Michael Cochran Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 I may be misremembering this but I want to say I've read that 15N20 is good knife steel since you don't want to use a steel for pattern welding that is less than ideal by itself. That said I have done some searching for more information about using 15N20 for knives but I'm not seeing much that isn't people talking in circles. My curiosity stems from a guy at work that said he might be interested in a knife but only if it's a folder. I know I could use some of the 1084 I use but think that the 15N20 would be a little more corrosion resistant which I imagine would be great for a knife that's in your pocket all day. I know I could use stainless if I'm that worried about corrosion but don't feel like it would be a wise investment to buy a piece of stainless for a single pocket knife. Feel free to tell me I'm just being a little crazy and that I should be less worried or whatever else you think I need to hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TacticallySharp Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 I use 9 pices of 1084 steel one on each and two in the middle. The 15N20 is 2 layers on side between the outside one and the inside two of 1084. 6" long pieces for me works vest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Just glancing through various knifemakers' supply places on the web and most of them seem to sell knife grade stainless in 12" lengths. The real issue being can you heat treat those steels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanternnate Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 From what I've read 15N20 isn't used by itself as often because of the size stock it is available in. As I understand it, most that is available is thinner than people want for a blade. That isn't an issue when being added to other pieces of steel for a good and thick billet, but it is if just using by it's lonesome. The other semi stainless option would be 5160. Available in a larger variety of stock sizes (including scrap), and since I've heat treated it, it falls into the any knucklehead can heat treat category. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 42 minutes ago, lanternnate said: The other semi stainless option would be 5160. what is semi stainless ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 1 minute ago, Steve Sells said: what is semi stainless ??? Only stains on one side of the knife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted April 3, 2017 Author Share Posted April 3, 2017 1 hour ago, TacticallySharp said: I use 9 pices of 1084 steel one on each and two in the middle. The 15N20 is 2 layers on side between the outside one and the inside two of 1084. 6" long pieces for me works vest. I do not understand what you are trying to say. 1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said: Just glancing through various knifemakers' supply places on the web and most of them seem to sell knife grade stainless in 12" lengths. The real issue being can you heat treat those steels? I am not setup for proper heat treatment of stainless steels which is one reason I don't use it. 58 minutes ago, lanternnate said: From what I've read 15N20 isn't used by itself as often because of the size stock it is available in. As I understand it, most that is available is thinner than people want for a blade. That isn't an issue when being added to other pieces of steel for a good and thick billet, but it is if just using by it's lonesome. The other semi stainless option would be 5160. Available in a larger variety of stock sizes (including scrap), and since I've heat treated it, it falls into the any knucklehead can heat treat category. Aldo sell 15N20 in a thickness that's ideal for a folder. I actually just got a new steel shipment from him recently and it included 1/8" 15N20 which is plenty thick enough for a few different style folders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwistedCustoms Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 15n20 is great blade steel. Its made for band saw blades and shows up in a lot of pattern welded blades because the nickel resists etching and the heat treat is close( within the parameters) of 1095, 1075, 1080 etc... It will polish nicely and depending on temper can be anywhere between hrc 50 and 65. If you have it in .125 it should work a treat! My supplier only stocks it in .049 and I wouldn't bother welding it up just to do a mono steel blade with it but like I said, if you already have it in .125 go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanternnate Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 1 hour ago, Steve Sells said: what is semi stainless ??? Sorry if I violated one of the unwritten crumudgen commandments. Not a term I've invented (or I'm sure the first you've heard it), but as I've read a term applied in varying levels to refer to steels with alloying that result in some level of corrosion resistance better than plain carbon steel without giving true resistance of stainless (with things like D2 supposedly being right on the edge). I've also read plenty of debate about it anywhere from any amount helps to unless it has XX% it's all rusts the same and doesn't matter. Based on your response I'll just put another tick in the says that's hooey column Given Michael's goal is corrosion resistance, would the resulting advice be don't worry about using 15N20 and just go with a plain carbon steel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 no Violations, just a question. Stainless Steel is defined as a steel alloy having more than 12% free chromium in its matrix. D2 has 12.5% chrome in composition, but most of that bound in carbides and not free to form oxides, which is what makes the stainless part of SS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted April 3, 2017 Author Share Posted April 3, 2017 9 hours ago, TwistedCustoms said: 15n20 is great blade steel. Its made for band saw blades and shows up in a lot of pattern welded blades because the nickel resists etching and the heat treat is close( within the parameters) of 1095, 1075, 1080 etc... It will polish nicely and depending on temper can be anywhere between hrc 50 and 65. If you have it in .125 it should work a treat! My supplier only stocks it in .049 and I wouldn't bother welding it up just to do a mono steel blade with it but like I said, if you already have it in .125 go for it! That is was I was hoping for. I knew it was used for bandsaw blades just didn't know how well it would do alone in a knife. Usually I prefer carbon steel knives I've stainless and such, I blame that on my discovery of a 'Old Hickory' kitchen knife when I was a kid. It was rough looking but sharper than any stainless I had even used. I think I will give 15N20 a go and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwistedCustoms Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 15n20 has plenty of carbon, .75 iirc. You won't have any burn out if your not putting it through welding cycles. I would love to get some .125! I haven't searched for it but I may see what's out there. Keep us posted with some pics as your folder comes together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted April 3, 2017 Author Share Posted April 3, 2017 1 hour ago, TwistedCustoms said: 15n20 has plenty of carbon, .75 iirc. You won't have any burn out if your not putting it through welding cycles. I would love to get some .125! I haven't searched for it but I may see what's out there. Keep us posted with some pics as your folder comes together. Right now Aldo has some .130" in stock at http://newjerseysteelbaron.com/shop/15n20/ If I had the money I'd buy a stick of that to have on hand for future projects. When I ordered mine it was the thickest I'd even seen. Ill definitely post pictures. Since this is going to be a stock removal project I'm looking to see what kind of patterns or templates I can find that look like something this guy would carry. He used to be a Civil War reenactor so I was thinking something that's been around for a while but he currently carrys a three blade Buck. I'll figure something out and share it as it goes along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwistedCustoms Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 For that time period I would be looking at German single blade folders. Great Eastern Cutlery makes some of the prettiest ones as far as production knives go and the Case sodbuster knives are based on the old German farmers knives. Barlow knives predate the American Civil war by almost two hundred years and were popular through the 1960s. All the Civil War pocket knives I see that are well documented fall neatly into two categories, Sheffield made English knives and home made war time production. Of course there were German, Spanish and French knives being imported before the war but based on what has survived up to now there must have been a lot more Sheffield made knives imported before 1860. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 Thank you for those leads. I spent some time looking at multiple blade slip joints and think I might be biting off more than I can chew if I go that way. I'll do some digging and find some older patterns with a single blade. I've only handled one Barlow and it was a fine, 'simple,' knife so I might actually head that direction. Maybe by the weekend I'll have a better idea so I can start laying out the material and see just what I need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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