1.2604 (better than 1.2235)

In the knife making scene, 1.2235 is a widely used steel when it comes to making powerful work knives or cleavers. This would not be the case if 1.2235 were not an excellent steel for this application.

Nevertheless, in the course of my work as a knife smith, I came across a steel that is even better suited for the above-mentioned area of ​​application than 1.2235.

The 1.2604 / 73WCrMoV2-2

The reason why 1.2604 is largely unknown is primarily that large-scale industry often asks for the cheaper 1.2235. The 1.2604 is therefore only rarely produced and is relatively difficult to obtain.

What advantages does the 1.2604 offer over the 1.2235:

- It achieves the same working hardness and toughness as 1.2235, but offers better wear resistance due to the smaller and harder tungsten carbides. With the same hardness and toughness, it stays sharp longer than 1.2235.

- Due to the addition of 0.3% molybdenum, the steel, unlike 1.2235, can be tempered in the entire temperature range between 180 °C and 400 °C degrees without having to fear the effect of blue brittleness (loss of hardness and impact strength between 220 °C and 360 °C). This allows the steel to be individually adjusted to the desired hardness and toughness values. Above a tempering temperature of 220 °C degrees, however, 1.2235 loses a large part of its impact strength (the steel has its lowest impact and notched bar impact work at around 260 °C).

These properties make the steel the first choice for me when it comes to robust work knives, powerful cleavers, machetes swords, bushcraft knives or the like, which should primarily be tough, robust and wear-resistant.

At the same time, the steel can also be used for forgiving and robust kitchen knives.

I myself do not offer a hardening service for the steels I sell. However, I can unreservedly recommend the hardening service of my colleague Jürgen Schanz. He works with a very experienced hardening shop that also carries out demanding heat treatments exactly according to customer requirements. If necessary, contact Jürgen Schanz directly via his contact form.

Attention! The flat material in 9.3mm is partially severely warped by the guillotine. For stock removal, it would have to be fixed beforehand.