Any way to tell difference between 52100 and W2 bar stock

Carterwhopkins

Carterwhopkins

Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
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I have both 52100 and W2 in the shop and usually label each bar with a Sharpie at several locations. Today I found a piece with no labeling, is there anyway other than just looking at the appearance and trying to match it with other pieces, to differentiate the two steels?
 
There might be a slight difference in the spark pattern, but I’ve never tried it.

Hoss
 
The higher chromium may etch slightly grayer … maybe.
I would take a know sample of each as well as the unknown piece:
First, spark test them to see which it resembles most.
Then sand to 400 equally on all three and see which matches.

If the above tests both agree which matches, I would go with that as a good guess.
 
I suspect that one steel would harden in canola oil and the other would not. In any case the 52100 will be harder quenched this way
 
I did a quick sand and etch on 52100, W2 and the mystery bar. The photo reveals some contrasting info and it presents differently than looking at it in person. The unpolished portion of the 52100 and ?? bar look more similar in the photo, especially in higher resolution than this posting. The scratch pattern of the W2 and ?? bar appear similar in the photo. In person and viewing at different angles, the 52100 and ?? bar etched portions are virtually identical, and the W2 is a little different.

Both of these steels are from Aldo...I don't know if they are from the same mill or not. The 52100 and the ?? bar are identical in thickness, and I have another bar of 52100 in the same width and thickness as the ?? bar. The W2 that I have in the closest dimension to the ?? bar is a tad different in width and thickness.

I am going with 52100 on this one.

GrLWVrY.jpg
 
Is it an end cut by any chance? If there’s paint on an end, check the supplier. That saved me twice, but I checked in other ways anyway. (W2 will get a hamon, 80crv2 won’t.)
 
Unfortunately no paint or other markings. This must be an older piece of 52100...when that was all I used, there was no reason to mark the steel. Since bringing in W2, I mark every piece and the two steels are kept in different locations....hope this is a fluke occurrence.
 
Carterwhopkins said:
Unfortunately no paint or other markings. This must be an older piece of 52100...when that was all I used, there was no reason to mark the steel. Since bringing in W2, I mark every piece and the two steels are kept in different locations....hope this is a fluke occurrence.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I tend to mark with a sharply every 6” or so. A couple pieces ended up under the bench, and I couldn’t read the sharply through the surface rust. I’m setting up a new storage system, and I will keep each type of steel in it’s own slot.
 
This one got away from me...I moved it to one of my work tables and didn't put it back where it belongs......and actually, I think I now remember what steel and why it was on the work table (senior moment here, or there earlier...getting clarity now)...one of my customer's switched a custom chef knife from a gyuto to a sujihiki and wanted it in 52100....I was checking the piece of steel to see if it was tall enough for my suji template. Got to blame the customer a little bit though, today he reverted back to wanting W2.....Warren, I owe you one for jogging my memory!
 
Carterwhopkins said:
This one got away from me...I moved it to one of my work tables and didn't put it back where it belongs......and actually, I think I now remember what steel and why it was on the work table (senior moment here, or there earlier...getting clarity now)...one of my customer's switched a custom chef knife from a gyuto to a sujihiki and wanted it in 52100....I was checking the piece of steel to see if it was tall enough for my suji template. Got to blame the customer a little bit though, today he reverted back to wanting W2.....Warren, I owe you one for jogging my memory!
Click to expand...

It’s happened to me more than once. :cool:
 
Simple, rust test some tiny coupons. the W2 will rust WAAAY faster than the 52100 will.
 
Yea, I've had the same problem at least a few times , especially since I save almost every decently sized off cuts (and some even smaller) since I'm cheap and also like to experiment sometimes, and if they're thick enough (.130" +) they can also be forged into other smaller tools (leather awl, saya chisels, scribes etc.) or even smaller knives, so I always mark them as Warren mentioned about every 6" on the parent bar stock, but I use a white oil paint pen that I got specifically for this purpose, since a sharpie is dark and doesn't tend to show through rust that well as also mentioned, plus it can also fade a bit over time depending on how/where it's stored. On the smaller random off cuts I use the marker as well as scribe to scratch in the steel type in at least once on each side. I don't think I've had a problem since I started doing this. :)


~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Just some older videos of some older knives I've made in the past)
 
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