Hello,
my name is Craig, I am new to knife making. I am not forging yet. I am only cut and grinding from bar stock ( saving my scrap for future ). I’ve been practicing and have made about 30 small skinners/daily carry knives out of 440C . I also have made a few camp knives out of ABE-L. My background and passion is chef knives. I’ve been a chef for 30+ years. A car accident has left me disabled. So I’ve turned to knife making since I can’t continue working in a kitchen. My favorite knives were Japanese carbon steel knives $$$. I buy steel from AKS. Can someone recommend a few steels I should use to make Experienced Chef Knives , Home Chef Knives and General Kitchen Knives eg paring, serrated, ect. Thank you in advance. By the way I am heat treating myself in sm gas forge, have been doing oil then sub zero quench ( acetone dry ice ) , and foil tempering in toaster oven.
sincerly ,
craig
welcome to the forum Craig
I make a good amount of chef/kitchen knives. base you steel choice first on your available equipment, any of the steels that need tight control in heat treat you are not going to get everything out of in a forge. you will get far better results with steels that do respond well to a forge heat treat. For my money 1075/1080 1084, 80crv2, 15n20 or for hamon w2 would be the steels I would recommend. Pick one and learn to get the most out of it. My experience with these knives is that steel choice and heat treat is important but doesn't make as much of a noticeable difference to performance as geometry and ergonomics.
For stainless I would recommend sending out the heat treatment until you have an oven that can control the hardening temp and ramp rates.
MP
