Best steel for beginner knife making? Plus showing my first knife 😬

Which knife steel is the best to use as a beginner???
Link to knife engineering book!!! amzn.to/361vdLv

[@Zonkotron]

Great Video. There is SO much trash talk online. So much trash talk about "not using mystery steels". Now i will not suggest people use "random steel" because there are some truly nutty industrial tool steels. But i.e. Spring steels, if it is not 5160 it is 55si7/9260 or 50somethingCrV or or or. Different steels, lots of em. If you actually look up the CCT diagrams you will notice that they are all REALLY similar. They will harden in canola and are sufficiently low carbon and low on carbide formers that they will take a "forge heat treat" "just fine". They also all spark reasonably similar because they all have medium carbon and oneor more spark reducing elements (Si/Cr etc.). And if they don't harden on you from a red in your shop lighting conditions, quench from an orange because Si and lower carbon do that, it's normal. If that springs happens to be 1060/70/80/95 and therefore not capable of hardening in a slower oil like canola, well, these dont have spark reducing content so they spark vividly and brighly. Totally and utterly unlike the medium alloy springs. You can tell in a second on a grinder just by comparing car spring and a boxcutter blade, which is one of those steels. And look up tempered martensite embrittlement if you dont know the term. Hint - it does largely not apply to silicon steels, which is their main advantage together with price. Armed with this information i can now make shaving sharp wood chisels from car spring and a 20$ home brew gas forge and not worry, because my procedure is based in science and i can explain failures. Reading and comprehending prior art are the foundations of progress....

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

I go by the use what you are comfortable with And it’s worked out pretty good so far!

[@glenpaul3606]

When I started knife making about a year ago I had all these question too. The concensus seemed to be use 1084 steel to start. That's what I did and made about 10 knives from 1084. The results were good but the recommended heat treating process was quite long. I then went to 8670 steel from Pop's because the heat treat was much simpler since I'm using just a firebrick and propane forge. The 8670 works very well. It holds an edge well and works about the same for cuttiing, grinding etc as the 1084. I'm up to over 30 knives now and still using 8670 steel. The trick to cutting out the rough shape on a bandsaw is to grind the edge to be cut first because 8670 is laser cut and the edges are very hard and will destroy a bandsaw blade in seconds as I found out the hard way. If you grind off the black edge about 1/32nd then the bandsaw cuts it fine. I have never tried 01 tool steel or 1095 so not familiar with either. My biggest challenge is grinding the bevels. It would be great to have one of those fancy 2x72 belt grinders but for a hobbyist 2500+ is a huge investment if you don't plan to sell your knives. Also a heat treating oven is great but then again another 2500+ is a big investment. I use a Harbor Freight $60 grinder for my bevels. It's slow and I'm limited to about a 3/4" bevel max. I can't do full grinds or hollow grinds which you can easily on a 2x72. Most of my grinds are 1/2-5/8" and come out quite good.

[@jmartigue8359]

Very helpful! Thanks for taking the time to make this video.

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

Glad to help!!

[@georgefrattarelli7978]

I’m in the research and machine acquisition phase, and should have my shop set up in a couple weeks. The first book I bought is the one you recommended by DR Larrin Thomas, Knife Engineering. I really enjoy your videos. I’m doing this to transition from back surgery and needed something to challenge me mentally and physically.Keep up the content because it is very helpful!

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

Well that’s great to hear! Let me know if you have any questions!

[@johnquiroga8993]

Fantastic video brother! Just start making knives! Heard loud and clear.

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

Awesome thanks for watching!

[@goldmountain6520]

As a new knife maker your honesty is encouraging. Thank you. I’m also from the car industry.

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

Awesome to hear! Thanks for checking out the videos!!

[@johnnyguerra3754]

Good video, I like the passion you show for knife making. For me as a hobbyist I try to keep cost down so when I mess up I don't feel to bad.

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

Totally understand that! Thanks for watching!

[@stevenbusch9336]

Thanks 🤘🏼

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

Thanks for watching!

[@TomofAllTrades]

It’s definitely a progression. I’ve started with 80CRV2 and I’m going to stick with that for the monosteel knives. I’ll look into that book. 👍🏼

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

80crv2 is great steel!

[@sikamoreify]

I made my first knife out of a old rusty circular saw blade that came off of a late 70's Craftsman contractor's table saw that my neighbor gave me and I restored. I didn't have any ability to heat treat and knew it was hardened and tempered out of gate, learned from KZbin University. It was a surprisingly nice knife, although thin. I used and still use O1 quite a lot and have also started using 1080 and 1095 since. Originally heat treated in canola oil using my Atlas mini forge without issues but have since started using AAA, nice and easy. This is all relatively low cost of entry to be making good quality knives for a newbie. Loved seeing your first knife!

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

Sounds similar to how I started!! Thanks for watching the videos!

[@SugarMapleForge]

I've been using 1084. So far so good. Successful heat treat on all 10 or so I have made. But your right, don't make a huge investment because it can add up fast. I sell just enough locally to support my hobby and that's it. Maybe I'll make it a business someday. Good video!

[@nikknives9352]

Nice videos! congratulations for the dama steel knife !!!keep on the good job!

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

Thank you!

[@trainwon5699]

Good info thanks

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

No problem 👍

[@M.A.CKnivesandDrums]

I personally like 1084

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

It works just fine!

[@M.A.CKnivesandDrums]

Thanks I’m might make me a knife out of it!

[@richardbranton2780]

I making my first knifes out of a leaf spring from a F350. They don't look as good as your first knifes but they seem to be working great. Just proves your right just use what you can get for free to learn with why waste money

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

Absolutely!!

[@andrewfischer6055]

I gotta say I'm in that "o1 is not beginner" steel group just because it should be held at 1500 for 20 ish minutes and that's much easier to do in a heat treat oven than a forge although like you said a heat treat can and will probably be successful in a forge it's just less forgiving than say 1084. Like your stuff. Keep it up

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

Totally understand what you’re saying! Thanks for checking out the video!

[@canlite]

Lol. I have no room to judge you by that knife. Im just getting some forging in. Lol. Ill come back when i make my first knife. I doubt it'll be any better. Everyone gotta start somewhere.

[@melgillham462]

Tool steel service of California has 50 lbs sale paks of steel different grades and sizes. I just bought 100 lbs worth of 1/2" and 3/4"

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

Wow you’re set for a while!!!

[@sikamoreify]

Thanks for the tip on a CA steel supplier. I'll have to look into this and also might try and get some of their precision flat ground stock to see how it is. I've been using a few different suppliers and they certainly vary on their "precision" tolerance. Good luck with all that steel!

[@melgillham462]

@@sikamoreify you’re very welcome. I’ll have a ton of fun with it thank you.👍🤝

[@TheDogWalksTheDog]

Oh damn You hit the O1 button here come metallurgy trolls !! 🤣🙈

[@gentrycustomknives8008]

😆 😂