blade strength

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Katana
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Joined: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:44 pm

blade strength

Post by Katana »

hello all, quick question regarding blade material.... multiple opinions will be much appreciated. what is the toughest and most durable steel to make a folding knife blade from. this knife will be an edc and will probably be put throught some fairly substantial abuse, it will most likely be a very simple folder but i still want it to be as durable as possible.
any suggestions/advice is much appreciated
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Vagrant
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Post by Vagrant »

NO blade should be abused, [but let's face it many of them will be :wink: ]
Any good carbon steel is far superior to stainless, in terms of strengh and toughness. BUT stainless is far more rust resistant.
This is a carbon steel [mini] dagger blade I forged and drove through a stainless blade :wink: But, it will rust easily.
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IF all you want is SHARP, a piece of chipped obsidian is sharper than ANY steel :wink:
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Dances with Emus
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Post by Dances with Emus »

A high carbon steel (keep it oiled) such as 1095 or a tool steel (also carbon) such as L6. In stainless I would suggest RWL36 because you can't get much better steel than that Swedish Martinsitic powdered technology. There may be better out there, I just ain't researched it yet.
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hogwild
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Post by hogwild »

Oh yeah you'll have no problems getting "multiple opinions". The A2 used in a Severtech seems to be pretty tough. Of course the blade is thick too. Mine has actually been used till it's ugly but the blade and mechanism is still tight. Try this question with Mr. DeShivs, maybe he can give you some professional insight. Goes back to the steel, heat treat, design, on and on............
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TRYKER
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Post by TRYKER »

D2 is another good choice as is ketos.


tryker
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Katana
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Joined: Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:44 pm

D2

Post by Katana »

thanks for the info guys....i have heard that D2 is a pretty tough carbon steel, i have also heard that it is pretty tough to work with. anyone had experience working with D2, and if so... what was the outcome?
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whippersnapper
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Re: D2

Post by whippersnapper »

Katana wrote:thanks for the info guys....i have heard that D2 is a pretty tough carbon steel, i have also heard that it is pretty tough to work with. anyone had experience working with D2, and if so... what was the outcome?
D2 is just plain tough to grind period. Let alone sharpen. Get a diamond sharpener.
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Vagrant
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Post by Vagrant »

A-2 is just another carbon steel but it is "Air-hardened"
W-2 [or W-1] are Water-hardned, but harden fine in Oil.
O-1 [or O-2] are Oil hardened.
D-2 is "semi-stainless" [not enough Chrome to make it "real" stainless, but enough chrome to make sharpening more difficult].
It is a great compromise between stainless and simple carbon steels.
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