Ed I usually start with 1/4" thick. Well actually with Aldo's steel it is slighlty oversize, more like .260. Usually in 1", 1 1/4", and 1 1/2". Depending on the blade. For some knives I do have some 3/8" 1095 for big blades. Those are my standard sizes.

What thickness usually depends on the knife, but a normal for me is around .225 or slightly under 1/4". That is after forging and grinding.

When I went for JS I used .262 5160 by 1 1/2". It ended up being about .240 thick at the ricasso.

Brion

Hey Ed... Hope all is well!

In regards to your question, I'm not a JS or MS yet but I have made and tested my performance blade which did pass. I'd be more than willing to help you with any questions you might have when you head down that road.

The steel that I used for my test blades was 1/4" X 1 1/4" 5160 that I got from Kelly Cupples out in Washington state. I didn't measure the steel before hand but it was .216 at the ricasso with a full distal taper. I intended to end up with a "thin" knife for my test blade considering what it was supposed to accomplish. I figured that just about any knife with some mass to it would chop through a 2 X 4 twice as long as the edge was convexed and not too thin. My planning was geared more towards the rope cut and bend test. I kept thinking of a fillet knife and how it bends. Part of that is obviously the heat treatment but equally as important is the thickness, IMHO. The distal taper that we put into our test knives allows the blade to flex along it's length like the limb of a bow, not to mention a much improved balance and lively feeling in your hand.

Anyway, I'm rambling... To directly answer your question, 1/4" by 1 1/4" 5160 worked perfectly for me. There is a lot of good info out there on the net, but here's a link from Ed Caffrey's site that deals specifically with the making of a performance test blade. I hope Ed doesn't mind me posting it. http://www.caffreyknives.net/journeymanarticle.html Follow his instructions and you will definitely be heading in the right direction.

Take care,

Rick

PS, I would highly recommend using new, known steel. In other words, don't re-purpose an old car or truck spring, etc. You never know what stresses old steel may have been put through and those stresses are problems waiting to manifest at the wrong moment.

PPS, I generally just stock and use 1/4" barstock in various widths. If I want a thinner knife I forge it down to the dimension I'm after.

Thanks Brion and Rick.

I get all my steel from Aldo, and it's 1/4", but I just got a video from the ABS store on grinding, and the forged blade (before grinding) looks thicker than 1/4", more like 3/8", but I couldn't be sure. So, I just thought I'd throw this question out there to get a consensus, and it sounds like I'm on the right track.

Thanks again <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//biggrin.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> .

Hello to all. I am a journeyman smith as of recently and I guess I ought to know, but someone fill me in. I like to start with 3/8" thick 5160 or whatever, (Aldo carries it), for a long bowie, or some other type of long blade, say 9" to 10". I like a thick ricasso after forging, mainly because I wind up doing a lot of grinding on it to achieve a ricasso that is as flat and square as possible. (I don't have a surface grinder so I use calipers and a micrometer). I believe this is necesary when filing the ricasso to make the guard fit up perfectly against it. I usually wind up with a ricasso slightly over 1/4". Then I start my distal taper right in front of the ricasso to cut down on weight. Any comments? Thanks for hearing me out.-Bill