What is 1070 good for?

[lyuv]

I have great difficulty getting ANY good steel. So I was happy to find a large piece of 1070. But is it good for knifes?

I usualy see bladesmiths use higher carbon steels used, like 1085 and 1095.

So far I"m mainly into kitchen knifes, so I"d like to know how useful it is for that. But I"m open to other uses. If I have the steel, why not put it to good use?

While we"re on it - any pointers on forging 1070? specifically on heat treatment.

Thanks,

[Will W.]

Well bladesmiths also use 5160 extremely commonly, and thats a lower C steel than 1070. Its important to remember that C is not the only thing that matters. Metallurgy is complex. 

It will work as a kitchen knife steel, but just like any non stainless knife, it must be cared for and maintained, not just thrown in the dishwasher. 

Any of the 10xx series steels are really easy to forge and heat treat. They have a very wide forging temp range (compared to tool steels anyways) so as long as you dont hammer on it when its colder than red or burn it, youre good to go. For heat treating, normalize, heat to critical, and oil quench. Tempering depends on intended use. Like i said, very simple steel. 

Im reasonably certain that all of this information is in the stickies. I recommend reading up on them. Youll walk away knowing a lot more than you came in with, even things that you didnt realize you needed to know.