1095 For Practice Grinding

CDHumiston

CDHumiston

KNIFE MAKER
I started out Grinding D-2, A-2 and 440C Stainless.

I want to grind on something cheap for a while to build some skills.

I found some Cold Rolled Annealed 1095 for sale cheap. What do you all think about grinding it for practice? Heck I may even be able to give backyard heat treating a shot???
 
Depends how thin it is,.. if its 3/16 or over,.. youll be grindin CRA LOOOONNG TIME,lol.
But as carbons go, 1095 makes a fine ,practical ,hard use blade.
Easy to home treat an temper too.
Cant go wrong.

*** I see you said D2 an A2,.. so long time is no prob, youve seen the beast if you work with those,lol
 
Just curious, what do you consider "cheap"? If it's a good deal, share your source. I'd love to find some CRA 1095 in 3/16 to 1/4".
 
Murph- I got about 90 lbs of CRA 1095 in 1/4 from Admiral last year for under a 100 bucks. Lots of folks here use wider sourcing and may have a great deal im sure, but thats the simplest place to ask for it to me .
Hell, BOSSDOG may have it by now too,lol.

*** ahhh, I see they only go up to 5/32 now in CRA,... only the HR is 1/4 now.
 
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I was looking for some 3/16 to 1/4". I've bought it from Admiral in HR, but it's a PITA to cut.
 
murphda2 said:
Just curious, what do you consider "cheap"? If it's a good deal, share your source. I'd love to find some CRA 1095 in 3/16 to 1/4".
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I am not in the market to place a large order from someone like Admiral right now so I was looking at Jantz.

Also Admiral only has HR1095 and I heard it's much harder to grind.

D2 - 3/16" 1 1/2" 18" 41.95
A2 - 3/16" 2" 18" 29.95
O1 - 3/16" 2" 18" 21.95
CR1095 - 3/16" 2" 18" 10.95

This is what I mean by "Cheap" I guess cheaper would be a better description.

If there is some other steel to practice grinding on please let me know.
 
Generally speaking: Cold Rolled is harder than Hot Rolled because the Cold Rolled has work hardened. Cold Rolled is made by taking Hot Rolled and running it through rollers after it has cooled down. That is why its measurements are more exact and the corners are sharper. If you forge, after heating and forging the hardness is the same. After forging I always soak the item in plain old white household vinegar over night. This loosens the scale so that you can wire brush all remaining scale off. Now it is much easier on belts. Scale is harder than the clean metal.

If all you are doing is practicing use mild steel, get it at salvage yards for $.20 or $.30 a pound. If you are using 1095 plan on that practice ending up as a good knife.
 
Not to dis Jantz, I frequently do business with them, but if you are going for price, they are not the people to go to for knife making steel. You can get a lot more steel for the money at Admiral or Kelly Cupples.

Doug Lester
 
Wayne you said what I was going to say.

Chris, I used any piece of scrap I could find to grind on when I first started. I completed the knives using scrap pine oak etc. I ground up a lot of old files back then too. Once I had a little practice I got enough confidence to spend the money for good blade steel.

Larry
 
Kelly Cupples has 3/16"x1.5" 1095 for $17 per 4' length. This is excellent steel to work with.

However, if you are looking for a cheaper steel for practice that will be easier to "backyard heat treat", I recommend his 3/16"x1.5" 1080. It was priced at $15.50 per 4' length last I checked. Kelly ships UPS ground in the lower 48 for free on orders over $100 if I remember. If you really need 2" wide, you'll have to go somewhere else.

I hate to think of good 1095 as a "practice steel" :( ... but it is cheaper than some.

Erin
 
If you forge, get a coil spring, cut it into rings then straighten them out and forge to flat stock, forge the shape, forge the bevels, then practice grinding.
Stock is cheap (free), is good steel for knives (usually 5160) and heat treats easily. My first 5 or 6 knives were made this way.

Jim Batson said, "Ten minutes forging is worth 30 minutes grinding." Or something close to that. Of course that may have been before 40 grit Blaze belts.
 
"Depends how thin it is,.. if its 3/16 or over,.. youll be grindin CRA LOOOONNG TIME,lol.
But as carbons go, 1095 makes a fine ,practical ,hard use blade.
Easy to home treat an temper too.
Cant go wrong."

1095 is a poor choice for home heat treat. It does not act like the lower carbon 10xx steels, and will not harden properly unless you have the right quench, and the right heat. 1095 is a hypereutectoid with very little manganese to help it harden in oil. The only quench medium that will properly harden it is brine. The next best having the lowest risk of cracking is Parks #50 oil. Motor oils, and grocery store cooking oils will not get the job done right. 1095 has a window of .8 of one second to cool from 1500° to under 900°, or it will form a mix of pearlite with martensite, which will not properly hold an edge any where near it's potential. You would be much ahead to order 1075/80/84. These will allow for decent heat treating with backyard methods, and hold a better edge than poorly HT'd 1095.
 
Have you thought about O1. Haven't bought any in a bit but I could get it locally in precision flat ground quite cheaply. It also home heat treats very well.

Charlie
 
"Have you thought about O1. Haven't bought any in a bit but I could get it locally in precision flat ground quite cheaply. It also home heat treats very well."


01 is even more difficult to home treat than 1095. The only steels friendly to home, or makeshift heat treating are the hypoeutectoid 10xx's.
 
Thanks for all the advice.

Right now I'm just looking for something to grind that doesn't cost me a lot of money if I screw it up. I want to grind more and not worry to much. I think that alone can cause mistakes.

I have ground 6 blades since I started and only ended up with one in the trash. And if you've read my other thread I screwed up the pins putting a guard on one, but I'll keep it for myself.

What would you all consider an easier steel to grind? It sounds like 1095 is a tough one?
 
CDHumiston said:
What would you all consider an easier steel to grind? It sounds like 1095 is a tough one?
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I don't think 1095 is any tougher to grind. The stuff I get from Kelly grinds like butter. Grinding is not the problem with 1095... backyard heat treating is. As mentioned earlier, 1080/1084 will be much easier to HT on your own. AND it is relatively inexpensive.

Erin
 
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