I have a George Herron drop point hunter knife and it was made around the mid 70's.
Any idea what type of steel he used.
I see they bring fair money. I'm thinking about putting it away for safe keeping and using something else that's easier to replace.

Hal

I would GUESS 154 CM. Unless it has something unusual about it, your knife in excellent condition is worth somewhere in the $750 to $850 range. A really used but still well maintained condition would probably knock a couple of hundred off of those numbers.

George was one of the earlier and a very widely respected maker. His knives have a very lively feel about them and are known for being excellent working knives.

Actually, I would be a bit surprised if it was 154 CM if it is from the mid 70's, tools to work that steel were very uncommon then, but in deference to Gato, it is certainly possible, and I definitely do not know for sure at all.

I have read a bit about steels for entertainment, but don't have a good knowledge of them, but DO recall that 154 cm, a favorite steel of mine, was not commonly used until about 20 years ago.....souunds like a hell of a knife regardless--congrats

BTW, if I was guessing, I would of guessed 440C, which is closer to 154 cm than many think....just easier to work with IIRC

Fish:

You could easily be right. It was a guess and I'm not sure exactly when 154CM came on the knife making scene but it was somewhat earlier than 20 years ago. It was originally formulated for turbine blades in jet engines around 1970. Loveless used it and, because of his fame, it became popular, but, again, I'm not exactly sure when he started making knives with it. Sometimes if the knife is near original condition one can closely examine the steel and MAYBE get an idea if it was 440C. 440C will sometimes have a very few minute surface defects that look sort of like miniature rust pits.

I had a Herron fighter that I bought off of George's table at a very early KMG show (1973 or so???) that I foolishly sold a few years back(well sort of, it made a very nice profit and I have since replaced it but without the ivory handle) but I don't recall what steel it was from. That was a long time ago and I've slept since then.

No one has asked my opinion (a fact that always astonishes me ) but I think custom makers should stamp the steel used on every knife.

Thanks guys for the replies.
I'll take a closer look at the the surface finish, it's has a high polish on it.
Well with any luck I'll get a chance to test it on elk this weekend.

Hal

Hal, I sure hope you get to test it on an Elk, a dandy one at that--Best Wishes on your hunt!

Gato, you know stamping the steel on a blade is something I wholeheartedly agree with. One of the first 'nice' knives I got was when me and my brother picked each others Christmas gifts for each to give to the other, and I picked a nice Micarta handled Gerber Lockback--it was in about 75, and it was mirror finished 440C, it didn't say it on the blade, but a couple of Buck Knives I had in the same time frame did say....I really like the idea, I have so many Gene Ingrams, I have forgotten which ones are 154cm (or ATS-34 which is almost identical steels) and which are S-30 V.....the S-30 ones definitely cost a bit more