T-301 Stainless steel

[matt matney]

For you guys out there that know your metal.  Is this stuff good to use for knife blades or am I wasting my time with it.  I should have asked the question before using it.

[Naphtali]

The only references I find pertain to AISI 301, not T-301. Therefore, this may not pertain to your query.

301 is an austenitic stainless -- not hardenable, and insufficiently hard for cutlery.
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Look at 440 series stainless steels. If you have more money than prudence, there may be "satisfactory" steels in the maraging class, and in the super stainless steel (my classification, not AISI's) such as Cowry X Damascus, 440-XH, BG-42, etc.

I own Cowry X blades, and they are superb cutting tools. I also own a couple of O-1 blades. I gotta tell yuh, there is not hundreds of dollars of difference between them. And I continue to be surprised that O-1 doesn't rust as I thought it should. It discolors with first few uses. That's been it so far. And "so far" is going into its second decade.

If you're creating an object of beauty, a labor of love, enjoy. If you want a first-quality cutting tool, there are many mass-production blades that are excellent. If your soul needs more cachet, look at the limited mass producers, those who sell hundreds or thousands of knives per year rather than millions. Just remember, I appreciate my O-1s, but I love my Cowry X knives.