Description Thick Len Wid Price Qty Stock

A11 Carbon Steel, CPM 10V, Flat Ground

.088 in 12.9 in 1.5 in $42.90
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BSA11-0088-129015G 4

A11 Carbon Steel, CPM 10V, Flat Ground

.085 in 23.5 in 1.5 in $76.40
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BSA11-0085-235015G 1

A11 Carbon Steel, CPM 10V, Flat Ground

.090 in 23.5 in 1.5 in $79.40
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BSA11-0090-235015G 3

A11 Carbon Steel, CPM 10V, Flat Ground

.085 in 12.9 in 2.0 in $55.90
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BSA11-0085-129020G 1

A11 Carbon Steel, CPM 10V, Flat Ground

.087 in 12.9 in 2.0 in $56.80
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BSA11-0087-129020G 6

A11 Carbon Steel, CPM 10V, Flat Ground

.088 in 23.5 in 2.0 in $104.30
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BSA11-0088-235020G 2

A11 Carbon Steel, CPM 10V, Flat Ground

.090 in 23.5 in 3.0 in $158.80
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BSA11-0090-235030G 1


A11 Carbon Steel Information and Composition

Condition:
Our A11 has been properly annealed and is in the soft condition. You do not have to do any non-standard wasteful processes before heat treating. The steel must be heat treated to get to a hardened state. Follow the heat treat recipe and the steel will harden.

Ratings:
16 = Maximum Toughness
79 = Maximum Edge Holding

The rating scale is 0-100, 0 being minimum and 100 being maximum. The ratings are the maximum potential of the alloy. I do not recommend heat treating to the maximum value. Choose a heat treat recipe that results in the attributes you want.

Thank you to Dr Larrin Thomas for all the testing he performed and information he has provided. Buy his book Knife Engineering to learn more about knifemaking.

Alloy Comparison Table:

Description:
A11 is an amazing steel. It has excellent edge holding.

This alloy It is difficult to work because of its extreme wear resistance. I don't think any knifemaker will offer any finish except for a belt finish. It takes a little more time to sharpen. But once it is sharp it will be sharp for a long long long time.

Flat Ground:
Any alloy that has “Flat Ground” in the description has been Blanchard ground. Our tolerances for flat grinding are +-.001” across 12”. You can identify Blanchard grinding by circular grind marks. Do not be mislead by other descriptions. Others try to pass off less accurate types of grinding with lower tolerances as flat grinding. This is why we call out our tolerances.

Information Sources:
There are many sources of information regarding knifemaking. Some sources, like Dr. Larrin Thomas of Knife Steel Nerds, are excellent. Other sources are not as credible. It is important to vet the your information sources. Be careful of anyone who says the way to heat treat 1095 or O1 is to heat to non-magnetic and quench in used motor oil. Anyone who publishes this type of information is not credible. When possible, we use information from manufacturers and industry experts.

AI Information:
The latest trend of bad information is from Artificial Intelligence (AI). Multiple companies have AI programs. AI collects and compiles information. The problem is, AI is does not know if the information is accurate or garbage. When asked, AI regurgitates and merges good and bad data. Beware of AI data when researching materials. If you read material information that sounds like it was written by a poetry graduate student, compares materials that are not similar, contains blatantly false information, etc, it was probably AI generated. At AKS, we never use AI to generate material information.

Data Sheets:
Bohler A11 (K294) Data Sheet
Crucible A11 (CPM 10V) Data Sheet
Zapp Z-A11 Data Sheet


Heat TreatA11 Heat Treat Information:

Preheat: 1,500-1,550°F. Equalize temperature.

Austenitize: It is critical to not exceed the maximum austenitize temperature. If you overshoot the maximum temperature by a small amount, toughness will go down dramatically.

Heat rapidly from preheat. For optimum wear resistance, soak for 5-15 minutes at 2,150°F. For balance of wear resistance and toughness, soak for 15-30 minute at 2,050°F. For maximum toughness and minimum distortion in cooling, soak for 30-60 minutes at 1,975°F. Quench in pressurized gas, or warm oil then cool in still air to 125°F.

Temper: Temper immediately after quenching. Typical temperature range is 1,000-1,100°F. Do not temper below 1,000°F. Hold at temperature for two hours then air cool to ambient temperature. Double tempering is required. Triple tempering is required when austenitized at 2,100°F or higher.

Use the graph below to select your temperatures:


CertsA11 Certs

Chemical Composition Certification*

  1. Click on the button below to get the chemical composition of the steel you purchased.
  2. You will be required to enter the three character code written in red letters on your steel.
  3. If you do not see red letters on the steel, your specific chemical composition is not in the system.

Lookup Cert
 
* This material is NOT certified for medical or aerospace applications.
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BSA11 BSA11-0040 BSA11-0060 BSA11-0080 BSA11-0100 BSA11-0120 BSA11-0140 BSA11-0160 BSA11-0180 BSA11-0200 BSA11-0220 BSA11-0240 BSA11-0260
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A11 Carbon Steel
Average rating:  
 1 reviews
 by Skylar

This is an excellent steel! It was a little harder to work with than some others, but it made a fantastic knife which easily chopped through nails.