Knife Steel

[Loki]

Hi

If carbon steel I can recommend the use of a citric acid solution soak.

This puts a surface coating on the blade which helps greatly in preserving the surface from rust etc. and from my experience can be redone.

Google will provide background info.

L

[walshie]

Great ideas lads, thanks. I'm sure it will get a natural patina quick enough. Looking forward to it.

[scaffman73]

Have a look at www.greenmanforge.com 

[Bangbangman]

Confessions of a reformed steel-junky:

 

I've made a number of knives, including from O1 and D2, though it's only a hobby and I'm no expert.

I have owned a Trapper in D2.

I only have a little experience of M2, which is a high-speed tool steel.

 

All 3 are perfectly good knife steels. O1 will begin to rust/pit quite quickly after contact with blood and does require care. Forcing a patina may mitigate a bit but care is still needed (a film of oil, wax, etc. but be aware of toxicity if food prepping.) The patina can hide pitting. Corrosion under the scales is your big enemy.

 

D2 is much more corrosion resistant- I made my BPK (Bambi Processing Knife) from it. At higher hardness and low edge angles it can be prone to micro-chipping (It forms quite large carbides).

 

Edge-holding is more than just hardness and abrasion resistance; a knife made of ultra-high carbide "steel" like CPM-Rex121, may perform amazingly in the controlled conditions of a CATRA machine, yet perform poorly in real-world conditions due to eg. poor edge-stability or difficult resharpening. O1 does well in this respect.

 

Previously I bought into the hype (largely driven by marketing of knife-making companies) and experimented with and reviewed the high-end knives made with exotic steels. Eventually I came to realise that there is a lot of the "Emperors new clothes" effect at work. For regular, real-world use, some of the simpler alloys work best. The exception, in my experience, is CPM-3V. This is not stainless, though very nearly, and takes a fine, stable edge without excessive time on the diamond stones. It's also tough. It's not widely used by big commercial makers.

 

The Enzo Trapper is a good knife for the money. If using it for gralloching, beware of fingers sliding onto the blade in wet conditions as there is no guard and little contouring of the grip to stop this. D2 (and M2) will be easier to keep corrosion-free but harder to sharpen than O1.

 

Not sure that helps? 

Incidentally, I kept one of the CPM-REX121 knives, to remind me of the folly of chasing numbers in metallurgy. Here's a pic of it with a roasting pigeon! I put a convex edge on it as it seemed more stable and easier to maintain.

Edited November 24, 2017 by Bangbangman

[walshie]

That's brilliant. Very informative, thanks.

Is that a tiny pigeon or a massive can of beans? 

 

[Bangbangman]

30 minutes ago, walshie said:

That's brilliant. Very informative, thanks.

Is that a tiny pigeon or a massive can of beans? 

 

Ha ha!

Beans in foreground!

[bigman]

Nice post bangbang   Farid makes solid blades , I was tempted by his T. rex folder until I saw the price