Whether you're making swords, bowies or shoppers, heat-treating SAE 5160 is straightforward and yields 58-61HRC depending on your blade needs.

The hardening of a knife blade is the heart and soul of the knife. When done well, you’ll have a versatile tool for life. When a knife blade is placed under load, stress is almost never uniformly distributed through the…

Sandvik 14C28N is the latest development in Sandvik’s (Swedish) range of knife steels. The optimized chemistry provides a top grade knife steel with a unique combination of excellent edge performance, high hardness and good corrosion resistance. Sandvik 14C28N® is an…

Böhler M390 is a third-generation martensitic chromium steel produced with powder metallurgy. Due to its alloying concept, this steel offers extremely high wear resistance, decent toughness, good corrosion resistance (food-grade [5]) and polishability (mirror). M390 has become the preferred “super…

Bohler-Uddeholm K460 (1.2510) (AISI O1) is a popular carbon cold work tool steel that knife makers have used very effectively for decades. Famously O1 has been used by Randall Knives starting in 1938 or so and continuing to today. K460…

80CrV2 (1.2235) (AISI L2) is a relatively new steel for South African knife makers (2020). However, it is popular in northern Europe (Finland) as Swedish saw steel and has seen growth in the US since 2014 thanks to efforts by…

Heat treating (if done in-house) is a critically important step in the knifemaking process. It’s also one that when it goes wrong it can go wrong very quickly, resulting in cracked or warped blades that either get chucked into a…

N690 is Bohler-Uddeholm's best conventional stainless knife steel. High hardness and stain resistance make it a durable steel for every day use. Here's how to heat treat it.

ELMAX has been called the "best all-around knife steel," because it will make a razor-sharp blade and deliver the best possible knife experience. Here's how to heat treat it.