The best steel for a bushcraft knife?

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Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 43

@BushcraftWithSteOutdoors 6 ай бұрын

Hey Lads, this is an interesting watch. I personally like a bit of natural patina and oxidation on my 01 blades. For me, it tells a story and protects the blade from actual corrosive rust. All these new super steels have the major disadvantage that you need to spend more than the knife's probably worth in stones capable of fixing issues with the steel in the woods! I don't really have a preference in knife steel. Personally, I like my 01 blades and have never had problems with edge retention. After a session of batoning, I just strop the blade on some green compound. When storing any carbon steel knife, I just smear it with a bit of Vaseline and forget about it. I stay away from anything that says "surgical steel," as I think these steels were designed to take a razor's edge but were ultimately meant to be thrown away. I also think edge geometry has more of an impact on sharpness and edge retention than the actual steel itself. The very first bushcraft knife was an old hickory kitchen knife, and Kephart used that for ages! How times have changed, but the trees have stayed the same. Good video.

@bobhabsolute4995 6 ай бұрын

You are 100% right about the edge geometry. This geometry should be adjusted to the steel toughness and the hardness and vice versa. More and more people are talking about edge stability now and they are right. We just have to understand that good edge stability is achievable with any good steel… by a good knife maker. Good design, good heat treatment and a good handle; that is all that I need.

@ShoahBiz 6 ай бұрын

I’m a big fan of aebl at 61.5-62 rc. Like a better version of o1 imo. Just as easy to sharpen, slightly better edge holding since the hardness can be taken higher, and still more tough than o1 at said higher hardness. Stainless to boot. Nothing wrong with a nice patina like you said but I appreciate stainless in the hot, humid and rainy environment I’m in..plus I go to the ocean from time to time since I’m not far from the gulf. Some super steels or at least newer steels that are easy to sharpen are a8 mod, cd1, ztuff, and 1v

@neanderthaloutdoors9202 6 ай бұрын

Interesting video, Ray Mears is probably the starter for most people's like of O1 tool steel knives, the younger generations were brought up on Ray and Bushcraft, us older generations were doing it long before Ray came along. Sandy, Jacklore , has gone over to AEB-L now, he rates it highly as do other knife makers like yourselves, I would like a good knife in AEB-L myself but the price of outdoors knives nowadays has sky rocketed to ridiculous prices, I appreciate the efforts put into making knives as I am an amateur hobbyist knife maker myself, but prices are just ridiculously too high nowadays.

@richardhenry1969 5 ай бұрын

It's very refreshing seeing people tell the truth about steel and not following the marketing hype. In my opinion super steels are answers to problems nobody had. I personally like carbon steel spring steel. In my experience used tools don't rust. In stainless i like 14c28n it does everything i need. Nowadays production knives are getting crazy expensive. Im just gonna make my own Nowadays steel isn't expensive marketing and branding is.

@ChiefScout_Outdoors 6 ай бұрын

I’ve just learnt a bucketload of info, that I never had a clue about. Carbon steel v Stainless steel was my limit. As a carpenter, I spent many an hour sharpening my chisels and planes, my old Sorby’s and Marples and Stanley planes. I never gave it a thought. Now I’ll be checking all my stuff out 😂🤣 😁👊🏆

@TheScrawnyLumberjack 6 ай бұрын

RWL34 is cpm154 and it’s all chromium carbide you can sharpen that on a rock.

@paulliddle8008 6 ай бұрын

Really enjoyed this lads, very informative. Cheers.

@stevebrindle1533 6 ай бұрын

Great video guys

@prepperinthewoods 6 ай бұрын

Good video guys. A lot of good info 👍🏼

@Globbo8765 Ай бұрын

Interesting discussion. My experience of this family of stainless steels is exactly as you said here. I took a Helle Nord in 14c28n on a bushcraft course last year. It's a pretty large knife with a good amount of chopping ability and I had reprofiled it to about 24 degrees zero ground scandi. While batoning and chopping through some hard knotty wood the edge took some damage but the interesting thing was that it didn't chip, instead the fine edge just took a few sideways bends which remained hair popping sharp and I fixed them in about a minute on a Fallkniven CC4 stone. After that I put a micro convex on the edge and never had a problem again. I would bet that a stainless supersteel would have taken chips and then need an hour or 2 on bench stones to fix.

@Jeff-gf1vr Ай бұрын

uhh magnacut is pretty fantastic stuff (so is 14c28n) have a few helle knives but magnacut pretty easy to sharpen and is just all around better.

@teeflo2757 6 ай бұрын

thanks guys, very helpful. 👍🏼✌🏼🖖🏼

@wcknives 3 ай бұрын

Agree, properly heat treated AEB-L is the best bang for the buck in my experience. Holds a sharper fine edge longer than 95% of the other steels including premium steels and less time to maintain and sharpen.

@howardvarley8795 5 ай бұрын

Gave up being a steel nerd a long time ago. Knives come as they come , no point worrying about it. I tend to rely on a stainless Garberg nowadays, tough easy to use and minimal maintenance. Fills all my needs.

@Gunslinger-1962-martin 2 ай бұрын

Josh this is most informative video that I've ever watched youve certainly opened my eyes on the steels range 🙌👍 you and Luke certainly gave a good indepth conversation and insight into the realms of knives 🙈 but definitely you should be exceeding 20k at least 🇬🇧💪👌

@RobEvansWoodsman 6 ай бұрын

I remember sharpening that Ben Orford knife 90mins on Diamonds and ceramic stones. You wouldn't do that in the field. Damasteel is a waste of money on a working knife, but looks pretty. but

@bobhabsolute4995 6 ай бұрын

I don’t know about you, but I think the heat treatment also affect the sharpening. I have a knife in 1095 that I can’t get an edge on (my guess is that it is too soft) and another in SK5 (a relatively similar steel) a lot thicker that take an edge so easily it’s unbelievable. I also have a big knife in O1 that keeps an edge for a surprisingly good time and is still easy to sharpen. I find a fine grain to be easier to sharpen than a coarse grain and found some very hard steel easier to sharpen than softer ones because of that. I have DMT stone, so I can get an edge on all the famous powder steels, but I will admit getting a mirror polish is very hard (but I am not interested by a mirror polish so I personally don’t mind). I have a convex Mahti Puukko (with a 124mm blade) in MagnaCut from Dulo knives that does everything and keeps an edge for an incredible time. It’s not that difficult to sharpen « Super Steel » with the proper tools. That being said, I totally agree with you: AEBL, 14C28N, Nitro V and all similar steel are the way to go as they offer the best performance for your bucks. Being able to sharpen your knife is a big part of the performance you will get from your knife and, at the end, will determine if you like it and use it. I have a new knife in Becut, that I really enjoy. I would love to hear your thoughts on that steel. Great video! 👍

@xkarlsonx Ай бұрын

Interesting, i go for rwl34 because it is easy to sharpen even on a Naniwa water stone. True, steels with a significant vanadium addition need diamond stones and compound. However nowadays there are do many cheap sharpening stones that will get the job done. It always comes down to using a propper tool for the job. But i certainly agree that a scandi blade needs a rather simple and tough steel. Its quite a disadvantage of the scandi that you have to remove a lot of material to fix a small nick. Aebl is a great choice, but i tend to go for higher edge retention stuff like 3V, Rwl34 or even cruwear. a magnacut scandi is on order. With a proper pocket stone, for me those are not an issue to maintain in the field. I found aeb-l a decent upgrade from O1, but it certainly does not have a great edge retention either. Especially the production knives in Aebl and Sandvik steels are very underwhelming.

@greekveteran2715 Ай бұрын

Carbon is the way to go for scandi grind bushcraft knives. Ballbearing steel has all the characteristics to be the BEST choice. Scandi has the worst edge stability and edge retention, ballbearing steel offers the highest. O1/1095 etc are ok too but nowhere near the edge stability the other offers, they also rust even faster... 52100 is the way to go.

@stevenwilson5177 Ай бұрын

What brand of knives were you sing in AB L at the end? Were they custom? Ps) what's the HRC on those? I've reaerched & saw how great ABL / 14c28n is at +60HRC however it's difficult to land +60 apparent

@shanesims2864 2 ай бұрын

Could you please tell me who made the knife 🔪 you were making the feather stick with ??? And if it was Aeb- L . And how to get one ??? All the best. 👍🏻

@larrybadman9965 2 ай бұрын

THE PERSON THAT HAS MADE THIS KNIFE IS THE GUY ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE AND HIS NAME IS JOSHUA. THIS KNIFE, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, IT IS THE EVO PRO, HE USES AEB - L SS AND THE BLADE THICKNESS IS 3MM. HIS COMPANY IS CALLED FYRD BLADES. ALSO, CHECK FOR OTHER TWO KNIVES THAT HE HAS, THE LESHY AND THE KESTRAL. HE HAS MADE AN EXCELLENT JOB. ALSO, WATCH THE VIDEO FROM ROB EVANS, ANOTHER FANTASTUC KNIFEMAKER FROM WALES THAT HE PRESENTS THE FYRD LESHY FROM JOSHUA.

@shanesims2864 2 ай бұрын

@@larrybadman9965 I will do that 👍🏻 Thank you so very much for getting back to me. All the best. From the US 🤝

@larrybadman9965 2 ай бұрын

@@shanesims2864IF YOU WANT, YOU CAN CHECK FOR SOME OTHER EXCELLENT KNIFEMAKERS FROM UK, SUCH AS : ROB EVANS AE BISON BUSHCRAFT SANDY'S BRECHFA, A BIT EXPENSIVE FOR 01 TOOL STEEL AND BEN AND LOIS ORFORD I DON'T LIKE THE TBS KNIVES. THE SMALL MACHETE THAT THE GUY SHOWED, IT IS FROM MY PARANG MALAYSIAN MACHETES. THEY ARE EXTREMELY GOOD. I THINK THEY ARE RIGHT, AS IT CONCERNS, THE CS AND THE SS. A GREEK KNIFEMAKER TOLD ME THAT THE CS IS FOR THE FIELD AND THE SS FOR THE KITCHEN. THE AEB - L LOOKS QUITE GOOD AND NOT VERY EXPENSIVE. NOWADAYS, THE KNIVES HAVE BECOME VERY EXPENSIVE, BECAUSE OF THE MARKETING, THE ADVERTISING, THE SHEEPING FEES, THE CUSTOMS AND THE VAT IN EUROPE. FROM USA I LIKE THE : PKS KNIVES JEFF WHITE BATTLE HORSE LT WRIGHT SOME OF THE ESEE AND BEARFORREST KNIVES

@brettatkinson4325 6 ай бұрын

Hi very informative,I've got a True love,hand forged made in Malcberry England imprinted 1897 I don't what steel it is? But would be grateful if anyone had any information,I would say it was a bowie knife & has a antler handle

@Avalonbushcraft 6 ай бұрын

The old Sheffield steels are lovely, similar to 1095, but they have so much character. What a lovely thing to own

@sharamkh 6 ай бұрын

I don’t disagree that AEBL and other steels with similar composition is a good choice for scandi ground bushcraft knives. But I also think you’re exaggerating some concerns to get your point across. RWL-34 and MagnaCut are not difficult to sharpen. Buy a small medium grit diamond stone intended for one of the many fixed angle sharpening systems, a fine grit diamond emulsion and a small leather strop. Not an expensive investment for someone having the high end knives you’re showing. That’s all you need to maintain the modern supersteels. I think your description of the chipping issue of supersteel is also inaccurate. Most of them have great edge strength and stability and are not at all chippy. Another point I feel you’re exaggerating is how difficult it is to take care of a carbon steel knife. A little food safe mineral oil and good habits like wiping the blade before you sheath it goes a long way.

@Avalonbushcraft 6 ай бұрын

I think those steels are great on a full flat or convex grind, or a scandi with a thicker geometry geometry, however I have found them a little fragile compared to AEB-L and cpm3v ect on a high scandi

@ShoahBiz 6 ай бұрын

most super steels will be chippy if youre running a 22-24 degree zero ground scandi. I don't run that..i like customs with a thin convex with a tiny microbevel...so magnacut is plenty chip resistant enough for that. aebl will be better than any super steel in a zero ground scandi tho no doubt.

@sharamkh 6 ай бұрын

@@ShoahBiz I don’t agree with that statement. Maybe we’re talking about different “supersteels”. I wouldn’t use Maxamet or Rex 121, but CPM Cruwear, 4V, 10V, M4, Vanadis 4 Extra, Vanadis 8 and K390 would handle it no worse than O1 or 1095.

@ShoahBiz 6 ай бұрын

@@sharamkh aebl will make a better 22-23 degree zero ground scandi knife than any steel you mentioned, tho I do like and use some of those as I don’t run with zero ground scandis. Plus sharpening a zero ground scandi in any of those steels would be much, much more time consuming than aebl

@sharamkh 6 ай бұрын

@@ShoahBiz I prefer the simpler low alloy and softer carbide steels myself for a scandi. It’s not more difficult if one uses quality diamond with an appropriate grit, but I do agree it takes more time with the mentioned super steels. Even if the scandi does have a microbevel, at some point the edge will thicken up and I will have to thin it out be grinding the whole primary scandi bevel. So it’s not that I disagree with everything they’re saying. I just sometimes feel the need to push back when people make blanket statements and exaggerations like in this video 😅 With all that said, the type of steel is not my number one concern when buying a knife. The quality of the heat treat and the design of the knife is more important to me.

@nickd2458 2 ай бұрын

Two is one and one is none..shit..I carry way too many blades with me..different grinds..for different tasks..most are 3V..my leuku is vanadis4E..I just use the right grind for the right task…I too am a knife aholic..truly enjoyed your take on steels..