Thanks, I have been reading posts on here quite a bit lately as well and am about ready to start the process. However I wanted to bounce some ideas off of the members here before ordering parts.

The first thought I had was to choose the steel. Below is a list of the steels I am considering and why I thought that they may work well based on my knowledge and experience with them. I would prefer to use use the stock removal method over forging unless there is a significant advantage to forging (My current forge is only about one third finished). Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.

1070/1085 – Basic Good 'ole Fashioned High Carbon Steel. The last two digits indicate the carbon percentage (Example: 1085 has .85% carbon). It is inexpensive, easy to work and sharpen. It should get a fine edge as well as heat treat easily with oil.

1095 – Basically the same as above but with more carbon. It is easier to find in flat stock, but is harder to heat treat (needs a faster cooling oil or water). I may send it out to be professionally heat treated if I go this way.

5160 – Similar to 1095 but more alloys to make it a “spring steel”. The appealing thing with this is that there is an abundance of it around here in the form of old car springs. I've forged quite a few hunting knives from leaf and coil springs. In the end, I thought that it was too “soft” for a hunting knife, but now that I look at it in the light of straight razors, it may be a good option.

O1 – A high carbon Tool Steel. Looks to be popular as a razor material and is easy to find around here. I made quite a few hunting knives out of this and it was a pleasure to work with. It is significantly more expensive than 1095 and I'm not sure if it would make a noticeable difference over 1095.

52100 – High carbon “bearing steel”. This is known for getting a very fine edge. I made one hunting knife out of this and I was amazed how easy it to get it “scary sharp”. It's hard to find around here in a variety of sizes. It's often sold as forging stock and is not always easy to find in smaller flat bar. It is also significantly more expensive than 1095.

ATS-34 – My favorite “all-round” stainless steel. It is relatively inexpensive and easy to find in small flat stock. I have read of some people saying that it is hard to hone, but after grinding on steels such as D2 or CPM S-30V, working with ATS-34 is like cutting butter.