Sgian Dubh blades; opinions?

[D.A. Guertin]

You can buy steel from Texas Knifemaker's Supply, shape the blade by your usual methods, and send it back to them for heat treat. I use them frequestly, but, of course, I have the advantage of them being 5 minutes from my office. ;-)

[Drac]

You just got to make sure you get air hardenable. Things like any stainless, A2 & D2.

They do a good job.

If you want to play at home gets some O-1 and check out http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/index.php. There is a lot of information available no matter how much you want to get into knife making. If you want to just get up and go the normal stating place is -

Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop, by Wayne Goddard

Though I prefer -

How to Make Knives, by Robert Loveless/Richard Barney

Jim

[svc40bt]

Thanks for the links and ideas. I have ordered a couple of blades from Rab Gordon this time around. I also ordered some brass and supplies from Jantz, thanks Tyger. If they turn out decently, I may try making a blade from D2 next time around.

[D.A. Guertin]

Fair warning, D2 is a friggin' nightmare to grind! I would take A2 over D2 any day of the week. Of course, depending on what you have available in terms of tools, it's not any easy project any way about it. Regardless, I would steer clear of D2 unless you have a seriously balsy grinder, or indestructable arms.

[Tartan Hiker]

Unless you get annealed D2, which works like a dream with hand files. Problem is you'll need to then find someone who really knows what they are doing to get it heat treated properly after you do the shaping. In the annealed condition, it gets dull spreading butter. D2 requires a long period of carefully controlled heat...you just can't treat it with a typical home shop furnace like you can with a piece of 1095.

Unless you are a real masochist, stick to regular old high carbon or one of the stainless alloys that are easier to deal with.

[Drac]

Most air-hardenable steels can be difficult to heat treat at home. I am lucky in that I was gifted a kiln from a mentor.

If you want to do your own heat treat go with 1095 or O-1. Both will give a more than serviceable blade and the steel isn't that expensive when ordered from any number of supply houses in the largest selection of sizes. If you live in a big city you might even find O-1 locally.

Many knife makers and collectors fall into the trap about what is a better steel. In reality that unless the user is a real "hard" user most people will never tell the difference between the old standbys like O-1 and 440C and the "super" steels you always see advertised in knife mags. O-1 is commonly used in sharp man and cutting contests with great success. The reason I use a "fancy" stainless is the fact it is almost as tough as a carbon steel so I can make my preferred hunter/outdoor blades without a compromise in strength.

Jim