steel thickness for knives

C

Cojab

Well-Known Member
Just wondering what steel thickness most people prefer. I ordered some 1/4" 1084 but I'm afraid it might be just a bit thick. Do most people use 1/4, 3/16 or 1/8".
I plan on building mostly hunting/skinner types of knives using a NWG and right now I have an 8" contact wheel.
Thanks.
 
I've been using 1/4 in 1084 lately, It works fine as long as the blade isn't a pocket knife :p The great thing about it is that you have room to mess up, if you mess up on the bevel grind you can just flat grind that side back down and redo it. Another special trait is that there is a lot of weight on the blade and it's stronger because it's thicker, depending on other factors like HT and type of steel too. 1/8 has less steel and is more manageable and quicker to grind but you'll be just fine with 1/4" steel :)
 
You can work about any size of steel you prefer depending on blade style but usually you want to keep weight as low as possible and you don't want the handle to feel chunky. I like 1/8" best because it helps keep weight low, and works well for what I make, usually Mid size hunter/utility knives.
 
!/4"+ for forging, and 1/4" and down for stock removal, depending on the blade type and the maker's desires. The trick as you go to thinner stock is to remember this..... You can take material off...but you can never put it back on! What that means is that most stock removal knives are ground at least twice....once rough grinding, and then again after heat threat.

Personally, my forged blades get ground 3X.....after forging I use an angle grinder to remove scale, then rough grind prior to heat treat, and then final grind after heat treating. I always teach students to leave their blades "thicker" then they think it should be prior to heat treat.....because you can always "take material off....but you can never put it back on."
 
I was using 5/32 O1 but have since switched to 1084 1/8 from Aldo for my skinners and bushcraft knives.
 
I would personally go thinner for a skinning knife, or most anything with a blade under 5" or 6", but with a wide blade and a high grind you can get good edge geometry from 1/4" stock, it just takes a lot more grinding...on the other hand, you might hang onto that 1/4" 1084, if Aldo dosen't get more 1/4" soon the value of what you have may go through the roof...
 
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