5160 or L6 for swords

strahd71

strahd71

Joined
Jan 26, 2006
Messages
784
hey guys i've been doing some reading on sword steels for fun and for "functional or battle ready" blades the two steels that come up most often is 5160 and L6.

so for fun i was wondering what you folks thought. of course heat treat and geometry go with out saying, so please keep it some what confined to this very loose and vague scenario :)

if you were going to put your life on the line and there were two swords that were identical except one was made of 5160 and the other L6 which would you
choose and why if you have an opinion?

thanks for playing

jake
 
If both were made by a competent maker and the geometry was right, I would take the L-6 blade. It will be sharper and hold the edge longer.

If this doesn't get much response here, you might want to move it to the sword sub-forum.
 
L-6, lower bainite body, martensite edge. Like a Howard Clark katana.

You would probably get an interesting response over at Bladesmith's Forum Board. Lots of sword guys over there.
 
Either one would be good, my personal preference would be L-6, the high nickel content makes for a very tough blade if it's heat treated rite.
 
Me likey the L6. :) Just got a tube from Aldo yesterday, with a couple of nice pieces of 3/16" thick L6. :thumbup:
 
mgysgthath said:
How difficult is L6 to heat treat compared to 5160 ?
Click to expand...

Very similar, actually. 1525-1550 soak temp. Temper might be a bit higher, though. Have to check my spec sheets. Don't have it all memorized, like Mr. Cashen. ;) :)
 
IIRC, Herr Cashen says that the biggest issue with some "true" L6 is getting it to a point where you can easily grind and drill on it after you forge it. He says that a well controlled spheroid anneal is necessary. Danbo, do you know which flavor of L6 Aldo is selling? From what I have read, the Crucible stuff has molybdenum and the Carpenter doesn't
t
 
I don't know either, I would say ask him but I bet he will reply to this thread soon enough.
 
Ive used a lot of Aldo's L6..He said it does have Moly in it and I believe it..It will air harden if you try to normalize it..It will NOT anneal in ashs.
 
jdm61 said:
IIRC, Herr Cashen says that the biggest issue with some "true" L6 is getting it to a point where you can easily grind and drill on it after you forge it. He says that a well controlled spheroid anneal is necessary. Danbo, do you know which flavor of L6 Aldo is selling? From what I have read, the Crucible stuff has molybdenum and the Carpenter doesn't
t
Click to expand...

I do not know what variety of L6 that Aldo sent me. Mayhaps I need to ask him. ;) That info might be handy, once I start to work with it, eh?
 
Check out Crucible's 3V if you can afford it. Might have trouble heat-treating it yourself, but I know Peter's HT does a great job with it. I'd trust 3V over L6 or 5160, but that's not to say L6 or 5160 are bad in any way whatsoever.

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Oh, I just re-read the question. Hmm. I don't know - I'd trust them both - with all things being equal.
-M
 
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