost it's bite rather fast.. I'll probably try it again with this HT tho

[@MusicalWeasel]

I knew it was a good steel but I wasn’t aware it was that good.

[@mattmanyam]

Carrying Cliffs' legacy!

[@blistersteel]

Jeremy mccullen makes excellent knives out of this steel.

[@silvia2408]

Nice, I'll try it out. 🤜🔪🤛

[@roccodehseller9601]

Hi I have a questions about k390 steel the first one is it a good steel for outdoor use like fishing or shaving sticks or wood and if I do any of those things will the steel be likely to chip the edge or break the tip or if I drop it accidentally on concrete or a rock and last question is it hard to sharpen in general or hard to sharpen with the spider o tri angle sharpener -thanks

[@stevenlachance8576]

And I get the brown bear brown scales, but can we get micarta on a sprint run?

[@brandensutton2324]

Find it interesting a old school stainless is getting some attention.

[@supermannyg3]

Thank you! Can you Compare this to NitroV? I here NitroV isn’t worth using over AEBL since it has lower Toughness although maybe a bit more stainless.

[@southbendshovelslam7750]

How are the factory contoured scales? Comfortable?

[@Doinitwell007]

When heat treated right or properly it’s probably the best choice for a knife steel

[@FearNoSteel]

Well, it's still in stock on the Spyderco website.

[@Doinitwell007]

@@FearNoSteel what do you mean the steel or knives made of because I really don’t see any knives they make that i like I would love to see more knives made of the stuff

[@Doinitwell007]

All I see is mule hate that shape

[@FearNoSteel]

Well unfortunately Spyderco uses the mule team sales to see how much people support these different materials. If it's still in stock then you are telling Spyderco you don't like AEBL at higher hardness. Personally, it seems like people say they like AEBL but they don't really support it with their money.

[@Doinitwell007]

@@FearNoSteel yeah, lol I got a few to many ugly aebl small knives already which I prefer s30 v in that size or s90 but aebl also does well in that size ,harder to find aebl in a larger size 5+ in love your vids love to pick your brain some time

[@DuhYaThink]

What would you compare this steel too in regular production tool steels?

[@FearNoSteel]

52100

[@maxlvledc]

How would this stack up to 14c28n in your oppinion?

[@CSGraves]

14C2N is slightly more corrosion resistant, otherwise, it and AEB-L are apparently very similar in toughness and edge retention.

[@CNYKnifeNut]

Not that I expected anything less, but knowing it's gonna be 62-63 still makes me a whole lot more excited.

[@JB-mw5rg]

Pretty cheap and good steel in my opinion. Easy to work with.

[@markjordan4916]

What did that poor little tree branch ever do to you, lol.... Nice review, I love AEB-L as well. Great steel, too often overlooked.

[@fixedfuji]

Did I hear that right, 6% chromium? How do you get it all to remain in solution and not form carbides? I assume no chromium carbides due to the fine grain structure.

[@FearNoSteel]

You misheard, it's ~6% Vol of "Chromium" Carbide. M7C3/K2

[@49giants3]

I’m surprised that spyderco hasn’t used aebl or nitro v yet

[@MrDarrylR]

My understanding is that there's no other production stainless that's as tough at HRC 60-64 as AEB-L. In this, its to edge stability what S90V or S125V is to resistance to abrasive wear. Alas, the more I learn about steel the more I want to gift my 25 year old Henkels set in X50CrMoV15 at HRC 56 to a needy family member, and order something nicer, like a nakiri in AEB-L at HRC 61-62.

[@xin1735]

Zwilling Miyabi series use AEB-L for premuim knife set as well ，they rename it as FC61， fine carbide 61HRC，you can go to their website to check if any attractive set

[@AndrewDanielson]

Would love to see more spyderco knives in this steel

[@robthompson8285]

BBB, can you do a video on why you shouldn't strop your knives too much?

[@FearNoSteel]

Ok

[@robthompson8285]

@@FearNoSteel you da man!

[@llamawizard]

AEB-L versus 14C28N?

[@lo_que3827]

This is your HT protocol isn't it?

[@FearNoSteel]

Yes, got you guys more hardness.

[@adanma17]

Slowly becoming a ASMR channel lol

[@case4444]

Whispering knife and metallurgy info like that really gets my blade hard if ya know what I mean

[@FearNoSteel]

Lmao

[@fightingusik4265]

Aw c'mon now. You can't be talking while you're simultaneously and literally slicing wood in half. I had to rewind like five times and focus on your words instead of being mesmerized by the cutting! :) I like AEB-L quite a lot.

[@turing2376]

Haha, I had to watch that part a couple times, and I thought what kind of wood is that, I wonder if I could do that with a piece of pine, nah, doubt it.

[@lo_que3827]

Man, this gonna cost me $80

[@pje6882]

my inox opinel #9 can do the same thing

[@DmitryNaydov]

everything old is new again

[@FearNoSteel]

New people are born, people get old and die, we must share for the next generation.

[@nonyobussiness3440]

This is knock off Aus 8 steel