Knife Steel
#12

Made for cutting yes. but i don't recall carrying a saw to cut the bone. id rather have a knife that can do it. 2 small taps on the back of the blade with a rock the bone is split. you can stick with your extra hard cutter but If your steel is too brittle it will break if you make the wrong move. Also I'm somewhat clumsy and Ive dropped just about all my knives once or twice. Nobody want a knife they have to pamper and worry about it breaking. At least i don't. My hunting knife is one that if i accidentally drop it on a rock it doesn't give me a heart attack.
#15
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 3,516

AP HD_Jake:
L-6
A high carbon, band saw steel that is very tough and holds an edge well, but rusts easily. It is, like O-1, forgiving steel for the forger. If you're willing to put up with the maintenance, this may be one of the very best steels available for cutlery, especially where toughness is desired. Typically used in swords.Carbon-0.65-0.75%, Manganese-0.25-0.80%, Chromium-0.60-1.20%,Nickel-1.25-2.00%, Vanadium-0.20-0.30%, Molybdenum-0.50%
I am going to try and purchace a knife made of L6. Do you folks have or make a Drop Point Hunter using L6? Thanks.
L-6
A high carbon, band saw steel that is very tough and holds an edge well, but rusts easily. It is, like O-1, forgiving steel for the forger. If you're willing to put up with the maintenance, this may be one of the very best steels available for cutlery, especially where toughness is desired. Typically used in swords.Carbon-0.65-0.75%, Manganese-0.25-0.80%, Chromium-0.60-1.20%,Nickel-1.25-2.00%, Vanadium-0.20-0.30%, Molybdenum-0.50%
I am going to try and purchace a knife made of L6. Do you folks have or make a Drop Point Hunter using L6? Thanks.
#16
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: North Georgia
Posts: 48

AP HD_Jake:
L-6
A high carbon, band saw steel that is very tough and holds an edge well, but rusts easily. It is, like O-1, forgiving steel for the forger. If you're willing to put up with the maintenance, this may be one of the very best steels available for cutlery, especially where toughness is desired. Typically used in swords.Carbon-0.65-0.75%, Manganese-0.25-0.80%, Chromium-0.60-1.20%,Nickel-1.25-2.00%, Vanadium-0.20-0.30%, Molybdenum-0.50%
I am going to try and purchace a knife made of L6. Do you folks have or make a Drop Point Hunter using L6? Thanks.
L-6
A high carbon, band saw steel that is very tough and holds an edge well, but rusts easily. It is, like O-1, forgiving steel for the forger. If you're willing to put up with the maintenance, this may be one of the very best steels available for cutlery, especially where toughness is desired. Typically used in swords.Carbon-0.65-0.75%, Manganese-0.25-0.80%, Chromium-0.60-1.20%,Nickel-1.25-2.00%, Vanadium-0.20-0.30%, Molybdenum-0.50%
I am going to try and purchace a knife made of L6. Do you folks have or make a Drop Point Hunter using L6? Thanks.
Your right handloader it does rust easily. But will not rust to a point of permanently pitting the steel if properly taken care of. Leaving an L-6 blade in the sheath for a long period of time without care will cause it to rust very easily. usually when we do a knife of L6 we buff the s*** out of it to a beautiful mirror shine. It takes a while to get a blade that way but when it is almost perfectly smooth you have virtually no pores for moisture to hold up in. we all know what moisture does to steel. And tell me what you like as far as handles and blade length i can make anything, when i finish ill post it on the website i listed. if you didnt see that post its www.the2jakescustomknives.com If you go to the future shows page you can see if there is a show coming your way you can drop by there. My dad runs all the shows out of state, i only do gun shows here in GA I have kids so i cant travel. His name is Jake though if you go to a show.
BTW my knives arent posted on his website yet. My fathers knives are much more time consuming. He makes and uses damascus, does inlays on the handles custom filing and blade designs, and they are very useable but people look at them as art pieces. We use our knives in the woods, the kitchen and wherever a good knife is needed. The knives he sells are a little to pricy and i guess you could say 'fancy' for gun shows. The style of knives i make are much more appealing to the outdoors. I wont say they are lower end knives they just arent art work. I use stag, wood (only certain kinds NOT cheap-o wood), bone, horn (like bulls horn, ibex,etc.), i even use turkey feet and deer legs with the hooves occasionally. Just tell me what you like. handles, blade length, blade style, anything else. Thanks, Jake
#18
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: orange VA
Posts: 6

My brother in law is a machinist and he sharpens large circ. saw blades (18-24" & 1/8" thick) for mills in the area. the ones that cant be sharpend any more he throws them away or brings them to me. I have no idea what they'r made of but when i cut out a knife blank i can put it in a vice and it is all I can do to just barely bend it by hand & the steel will hold a beautiful edge. Once the steel is buffed (i dont like a polish blade) I coat it with teflon car wax and wipe it off. do that after every hunting season and never had any problems. ive made dozens of them and give them to family and friends with no complaints