Dennis in 1" you should be fine using that plate for what ever you want.
You guys don't know me from Adam when it comes to the knife making world, I'm just a hobbyist that wants to make nice knives. In the real world I'm a Warehouse Manager of a medium sized new steel service center. So I pulled some numbers together to hopefully shed some light on my experience with hot rolled material.
Last year we moved 48,000 tons of material, 78% of that was a36 or a572 grade 50. 47% of those tons were processed on our equipment. We have 2 400 amp cnc plasma cutters, a set of plate rolls that can roll 1/2" plate, a 1/2" plate shear, a cnc press brake that will form 1/2" thick a36, 2 cnc band saws, and a rebar processing line. In 13 years of working with a36 not once have I seen a bolt, spring, or had a compliant about a36 material being a lesser quality steel. Generic hot roll material is a whole other animal in itself, and not generally made in thicker stock.