Marko Tsourkan
Founding Member
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2011
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I think cladding would bring the price up too high. Also a steel that needs cryo will bring the price up. I say stick with O1 or AEB-L at 58 rockwell. The handles should be simple wa, or bolsterless western to keep the price down. AEB-L and O1 can be bought in strip form and water jet cut to cut costs.
Some heat treat processes are a must for a quality product, so I see no point of skipping them for the sake of lowering costs. At the same time, one doesn't have to go crazy with some time-intensive multi-step HT process, if it might only provide some marginal benefit.
Water jet cutting blanks, less expensive handle options for sake of keeping costs down would be fine.
I think 60-62RC hardness would be more desirable for fine grained steels, like O1 for the edge retention. For the abrasion resistant steels, 57-58RC would be more appropriate.
M