What steels for custom knives?

Hi guys, as you may or may not know, I've gotten into knife making recently and I'm hooked. I've got a makers mark coming and I've got plans for some very cool knives coming throughout the year, including fillet style fishing knives in different lengths, some larger 6 to 7 inch bush knives and most likely some kitchen knives if I can get the right sized of steels, among many other cool things, but now I've found myself at a stand still in regards to customer preference in regards to steel selection. So here is the question to anyone and everyone, what steels would you like to see in my knives? I've been really eyeing 52100 and AEB-L for alot of my knives, because it is available, affordable and for the user easy to sharpen and service. Now I know the big thing is CPM 3V right now which is a great selection, there's A2 and O1 of course, heat treat is negligible as Ill be using Peters for everything. I'd just like to pick everyone's brain if I could, let me know what youd love what you hate, Im just trying to get a good bearing before I start grinding away. Thanks to everyone for reading and best regards! Eric.

 

If you're gonna be using PHT you will have great luck with S35VN for a stainless and 3V for a carbon. 3V really is what they say, I love it.

 

That's what most folks are asking for I've already noticed, it seems to be the best all around steel for most people.

 

AEB-L, especially for the kitchen knives, it's also tough enough for making bushcraft knives out of.
1084 is a great carbon, it is very simple to heat treat with good results, I'd recommend this one if you want to do your own HT.
A2 is the way to go for high proformance bushcraft knives.

 

You already hit the nail on the head, as far as my preferences go. 52100 for carbon, aeb-l for stainless. I've always had really good luck with these. Both get sharp fairly easy, and stay sharp for a good while.

 

That's the way I have been leaning, they both have a proven track record and are readily available. Also thanks guys for the opinions, this is a huge help! Keep em' coming.

 

I liked 3V until I tried a buddies Gossman Polaris in 4V. 4V does EVERYTHING better than 3V short of corrosion resistance.

My favorite steels are 52100, 01, and 4V. However when it comes to customs I find a maker and then let them use the steel they are most comfortable with. One thing you might want to think of when it comes to high wear resistance steels is they also wear out belts pretty damn quick too. I honestly don't think 52100 gives up a damn thing to 3V short of corrosion resistance but it is much easier to work with both for you and the end user.

If I was forced to pick a stainless (I don't really care for them) I would go with S35VN.

 

Thanks for the opinion Patrick, Im most people can appreciate 52100 as a good hard workkng steel, how does anyone think it would do in the hunting/fishing knife? Ill take a close look at 4v and while its a little more expensive, I plan to do runs of different steels from time to time as well and if the performance is their I might use it often!

 

If you're after hunting and fishing patterns I'd go with a stainless.

 

If I had to pick one steel for a hunting knife it would be D2 and not that CPM crap I am talking ingot D2. The toothy edge D2 takes makes cleaning an animal a breeze. I would also run it hard north of 60 HRC to me that's where its at its best for a hunting knife. I have been hunting since I was 5 years old and I have yet to find a steel that performs that task as well as good heat treated D2.

 

D2 will hold a working edge for a very long time. Gotta watch for bones as it can be chippy.

 

S30v and 1095.

 

While I've never had anything in AEB-L, I have plenty of 13C26N which is the same thing and 14C28N which is basically the same thing and I do like it. 51200 is a desirable way to go for carbon. I will give my vote to these steels for a stainless and carbon place to start.

There are too many cheaper knives made from 1095 and there will always be the stigma that the ESEE HT 1095 is not to be beat and is available fairly/cheaply priced.

 

I havnt actually considered regular D2 before, beside the CPM version it seemes like the only improvement was some toughness and edge refinement

 

That's what I have arrived at as well, when other great makers are using 1095 already, its hard to compete with already established success. I have never heard of 13C26N or 14C28N before, but everything is worth a look for me. I have been trying to pick a steel that's easy for folks to recognize and say, "I've seen that before, and I've heard good things", and then when they actually get it in their hand, it impress them and encourage them they made a good choice. Which is why I was originally trying to find good serviceable carbon and working grade stanless steels, that the average user could go fishing, or skin a deer, come home and strop it back to a razor edge. I'll never forget the first time I tried to sharpen Elmax, it was pretty discouraging to say the least lol

 

Yes, ELMAX is not for people who aren't properly equipped for it. 13C26N is the same steel as AEB-L, and is a razor blade steel. Sandvik is the company that produces it with the name variant 13C26N. Sandvik also created 14C28N at the behest of Kershaw to be even more stain resistant than its 13C26N counterpart. As far as I know, 14C28N is only sold to Kershaw for use in their USA made knives. 13C26N should be available and I would expect it to be priced similarly to AEB-L. I think on name recognition, AEB-L is the more respected name. http://smt.sandvik.com/en/products/...ife-steel/sandvik-knife-steels/sandvik-13c26/

 

Usually anything by CPM is pretty good.
My favorite is 3V.
If you are starting out making knives look for the easier to work steels that don't cost as much. I occasionally make knife handles and screwed a lot of them up learning.
I also wouldn't use PHT until you get the hang of what you are doing. A blow torch and some oil is my recommendation. PHT does good work, but why pay extra money when you are learning to do something? If you want to sell them using PHT wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

There is a chunk of the bushcraft /traditional community that dream of using found chert and char cloth of the back of a 1095 wooden handled knife to strike a fire and save the day! Lol. And therefore only purchase 1095 and the like. (On a related note why hasn't any knife maker made the spine of the knife like a file, as that would actually throw some sparks with flint/chert/quartz.)
But I agree with you. There are some absolute crap factory knives made of 1095. Esee is definitely the execption not the rule.

 

I have a feeling the Mike Morris 8 in W2 would throw some nice sparks even though he tames the file edges considerably.

 

I am unfamiliar with that knife. Sounds interesting.