Anyone give M2 or M4 a go?

[Inthealders]

Just curious about its working temperature range and how difficult a time you may have had reaching its isothermal austenitic transformation temp (A3). Would probably use a hell of a lot of gas/coal.

[long_arm]

I'm not a knife maker, but I sure enjoy them. Have a handful in M4. My impression of that steel is that it holds a shallow edge extremely well when field processing game, which is what I use my customs for. It's not a stainless, as I'm sure you know, and so immediately discolors. A lot of guys don't mind this. I've come to think that when buying a custom blade and matching it with scale material I like, etc I will opt for a stainless from here on, despite M4s hardness.

[Longfellow]

Way to hot hard; that’s why it is extremely popular for tools that heat up. The temperatures that you would need to achieve will not be easy with gas and not be cheap with coal. It is also a very dangerous range where nearby things in your shop can catch fire easily. With technique, process, edge geometry, using regularly available alloys already capable of creating a superior product, the above issues just don’t stand up (to me) to the “I just want to try it” reason. I am not attacking you here. I am a big fan of M4 and specify it often in some of my designs (mechanical engineer); I just don’t need to invite the inevitable elbow surgery that awaits the man who attempts to move a hot hard alloy with a three pound hammer.