If you are sending it out you can start with just about any steel you want. There's not gonna be a whole lot of noticable difference for someone just starting between any of the common steels, as long as they're annealed. Probably want to avoid the "super steels", though ( those with high vanadium content, to be more precise). I think Peter's will heat treat air hardening and oil hardening steels. O-1 makes about as good of a blade as you can ask for if stain resistence isn't an issue.