Sal, what are the chances for a AEB-L spydie ?

[elena86]

I tried to push this in an older thread but maybe I'm lucky this time.Sal, AFAIK your policy is not to use steels with less than 08-0.9% carbon content but maybe you should give AEB-L a try granted it's hardened above 60HRC.Although I am a mechanical engineer not a metallurgist I know a thing or two about this stuff and I dare to quote and back-up John Verhoven, metallurgist, who says that AEB-L would be the best all-around steel for knifemakers. The reasons he gives for good edge retention are: 1. hardens to 63-64 Rc 2. very fine carbides that avoid carbide pull-out (which happens in coarse carbides) and add to wear resistance 3. The K2 carbide is formed, which gives better wear resitance to the K1 carbide which is formed in Mo steels such as 154-CM.I dare to affirm that it's going to be a revelation for everyone here.From my experience there are only two steels I need in my life on both sides of the spectrum: CPM-Cruwear and AEB-L just because they have superb balance of properties and very good edge stability.I can only dream on a Para2 in Cruwear and a UKPK in AEB-L.

Marius

[jabba359]

Sal says an AEB-L might be worth exploring in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=70930

[twinboysdad]

Native LW or Manix LW please

[sal]

Hi Elena,

Thanx for starting the thread. I'd like to collect s much info as possible from forumites., Verhoven spent a week here with Al Pendray in our testing lab working on Wootz. Dan Maragni is a believer in lower carbon steels. All in all, I think it's worth look-see.

sal

[Surfingringo]

I would be all over it. I know that the high vanadium steels are all the rage right now (I like them for certain uses) but I sure do like some of the finer grained steels...both in how they sharpen and perform. I have recently been using some lc200n at 59 Rc and have been extremely pleased. I would imagine something with similar properties and slightly higher hardness would be the cat's meow.

[Brock O Lee]

AEB-L Nilakka...

[elena86]

Hi Elena,

Thanx for starting the thread. I'd like to collect s much info as possible from forumites., Verhoven spent a week here with Al Pendray in our testing lab working on Wootz. Dan Maragni is a believer in lower carbon steels. All in all, I think it's worth look-see.

sal

I'm glad you're interested.

P.S Elena86 is my daughters name and forum name but in real life I'm Marius :)

[Cujobob]

Low carbide steels are awesome and they can be sharpened by any noob, so I think it's a great option for an EDC sort of steel. The low cost also helps. AEB-L would open the door for low cost high quality fixed blades and folders or if you wanted to have kitchen knives made outside of Japan, it's an excellent option, as well. The 62-63 RC AEB-L fixed blade knives I own are extremely thinly ground and really do hold a respectable edge. I had a bit of edge deformation on one knife but only because it was ground far thinner than any production knife would be. I would only be interested if it was heat treated to a fairly high level because it can underperform when run soft.

Sometimes you just want a knife that can be stropped and is back to hair popping sharp.

[J D Wijbenga]

Low carbine steels work well for me. I have not used AEB-L myself but have read that it is one of the best. It is used in the industry as a razor steel!

Devin Thomas, the damascus smith, has as a high opinion of this steel as you can read HERE.

[wrdwrght]

My antennae are up.

[bh49]

I will buy Native5 or native LW or Caly in AEB-L.

AEB-L would open the door for low cost high quality fixed blades and folders or if you wanted to have kitchen knives made outside of Japan, it's an excellent option

there are some Japaneese kitchen knives with AEB-L as well.

[bh49]

IIRC AEB-L is fairly close to 12C27 or 13C26 and remember Kershaw using them a lot, but not anymore and wondering why?

[J D Wijbenga]

IIRC AEB-L is fairly close to 12C27 or 13C26 and remember Kershaw using them a lot, but not anymore and wondering why?

AEB-L = 13c26 but from a different manufacturer. Kershaw ran there 13c26 much to soft for high performance. AEB-L can easily be hardend into the lower sixties Hrc. 61-63Hrc is not uncommon in knives from knife makers making high performance knives with this steel. For instance Jeremy McCullen.

[Cujobob]

I believe 13C26 is a Sandvik clone of AEB-L. It's fantastic stuff but I think it's tough to market and it's often not heat treated well because it's used with inexpensive knives.

Kershaw uses 14C28N but it's run a little soft too, though it does take a fantastic edge (and is very easy to sharpen). Hype is important sometimes when selling products. These steels are actually fun to sharpen.

[Halfneck]

Big fan of the Sandvik steels, just picked up my first knife in AEB-L at BLADE - L.T. Wright Small Northern Hunter. Thin stock, flat grind, and I'm slowly getting a polished edge on it using my Spyderco medium ceramic stone. Think L.T. uses Peters Heat Treat, not 100% sure though.

[Ferris Wheels]

My experience with AEB-L is limited to a 8" chef's knife at 61-62HRC. It is a dream to sharpen and takes a very keen edge which are great properties in the kitchen. I would love to see a Stretch in AEB-L but doubt that is possible since it is a Japan produced model. It sounds like a broken record as everyone usually defaults to the PM2 when talking about a platform for a new steel/sprint but I would like to offer a twist. I would like to see a permanent inclusion to the PM2 line of a slicer grind which brings the blade thickness down from 3.5mm to 2-2.5mm and I think AEB-L would be a great choice.

Regardless of what platform Spyderco introduced AEB-L into, I would purchase at least one to see how it performed in comparison to the chef's knife I already have.

[Doc Dan]

I have not used AEB-L but I have used 13C26 and 14C28 and they take a great edge. One of the sharpest knives, and thinnest edges, I have ever had is made from 13C26 and it really performs well. I like that I can easily bring it back to hair splitting sharpness but it holds the edge a decent amount of time, too. So, if AEB-L performs like the Sandvic stuff, then I would definitely be interested.

[Nate]

Here is an older article by Cliff that is relevant, or at least I hope those interested in AEB-L will find it to be:

http://www.cliffstamp.com/knives/articl ... ation.html

I have one custom by KWB in AEB-L with a Peter's HT that has been great. Definitely one of my favorites, but that has at lot to do with the knife itself too, not just the steel.

My uses aren't such that I need to discrimnate much on overall edge retention, but I would say I find it stoopid easy to sharpen to a high level of sharpness.



As another option, CTS-BDZ1 is also very similar to AEB-L/13C26 and Spyderco already uses a lot of Carpenter steels.

I also think the B70P mule is excellent and maybe a little similar. I would love to see it used in a sprint, but unfortunately it never got any buzz going and doesn't have much history or name recognition. Even the CRB-7 alloy it's based on is kind of cryptic, not well known.

[dplafoll]

My experience with AEB-L is limited to a 8" chef's knife at 61-62HRC. It is a dream to sharpen and takes a very keen edge which are great properties in the kitchen. I would love to see a Stretch in AEB-L but doubt that is possible since it is a Japan produced model. It sounds like a broken record as everyone usually defaults to the PM2 when talking about a platform for a new steel/sprint but I would like to offer a twist. I would like to see a permanent inclusion to the PM2 line of a slicer grind which brings the blade thickness down from 3.5mm to 2-2.5mm and I think AEB-L would be a great choice.

Regardless of what platform Spyderco introduced AEB-L into, I would purchase at least one to see how it performed in comparison to the chef's knife I already have.

First, IIRC, they're starting to use some non-Japanese steels out of Seki, specifically S30V(I think). Also, I think it'd be really cool to have that idea of a slicer PM2; however, pending actually seeing/handling the knife, maybe we could get a slicer grind on a PM3(whatever they're going to call it).

[Cujobob]

Here is an older article by Cliff that is relevant, or at least I hope those interested in AEB-L will find it to be:

http://www.cliffstamp.com/knives/articl ... ation.html

I have one custom by KWB in AEB-L with a Peter's HT that has been great. Definitely one of my favorites, but that has at lot to do with the knife itself too, not just the steel.

My uses aren't such that I need to discrimnate much on overall edge retention, but I would say I find it stoopid easy to sharpen to a high level of sharpness.



As another option, CTS-BDZ1 is also very similar to AEB-L/13C26 and Spyderco already uses a lot of Carpenter steels.

I also think the B70P mule is excellent and maybe a little similar. I would love to see it used in a sprint, but unfortunately it never got any buzz going and doesn't have much history or name recognition. Even the CRB-7 alloy it's based on is kind of cryptic, not well known.

12C27 and 14C28N are also similar but there's a difference between them all (except for the Sandvik variant which is a clone). The quality of the heat treat is everything. I have some Peter's heat treated AEB-L and 14C28N, iirc, it's run around 60-61 RC there.

These steels do well with thin grinds, I'm not sure which Spyderco knives have the thinnest stock but I wouldn't mind a Domino in AEB-L.
Also, Nitrobe 77 is something I hope comes out and is looked into at some point. I can't wait for my next custom in it.