52100

I know I will catch a lot of flack about his one; it has been the favorite "flavor of the week" for more than a week with more than a few bladesmiths. But I am not into the whole popularity contest scene. A whole lot of tall tales have been circulated about his steel and a whole lot of hype also. Once again, I am not saying that you can't make a good knife out of this stuff if you are very careful and do some special treatments with it, but to me this still equates to using a bigger hammer to force the square peg into the hole. It was specifically made for use in bearings, let me just ask, how much cutting does one do with a ball bearing? It has a lot of little quirks that makes great bearings but have to be compensated for in a knife blade. Retained austenite can be an issue and at 1% carbon this stuff forms complete plate martensite with its recommended heat-treat. It moves incredibly slow under the hammer. Yes, with all the possibility for excess carbides, it can make a real abrasion resistant edge, but not for the beginner smith. With all the just plain nutty procedures that one can hear about anytime this steel is mentioned I have sometimes wondered if there isn't something in it that burns out and gets in smiths brains. But the fact that a conventional heat treatment just never seems to be enough should is pretty revealing in itself. Keep them small with precise controls and it could make a good knife but for they guy with simple tools making large blades this one is a real square peg.

Click on the appropriate link below to go the Admiral Steel® page for this alloy:

Admiral Steel®: 52100