Alloy Banding, good or bad for performance?

[tallwingedgoat]

I read Kevin Cashen's post about how banding can be manipulated in heat treat. Since you are basically creating alternating layers of harder and softer steel, could this be a good thing? Traditional wootz was renowned for its performance as well as aesthetics. Though wootz was made by a different process the layering effect should be similar. Yet steel manufacturers view banding as a defect. What accounts for these two contrary criterias for quality?

 

[mete]

Normally buyers of steel want a homogenious material , therefore banding is undesirable. To produce banded steel to a predictable level wouldn't be easy. Wootz and banding in alloy steel are two different things. Manipulating banding in heat treating also is difficult except for guys like Kevin, because temperatures and quenching have to be precisely controlled.