52100 High Carbon Ball Bearing Steel for Knifemaking (100Cr6) – 5×49×500 mm

52100 High Carbon Ball Bearing Steel – 5×49×500 mm

52100 (European designation: 100Cr6) is a legendary high-carbon steel renowned for its toughness, edge retention and clean, fine grain structure. Originally developed as ball bearing steel, 52100 has become a popular choice for custom knifemakers looking for a reliable forging steel with excellent performance.

With better edge retention than for instance 1084 or 80CrV2 this holds a good edge. While not up there with ApexUltra this is a steel still known for great edge retention. (ref: Knifesteelnerds.com "Knife Steels Rated by a Metallurgist – Toughness, Edge Retention, and Corrosion Resistance" ) 

This billet is sized 5 × 49 × 500 mm, perfect for forging or stock-removal of kitchen knives, hunting knives, EDC blades and bushcraft knives. The steel is from Austria. Please note these have been cut with a guillotine and will need some straightening.

Why knifemakers love 52100 / 100Cr6

• Good edge retention and fine carbide structure
• High toughness – resists chipping even at thin edges
• Forged easily with good thermal stability
• Polishes to a clean, tight finish
• Ideal for kitchen knives, bushcraft blades and high-performance working knives

Heat Treatment Highlights

• Austenitising range: ~815–845°C
• Quench: oil
• Typical hardness: 60–65 HRC depending on tempering

Specifications

• Steel type: 52100 / 1.3505 / 100Cr6
• Carbon: ~1.0%
• Chromium: ~1.5%
• Dimensions: 5 mm × 49 mm × 500 mm

A proven high-performance carbon steel trusted by bladesmiths worldwide.

How to heat treat 52100:

• for optimal performance, anneal before heat treatment but it is ok without
• 815-820 C with 15 min hold time
• Fast oil best - medium speed oil ok at edge thickness (1 mm)
• Temper 2 x 2 hours at 200 C for approx 61 HRC

This is a suggestion taken from the excellent article by Dr Larrin Thomas on Knifesteelnerds.com, an brilliant resource for knifemakers. Do yourself a favour and look up his article on 52100 heat treatment for much more detail on DET anneal, type of quench oil impact, final hardness based on temperature the blade is quenched from etc. The man is a legend, check it out.