I see that people have mentioned where to buy 1095 and such but where can someone buy 1085 fairly inexpensively. The book I am reading says 1085 and 15N20 forge weld easy to make Dimascus and still durable for a knife.

I have done some searching for 1095 and have not been successful for 20' lengths and feel 1085 will be just as bad

All help would be great.

tell us where in the world you are and maybe some suggestions can be made

 

I buy mine in sheet form (EN42J or CS80 and 15n20 anyway), but that won't help you unless you are in the UK!

You can check Admiralty Steel    (  http://www.admiralsteel.com/   ) or  New Jersey Steel Baron  (   http://newjerseysteelbaron.com/  )

Both carry all types of carbon and/alloy steel.

Both will ship.

Do you need a soviet bloc supplier or one in Australia?

Sorry guys I am in southeast united States. I checked admiral and they only have those in 72 inch lengths. 

Also I meant 1084. Just reread my post. Precoffee moment.

55 minutes ago, wildvortex said:

Sorry guys I am in southeast united States. I checked admiral and they only have those in 72 inch lengths. 

Also I meant 1084. Just reread my post. Precoffee moment.

Longer lengths are available but don't ship by UPS.   Contact them by phone and they will accommodate your needs.  How ever long and wide you need they can supply.  your only problem will be the quantity  they require for an order from their "Industrial side"   They have sheets of 1075 and 1095 for sale either cold rolled or hot rolled.  Their pricing is per square foot  However their 1085 series steels were discontinued  a while back.  The have other popular  alloy steels available,   5160, 4130, 6150

You were evidently looking at their blade catalogue.   Check their Alloy and spring steel catalogue.

Thank you. I was looking at their blade steel. Yes I am aware that UPS will only take lengths of 6 feet. Thought it might be less expensive to buy a full length and pay for 3 cuts. I will check onto it further. 

UPS will deliver 7 foot packages, at least they delivered one to my house yesterday that was 7.5 feet long. 

I ordered 20 feet of 5160 from Admiral Steel last week, delivered in three 7 foot lengths. 

So I got a foot of 5160 for FREE!!!!! 

Ohhhh and I just submitted the order online from their blade steel section of their site, I didnt need to call them to make any special arrangements, the site tells you they will cut the pieces to fit the shipping needs. I dont see any cut charges on my invoice, so I am guessing free. 
 

They do have 1075/1080 

From the Admiral Steel guide on their site. 

1084 - C 0.80-0.94, Mn 0.60-0.90, max P 0.40, max S 0.50

1080 - C 0.74-0.88, Mn 0.60-0.90, max P 0.40, max S 0.50

So you are looking at a small variance in carbon, but otherwise they should be similar if not identical with regards to heat treating and potential pattern welding capabilities. They dont have 20 foot lengths listed, longest I see is 60 inches. 

 

I use Admiral Steel's 1080 all the time for my flint strikers and couldn't be happier with the price or the quality.  For what they charge for shipping, you're better off buying as much as you can because the shipping charge for one 6' stick is just as much as for three sticks.  And it's dirt cheap stuff, so it's not like you're going to break the bank!

I haven't tried doing any damascus with it and have only used it for one knife so far.  It gets hard enough for a flint striker if you do a water quench, but I haven't had any luck with an oil quench.  My oil might be too slow, but that's okay because I prefer the lack of clean up needed with a water quench!

 

Great to know. I had ordered some brass from Midwest steel and they had told me 6 was the limit with UPS. Thank you

Have you  looked at the supplier list in the knife making section, since they are both knife steels?

Sorry Steve but I haven't. Didn't even know there was one. Will take a look tomorrow. Thanks