1084/15N20 damascus HT.

[jdm61]

Have any of you guys done any research on what the ideal HT is for this mix? I typically do 1500/400 for 1084 and have used that for 1084/15N20 "field" knives which are typically like a 60/40 mix MOL. The couple of kitchen knives i made with this mix, I just dropped the temper to 375F. Any better recipes?

 

[kuraki]

I stick with 1500 aus for all that I make, but vary the temper based on the knife. They perform as well as a 1084 knife which I'm happy with.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

You harden for the highest aus-temperature 1500F is a good target. This is why you want to pick steels that have aus-temperatures within 25 degrees of each other.

 

[mete]

One of the reasons that the 1084/15N20 makes such a good mix is that there is a good bit of overlap for the hardening temperature ! Experiment with it!

 

[comet_sharp]

Have any of you guys done any research on what the ideal HT is for this mix? I typically do 1500/400 for 1084 and have used that for 1084/15N20 "field" knives which are typically like a 60/40 mix MOL. The couple of kitchen knives i made with this mix, I just dropped the temper to 375F. Any better recipes?

I do most my dammy at 1485 or 1500. 1080 mix 1500 is a good temp. I'e noticed sometimes it doesn't etch as nice if quenched from 1475. I usually do 52100/15n20 and still quench around 1500.
I temper kitchen stuff 325-350 unless it' a boner and field stuff starts at 400
-Trey

 

[jdm61]

What hardness are you getting at 325 and 350? Most of my plain carbon steel kitchen knives have been W2 and I run them pretty hard.

 

[comet_sharp]

What hardness are you getting at 325 and 350? Most of my plain carbon steel kitchen knives have been W2 and I run them pretty hard.

My 52100 is the only thing I've used a hardness tester on.
Normalize / cycle / 1475 quench 325 temper 62.5
Normalize / cycle, quench on last thermal cycle / 2 hour subcritical anneal (1250, I do my straightening and grinding here) / 1475 (12-15 minute soak) quench, 325 temper average of 3 tests 64
I find after all the thermals and shit we do the steel is in such a ready to be hardened state a soak actually hurts it (guess grain getting over refined?) But if i do a subcritical cycle on a martensitic blade and a decent soak i get max hardness. This is also Aldos 52100 and i use mcmastercarr 11 oil. Im a cycle 1475 x 3 guy or 1500/1475/1450 guy. Since you don' really get much grain growth at a 1650 normalize I think the step down cycles can be a bit unnneccessary and prefer to just cycle around my aust temp, I think 3 cycles is overkill without subcritical treatment and some fine grain spheroidite. If I was going to normalize/cycle/quench I would only do 2 cycles at most.
-Trey

 

[comet_sharp]

This is a grain sample from 52100 normalized/cycled/quenched 325 temper

This grain sample was quenched from fine grained spheroidite

 

[comet_sharp]

What hardness are you getting at 325 and 350? Most of my plain carbon steel kitchen knives have been W2 and I run them pretty hard.

You like W2? I like the end result of 52100 but i wonder if the benefits are worth how long it takes me to hand forge compared to something like that clean 1095 AKS has. I'm getting realllllly upset at the lack of good tungsten alloy in this country and don't want to send all my money to Achim when Bestar has a plant in Georgia . Mill requires 5000lbs for a batch of steel though

TLDR im curious about W2 performance vs 52100 since it seems to forge nicer

 

[jdm61]

I am not sure about a productionplant, but they do have a facility in Atlanta. Jeff Sinko, our old friend from Bohler-Uddeholm Strip moved over there a while back. Not sure if he is still there. but I was told that we might be able to get stuff like 1.2519 from existing stock. The also make O2 in convenient sizes. As for W2, I am using the Don Hanson sourced stuff and it is well liked by all. I have not used any of Aldo's W2.

You like W2? I like the end result of 52100 but i wonder if the benefits are worth how long it takes me to hand forge compared to something like that clean 1095 AKS has. I'm getting realllllly upset at the lack of good tungsten alloy in this country and don't want to send all my money to Achim when Bestar has a plant in Georgia . Mill requires 5000lbs for a batch of steel though

TLDR im curious about W2 performance vs 52100 since it seems to forge nicer

 

[comet_sharp]

I am not sure about a productionplant, but they do have a facility in Atlanta. Jeff Sinko, our old friend from Bohler-Uddeholm Strip moved over there a while back. Not sure if he is still there. but I was told that we might be able to get stuff like 1.2519 from existing stock. The also make O2 in convenient sizes. As for W2, I am using the Don Hanson sourced stuff and it is well liked by all. I have not used any of Aldo's W2.

Yes I have been in contact with Jeff Sinko. There is no remaining stock on any good blade steels and he requires 5000lbs for an order.
-Trey