Forged 1084 Covington knife

[lmalterna]

I have one on the way and have never owned a knife in 1084. Any of you gentlemen used a forged knife from this steel? It will be a VERY general duty(on the heavy use side) knife for use around woods, hunting and working.
   Thanks,
       Bill

[Joel]

As far as I know, I've never used a knife or other cutting tool from that steel, but I'd be curious how you like it, once you use it.  The 1084 AISI designation means that it is a tool steel with around .84% carbon, and with one exception, most the bettre edge holding knives I've used have had around 1.0% carbon; the exception being 425M stainless used originally by Buck Knives.  Steels in the AISI 1050-1084 range usually are noted for their toughness rather than long term edge holding ability, but forging and heat treatment has a lot to do with the final outcome, I would think; along with blade/edge geometry. Be nice if you could let us know how it performs when you get  and use it.

[lmalterna]

Joel,
    Your knowledge of this steel is spot on in characteristics Mr. Covington describes his intentions in this knife. Not a quote but he speaks to the need for a VERY tough(bent a blade to 120 deg before breaking it) field serviceable knife for soldiers. Ease of sharpening often times being an issue when out and about due to limited access to good sharpening tools. Blade is flat ground with a convex edge which should be easy to field stop with 400 grit paper. Handle appears pretty beefy for the blade size which I like. I am getting it at a price that will let me use it hard without feeling bad and I should have it late next week.
    This MIGHT replace my CR Project 1. Wonder how it would hold up to a .45 round? LOL!

    Bill

[Will52100]

I've played around with 1084, and for me I prefere 5160 or 52100, but it's still a very good steel and heat treated right I dought you'd notice a big differance.  It's also very easy sharpen while not the toughest steel out there is very tough.

[TimWieneke]

A knife isn't so much about the steel as it is about the heat treat.  I've forged a couple out of 1084.  The one that comes to mind is a rendition of a colonial rifleman's knife.  I fully hardened it then differentially heat treated the blade to  make the spine semi-springy and the edge harder.  It's fine.  I tested it by whacking the edge into a piece of rebar.  The knife bit into the rebar about a 1/32 to 1/16 and didn't crack - dulled the edge naturally but a few passes on a stone brought it back.  It's a very unscientific test but maybe as I do this more I'll get into more sophisticated testing.

It's a fine steel - I've moved to 1095 and 5160 personally just because I felt like it.  

Tim