Thread: The best/preferred steels

What are the best or preferred high carbon steels to use in making a straight razor? Is O-1 a decent choice?

-Tony

From a knifemaker I can tell I love O-1. In my opion one of the best cutlery steels ever, next to L3 that is almost impossible to find anymore. Now there is a catch with O-1 as well. The maker has to be competent in working with O-1 or it loses much of it's potential. If forged at the wrong temps it can have devastating effects on the steel. If used in the stock removal method and proper heat treatment it will still outperform many of the more exotic cutlery steels that have recently been introduced. It really boils down to who's making it, and how good they are. As a steel O-1 is excellent for cutlery. It will be a little harder to sharpen because of the alloys involved over just plain carbon steel. Hope this helps.

Jiimmy

O-1, properly heat treated, is as good a cutlery steel as has ever been made.

Does this O-1 have a brand name / identification number?
I have inquired with the local steel mill about the steel types they carry, but to help me they needed to have an id like 'NAME - 1.SOMENUMBER'
Which I couldn't give them of course.

There are too many different steels that all have their pros and cons. The guy I talked with told me that saying 'high carbon steel' is like saying 'a car', which could mean either a Yugo or a ferrari, or something else.

Would there be any benefit to using 52100 series steels over the O-1?

Jimmy, Just a little thought problem for you. All steels are forged these days. You can't buy any steel that hasn't been through a serious forging process at the steel mill to reduce it down to sizes you can manage to make a knife from. The persistent myth that forged knives are somehow better than stock removal or vice versa is an argument for making an argument, not for discussing the facts.


O-1
Carbon 0.90%
Manganese 1.20
Chromium 0.50
Tungsten 0.50
Vanadium 0.20

52100
Carbon 1.10%
Mn 0.35%
Cr 1.50%
Silicon 0.35%

Despite what appears to be shared chemistry, those minor alloying elements make for huge differences in performance.

52100 is a steel requiring very good temperature controls during heat treatment. When it's done right, it's as good as the best in the world. But there is a very narrow range that has to be nailed to make it right. It is not what I would recommend for any beginner.

O-1 is fairly fool-proof as a beginning steel. There is nothing magical about O-1, it's a good serviceable steel with excellent performance characteristics and you don't need a metallurgy degree to make good knives or razors from it. Recipes for heat treatment are all over the net, some better than others. Having the recipe is not the same as getting it done right though. The best advice is to find someone in your area who is making blades and who is set up for heat treatment. Then go learn from them.

Bruno,

in Germany O-1 is also known as 1.2510
in Sweden = 2140
in the UK = BO1

Good luck.

Bruno,

You said

Does this O-1 have a brand name / identification number?
I have inquired with the local steel mill about the steel types they carry, but to help me they needed to have an id like 'NAME - 1.SOMENUMBER'
Which I couldn't give them of course.

The brand name is O-1. If your from outside the united states then they will have a different name. A good online source is www.toolanddie.com I have used them before to order some O-1 and got great service from them.


Mike Blue,

All steels are forged these days. You can't buy any steel that hasn't been through a serious forging process at the steel mill to reduce it down to sizes you can manage to make a knife from

I'm not talking about the manufacturing process. I'm talking about bladesmithing. Forging O-1 into a blade from barstock or roundstock form is quite different from many other high carbon steels. And this leaves as much room for an argument as forged vs stock removal with enough valid points on both sides for no one to win.

52100 is a great steel and gets most of it's performance characteristics due to it's quality control in the manufacturing process. The micro grain structure of this steel gives its great performance in my opion.

O-1 is fairly fool-proof as a beginning steel.

I absolutly agree with you on this point. O-1 can also be reheat treated if you don't get it right the first time. Not many other steels are that forgiving.

Thank you so much for all the info so far.

Originally Posted by jimmyseymour

Bruno,

You said

The brand name is O-1. If your from outside the united states then they will have a different name. A good online source is www.toolanddie.com I have used them before to order some O-1 and got great service from them.

Thanks.

I will check with the local mill if they carry it (or something with the same composition). If not, toolanddie seem to have very good prices. I just have to find out what it costs to ship a bar of steel to Belgium. Probably more than the steel itself

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

in Germany O-1 is also known as 1.2510
in Sweden = 2140
in the UK = BO1

Thanks
The German number is what they needed to know.