Knives..what are your favorites?

[Monsterlover]

Those will be on the next boat, right Statler?

[rgramjet]

 

And re: knives, I bought a cheap folder at Cabellas and after growing to love it, it disappeared.

This thread inspired me to get another one as I miss it a lot.

It's cheap but functional.  One hand open.  One hand close if you're right handed.  I got the green one with the serrated edge.  Not bad for $15

Link

Plus, you don't have to worry about anyone Stealing it!!  That is one green knife!

[Monsterlover]

[cokey]

Can ya name good blade steel? Next nife/sword I purchase will be based off it..

[triangleforge]

Can ya name good blade steel? Next nife/sword I purchase will be based off it..

What's your intended use? Tool steels come in all kinds of flavors, and some are significantly better than others for specific uses.

Put another way, think of what's important to you in a knife: Toughness? Blade flex? Razor-sharp edge? Easy to sharpen? Resisting stains/rust? While "all of the above" would be nice, most steels do well at one or a couple while compromising on others. Some of those attributes you can control/enhance using blade design & heat treatment, but if you're starting from a blank slate, it's worth starting with a steel that will do best at the things you want to emphasize.

[WarrenJ]

Triangleforge pretty much listed all the salient points.  I like the simpler carbon steels - when they are properly heat treated, they deliver amazing cutting performance, toughness and edge holding ability - the one drawback is that they are in no way stain resistant.  They will stain and rust at the first opportunity.  I've found for pure cutting performance, O1 is very very good.  For toughness, I really like 5160 (its what they make truck suspension springs from).  It's not quite the pure cutting steel of O1 but it is incredible tough and its easier to resharpen once it is dull.  I forge a lot of knives from 1080, which delivers a great edge, good toughness and allows for the development of a "Hamon" line when the blade is differentially heat treated.  

A lot of makers are using 5160 for swords due to its incredible toughness and shock resistance.  I prefer it also for hard use knives.  It doesn't polish up as well as O1 or other steels but WOW is it strong.  I've forged a short sword from 5160 and it has taken no end of abuse.

As far as stainless steels, D2 is pretty good for knives.  If properly heat treated, it is very strong and holds an edge for a long time.  It is very hard to sharpen.  I have heard D2 knives described "it takes a mediocre edge and holds it forever"

CMPs30V is another very popular stainless blade steel.  It is very tough and holds an edge quite well.  It is also a bit more expensive than other blade steels.  

Neither  of these stainless steels are really appropriate for swords as they are typically too hard and brittle for the high impacts that swords have to survive.

I have tested a number of knives made of different steels, designs and heat treatment options to failure.  There are plenty of websites online that discuss the merits of different steels.  There are no end of opinions on what is the best, but if you define your needs, it will make your options clearer.

[Monsterlover]

You forge your own. . .

we'll need to see pics. . .

[triangleforge]

You forge your own. . .

we'll need to see pics. . .

I'll go first, since WarrenJ and several others are far better metalsmiths than me. It'll build a more dramatic narrative that way, trust me. I'll apologize in advance for the photo quality -- I wasn't a great photographer 15-20 years ago, and taking digital snapshots of the prints I have on hand hasn't improved things one bit.

First one is that little two-finger knife I mentioned; I gave it to a friend, bike framebuilder (last I heard, he was specializing in high-end framebuilding jigs & tools) Don Ferris of Anvil Bikes:



Here's the sheepsfoot sailing/rigging knife I made for that friend in Maine -- it's the only one I've ever done in stainless:



This one's probably my favorite. It's a knife I made for the silent auction at the Catamount Cruiser Challenge up in New Hampshire back in the late '90s. It's made from a wheel bearing race and one of the things I was proudest of was that you could read the stamp "KOYO" still on the spine of the blade:



Here's the same blade right after I did heat treatment on it (yes, bladesmiths in the audience will understand why I'm still not entirely happy with the temper...), laying on the handle slabs of sliver maple:



I'll now yield the floor to folks who know what they're doing...

[Statler]

drool.

[TiNi]

got a Kramer as a xmas gift... i haven't used another knife in the kitchen since  

[Monsterlover]

That looks great!

[fastwin]

got a Kramer as a xmas gift... i haven't used another knife in the kitchen since  

Is that Damascus steel in the blade? Am I even close?? That looks like an awesome tool! Even the handle is make the beast with two backsing gorgeous! What is that made of? The handmade knife making trade is such a cool link to the past when sword makers made a name for themselves when that was the tool of battle. Neat stuff and still useful every single day!

[kopfjäger]

Yes that is Damascus.


http://www.kramerknives.com/kitchen.htm

[mitt]

Any pictures of the knife making process would be drooled over as well...


mitt

[IZ]

Nice work TF!

Thanks for all the metal info too guys!! 

Obviously, I'm not going to find one knife that fits all the potential uses so I'll be doing more research and ordering a few to fit the bill.