# AEB-L stainless



## jonhaber (Oct 22, 2012)

Was asking about this in another thread but thought I might get more feed back in its own thread. Searching the forum and the web doesn't bring up too much info.

Some info here: http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27537

Been trying to read about this steel. Looks nice but looking to hear from anyone that can compare it with other carbon steels.

Thanks,
J


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## Benuser (Oct 22, 2012)

Other CARBON steels?? It's stainless.


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## JasonD (Oct 22, 2012)

It's a fine grained stainless steel. Apparently it doesn't get quite as hard as some other steels, and can be slightly tricky (I think?) to get a really good heat treat on it. Lots of people like it quite a lot for kitchen knives if it's treated well.


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## Eamon Burke (Oct 22, 2012)

The info from Larrin on that site is solid, Larrin Thomas is a pretty trustworthy source of info for kitchen knife steel.

It is NOT like 440B at all. It is, however, almost identical to 19c27.

Although it is fully stainless, it performs, at 59-60rc, very much like carbon steel. It's a phenomenal steel, one of my favorites, and seen in a variety of knives from Japan and now the US.


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## Timthebeaver (Oct 22, 2012)

I thought it was more or less identical to Sandvik 13c26


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## Eamon Burke (Oct 22, 2012)

Right, 13c26. My bad!

:thankyou:


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## Keith Sinclair (Oct 22, 2012)

Some respected custom knife makers use this steel.It is not carbon steel having 13% chrom.It is small carbide which gives it some good characteristics for a kit. knife such as ease of sharpening & ability to take a very sharp edge.This gives similar qualities as carbon blades,but in a stainless alloy.

It's edge holding is acceptable for extended use,but must be sharpened on a whetstone to keep the edge fresh.A lite touch up once blade is trained.

As with any steel Heat Treatment is important.The Artiflex is a relatively inexpensive way to try this steel.It does have good heat treatment.I took off the machine edge on my artiflex,& put a blended polished convex grind.Because of the characteristics of the steel it is easy to rework the edge profile.


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## Larrin (Oct 22, 2012)

jonhaber said:


> Some info here: http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27537


Wow! 7 years ago. That was the best info you could find? That's pre-Materials Science Degree Larrin.


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## SpikeC (Oct 22, 2012)

Ancient history!


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## Larrin (Oct 22, 2012)

Re-read my post and it looks pretty snarky. I didn't mean it as a slight against the OP. I just thought it was funny to read something I wrote which (to me) was so long ago. Also I haven't visited that forum in a long time and I don't think it's ever been all that popular. So it was kind of a blast from the past.


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## Eamon Burke (Oct 22, 2012)

Don't apologize to us! Find that guy, buy a plane ticket, and give him flowers.


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## Pensacola Tiger (Oct 22, 2012)

Larrin said:


> Re-read my post and it looks pretty snarky. I didn't mean it as a slight against the OP. I just thought it was funny to read something I wrote which (to me) was so long ago. Also I haven't visited that forum in a long time and I don't think it's ever been all that popular. So it was kind of a blast from the past.



OP is looking for a comparison of AEB-L to carbon steel, in particular shirogami, as far as ease of sharpening, edge retention and anything else that comes to mind. Specific knives are the Sakai Takayuki Grand Cheff and the Sakai Yusuke from BlueWayJapan, two knives that are under consideration.


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## Paradox (Oct 22, 2012)

I can say that I have had my Artifex in AEB-L for about a month now. I love it. I was dissapointed by the factory edge it came with but it didn't take me long on the Edge Pro to fix that right up. Very easy to get it scary sharp.


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## Larrin (Oct 22, 2012)

We covered some stuff about steels in this thread: http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/4772-what-steels-and-why including a comparison of AEB-L with other steels. Make sure to read what was said about the charts given and not just the charts themselves.


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## jonhaber (Oct 23, 2012)

no need for flowers, I have a thick skin


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## Eamon Burke (Oct 23, 2012)

Compared to White Steel, it will not get so sharp so easily(cause really, what will?), and will hold it's edge a bit better. Tougher too, but not as pretty.


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## Keith Sinclair (Oct 23, 2012)

Thanks Larrin & Devin interesting read.

Kind of my impression of AEB-L steel,have some carbons wt. better edge retention,hours of cutting,however can put a toothy 1K edge on AEB-L & it cuts better than other stainless I have used & it is so easy to resharpen.


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## Taz575 (Oct 23, 2012)

I have a few knives in AEB-L and I've liked it so far. It will take a nice, fine polished edge fairly easily and hold a good edge for a surprising amount of time. I bring mine up to a Shobu San J Nat or Ozuka Asagi J Nat and they still have a nice bite to them at those grit levels, especially the Shobu. It is supposed to have a very fine grain size. I can't check that w/o breaking one 

As for carbon, I still prefer Carbon for the crazy sharp edge it takes, but most carbons (White/Blue, SK series) lose that screaming sharp edge fairly quickly; AS seems to hold that edge better. AEB-L takes a few minutes longer to sharpen than a good carbon will, but it's not as bad as CPM154 in terms of time to sharpen. Easier to sharpen and deburr than Vg-10. I am going to get some to make some hunting knives out of.


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## Lefty (Oct 23, 2012)

I have two AEB-L knives that I use regularly; Both of which were made by Adam Marr. This, of course, limits my knowledge to AEB-L by Adam, rather than AEB-L, in general. However, it's kind of a different beast than any other steel (other than 19c27, perhaps). To me, it sharpens up incredibly easily and actually feels soft on the stones, but not in that terrible gummy way. It just takes an edge/bevel very easily, polishes up to a deceptively sharp edge and seems to hold it really well. Sure, I'm technically a home user, but I haven't been left wishing I had sharpened it before I used my knife, like a couple others. 

All in all, there's a reason it's a razor blade steel. It likes to take a very, very fine edge. As with all of my kitchen knives, the highest I'd bother taking it is 6k. Could it take a higher polish? Of course it could, but I'm not shavin with my kitchen knives and some "grip" to sharpness is good, in the kitchen. 

What it comes down to, for me, is would I buy anothe AEB-L knife? Yup, without thinking twice.


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## Taz575 (Oct 23, 2012)

I hear you about the 6K edge! I was the same way, hated some of the finer grit stones until I got into the J Nat stones. I have a Shobu San (around 8K) and an Ozuka Asagi (12-15K?) that I use. I get that toothy feel to the edge and the crazy sharp edge, especially on carbon steels. It's polished, but it's more of a hazy edge finish than a mirror bright finish. Works great for me!! The Shobu with a little 1 micron diamond spray on it is a sick edge


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## chinacats (Oct 23, 2012)

Taz575 said:


> I hear you about the 6K edge! I was the same way, hated some of the finer grit stones until I got into the J Nat stones. I have a Shobu San (around 8K) and an Ozuka Asagi (12-15K?) that I use. I get that toothy feel to the edge and the crazy sharp edge, especially on carbon steels. It's polished, but it's more of a hazy edge finish than a mirror bright finish. Works great for me!! The Shobu with a little 1 micron diamond spray on it is a sick edge



You put diamond spray on your stone? :scratchhead:


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## Taz575 (Oct 23, 2012)

Yup! Why is this so odd?? I've seen/read about numerous other people doing this. The Shobu and the Ozuka Asagi are hard stones and don't really make much of a slurry quickly. By using the spray, it acts as a slurry and also seems to help the stone raise it's own slurry. Since it is finer than the stone itself, it polished the edge a little more, but still has some tooth to the edge afterwards. My nagura is coarser, so using that will leave coarser particles on the stone until it's completely broken down and I don't want to take a fine diamond plate to the stones each time I sharpen to get a slurry from the stone. I use 1 or two spritz every few knives and it makes a noticeable difference in the edge. If I go 3 knives, the edge isn't as refined on the 3rd knife.


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## NO ChoP! (Oct 23, 2012)

I've wet my Shapton 8k with diamond spray; worked really well, just expensive...


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