Easier grinding

Rick Otts

Rick Otts

Well-Known Member
Ok I keep hearing new guys should start out with like 1084 beacuse its easier to grind.Why is that so can someone plz explain this? Not that I aint going to take the advice.I was just wondering why.
 
Hmmm...Don't think it's easier to grind. It's easier to heat treat. It's cheaper than others. I've used several steels now and ease of grinding hasn't really entered my mind. But, I'm not that experienced yet either, so I'm curious what the pros say too.
 
I'd be interested in hearing what the veterans have to say as well, because in my limited experience my grinds got better when I changed to grinding my blades after heat treat. I only use stainless (CPM154 and AEB-L) so I also can't offer any experience on 10 series steel whatsoever.
 
If you're grinding before heat treat, it isn't any easier to grind than anything else. It's more forgiving in heat treating if you don't have high tech equipment with good temperature control. That's why it's recommended for beginners.
 
You can successfully HT 1084 in a coffee can forge with a little practice. Simply heat to non-magnetic, around 1450 degrees F, and quench in canola oil. Tempering 1084 is also easy. 2 cycles of 1 hour each at 400 degrees F. This can be done in a garage sale toaster oven. These are the reasons 1084 would be a good first steel to start off with. Higher alloy steels require somewhat more complicated HT and tempering processes which require a well regulated HT oven.
 
The term "grinding" is likely being used in an overall context. Pre-heat treat, there isn't a huge difference in most "knife" steels. Post heat treat is another story. In the overall scheme of things, the 10XX steels will be "easier" (more forgiving) throughout the overall knifemaking process, to grind and finish post heat treat then those steels with additional alloys.

If a person grinds S30V post heat treat, or tries hand finishing Cru-Forge V, the difference in difficulty level becomes clearly evident.

More to the point of your question..... it's all about the alloys, and their amounts a given steel contains that make one or the other more difficult, or easier to work with, grind, and finish. Different alloys impart various characteristics to steel.... learning those elements, and what characteristics they impart, not only by themselves, but in combination with other alloying elements, can be very valuable when it comes to choosing a blade steel for a given type of knife.
Just as a side note.... in general, the more alloys a steel contains, and the higher their quantity goes, the more complex the heat treat process becomes.
Here's a down and dirty list of elements, and how they affect steel: http://www.caffreyknives.net/element_content.html
 
Ed, thanks for the element chart ,this is a great aid for all us hobbyist , it puts a little sense to the metal analysis .
 
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