I had a customer design their own knife. I guess you could call it a survival knife, but it will also be used to clean deer and other game. It has a 5 inch blade and a 5 inch handle. My question is, will 1095 make a good blade steel? I have a lot of it that is 3/16" thick.
Thanks for any replies,
Jeff Sorensen

1095 is exelent steel,3/16ths is the norm for many survival knives and if you look through the mags many of the survival type knives are made from 1095, so no worries. :)

Thank you for the reply. I think I will stick with the 1095, and I will make sure I stress to the customer how important it is to keep the blade oiled. I usually use O1, but I think it will be nice to venture out in using other steels.
Thanks Again
Jeff

Jeff,

I have made several survival knives from 1095 with very good results. Just remember to stress to the customer the importance of proper maintenane.

FYI- the KaBar WWII Fighting knives were and are still made from 1095. Not the new generations, but the old style ones.

Good luck!!

Thank you Craig, I will definitely stress the importance of taking care of the blade. Does anybody have any suggestions on tempering a blade of 1095 for this application?
Thanks,
Jeff

I have a crook-back hunter J. Neilson made for me from 1095 and I love it. I just dry it off after using it and have never had any problems during hunting seasons. I do put some oil on it if it will be stored for an extended period of time.
It really holds a excellent edge and is sooooo easy to sharpen!!

Jeff,

Here is how I do it. Either clay coat or only quench the edge area. Quench at non magnetic (@ 1500 degrees) quench in oil. temper @ 425 for 2 hrs, cool repeat @ 400 another 2 hours.


Hope this helps.

Craig,

That helps a lot. I was totally in the dark on how to temper this blade. Hopefully when I am done with this knife I can figure out how to post a picture of it.

Thanks,
Jeff