First crack at L6.

[jdm61]

Well. I forged out a little piece of L6 round today. I bought the non-moly stuff because I heard that the L6 with moly can air harden. Well, I don't think that the hardening bit is all the moly's fault. When I cut the round with a bandsaw, it cut like butter. But after forging it into a 1/2 inch thick bar, the saw blade, which is dull, would barely scratch it. I got into a third cut with the 14 inch chop saw and it torn a chunk out of the edge of the Dewalt disc. I can't leave the oven on for 10 hours to anneal this stuff because my oven is not at my house. Could I quench it from 1500 and then sub-critical anneal at like 1200-1250 and be able to work with it?

 

[Willie71]

Well. I forged out a little piece of L6 round today. I bought the non-moly stuff because I heard that the L6 with moly can air harden. Well, I don't think that the hardening bit is all the moly's fault. When I cut the round with a bandsaw, it cut like butter. But after forging it into a 1/2 inch thick bar, the saw blade, which is dull, would barely scratch it. I got into a third cut with the 14 inch chop saw and it torn a chunk out of the edge of the Dewalt disc. I can't leave the oven on for 10 hours to anneal this stuff because my oven is not at my house. Could I quench it from 1500 and then sub-critical anneal at like 1200-1250 and be able to work with it?

Should work. I don’t work a lot with L6, but that worked with 15n20.

 

[Russ Andrews]

Well. I forged out a little piece of L6 round today. I bought the non-moly stuff because I heard that the L6 with moly can air harden. Well, I don't think that the hardening bit is all the moly's fault. When I cut the round with a bandsaw, it cut like butter. But after forging it into a 1/2 inch thick bar, the saw blade, which is dull, would barely scratch it. I got into a third cut with the 14 inch chop saw and it torn a chunk out of the edge of the Dewalt disc. I can't leave the oven on for 10 hours to anneal this stuff because my oven is not at my house. Could I quench it from 1500 and then sub-critical anneal at like 1200-1250 and be able to work with it?

Yup....that's L6...…..when I was working w/Carpenter's L6.....I tried to stamp a mark into the ricasso…..flattened
the stamp...….learned.....LOL.....yes, spherodizing is the solution.

 

[jdm61]

So I am going to be making a test bar of san mai. Should I just wait until I get the whole mess welded and forged out before I spheroidize it?

Should work. I don’t work a lot with L6, but that worked with 15n20.

Yup....that's L6...…..when I was working w/Carpenter's L6.....I tried to stamp a mark into the ricasso…..flattened
the stamp...….learned.....LOL.....yes, spherodizing is the solution.

 

[Kentucky]

When I got a bar of champaloy a while back I bandsawed off a piece about 60 thou’ thick. Chucked it in the forge til it was about 1500° ish’ and held it up til it cooled in still air. A file wouldn’t even start to scratch it.

 

[jdm61]

I didn't read the warning label on the Hudson website. It says that sections less that THREE INCHES THiCK can be significantly hardened with blast of air. LOL

When I got a bar of champaloy a while back I bandsawed off a piece about 60 thou’ thick. Chucked it in the forge til it was about 1500° ish’ and held it up til it cooled in still air. A file wouldn’t even start to scratch it.

 

[Russ Andrews]

So I am going to be making a test bar of san mai. Should I just wait until I get the whole mess welded and forged out before I spheroidize it?

Damascus or san-mai, I just let the piece cool with the forge after each weld & draw, so I can cut it,
After all the forging is done, then do the cycling and spherodizing.

 

[jdm61]

The san mai that we have discussed in the past. I am a little concerned in that the billet that I am starting off with will not all fit into the forge at some point. 4 long by 1.25 thick, so 20 inches long unless it gets a bit wider.

Damascus or san-mai, I just let the piece cool with the forge after each weld & draw, so I can cut it,
After all the forging is done, then do the cycling and spherodizing.

 

[Russ Andrews]

The san mai that we have discussed in the past. I am a little concerned in that the billet that I am starting off with will not all fit into the forge at some point. 4 long by 1.25 thick, so 20 inches long unless it gets a bit wider.

the only suggestion I can come up with is to turn the billet around ...heat & work one end at a time, switching frequently, and
try to finish with a even final heat...….do you HT with an oven..? what's the core steel..?

 

[jdm61]

Yeah, you have to do that switching ends thing and it seems that the middle always ends up being a bit thicker no matter what you do. I have a 24 inch Paragon and the core will be CFV.

the only suggestion I can come up with is to turn the billet around ...heat & work one end at a time, switching frequently, and
try to finish with a even final heat...….do you HT with an oven..? what's the core steel..?

 

[Russ Andrews]

Yeah, you have to do that switching ends thing and it seems that the middle always ends up being a bit thicker no matter what you do. I have a 24 inch Paragon and the core will be CFV.

I suspected you might be laminating L6 / CFV...... good mix....aside from switching ends, or cutting the billet (i'm guessing that's out)…
is your oven close to your forging area..?

 

[jdm61]

Yeah. About 10 feet from anvil to oven. Cutting is possible. I will just have to start with small pieces of the 1.25 round. My thinking is that if I can manage to forge the billet out and then forge the blade blanks to proper length with the tapers, I am probably ahead of the game and can just do the cycling and spheroidizing at that point. I might have to hot cut.

I suspected you might be laminating L6 / CFV...... good mix....aside from switching ends, or cutting the billet (i'm guessing that's out)…
is your oven close to your forging area..?