Is this bar of steel Aldo's 1095, or low Manganese 1075?

C

coldsteelburns

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So last night I got a new welding paint marker, and decided to re-mark all of my bars of steel, about all 5 of them :D

Anyway, I had ordered a bar of Aldo's Low Manganese 1075 around 3 years or so ago and used a 4 inch section, again, about 3 years ago.

It is 1/4" x 1-1/2" (by 48" of course) and on the opposite end it is marked 1095 (by Aldo, or whoever), instead of 1075. I guess I never noticed it, probably since I only used a small section of it once, which was from the non labeled end or the bar, 3 years ago, and I've just been saving it ever since for some larger blades with hamon.

I did check the old email and my order receipt says it's 1075, but I don't know what to think now. Did Aldo(or another employee) mislabel the bar when they sent it to me? Or did they grab from the wrong pile or??? :confused:

I'm a bit bummed as I've been saving this steel for a long time, and it's my only bar of it, if it is in fact 1075. And I believe I've read that it's kinda hard to get your hands on his 1075 nowadays, if it's even still the same Low Manganese stuff it was a few years ago. <-- Anybody know if Aldo's 1075 still is "Low Manganese"?

I tried doing some spark testing on my bench grinder last night using some of Aldo's 1095 (ordered as, and labeled as 1095) to compare, and I can't tell the slightest difference... they look vitually the same to me. I was grabbing other scraps of known steel (I save and label every small cut off from every bar cause I'm cheap like that :D) and sparking them as well to see the differences, like some of his 1084 for example, which I actually could see a difference in the sparks with.

So I was wondering if somebody could tell me if I should be able to see at least a slight difference between the 1095 and the low Manganese 1075 sparks, or if there is any other way to tell without sending it away for analysis :rolleyes: Sorry, I know that last part is a dumb question, but it can't hurt to ask lol.

Could there be a slight difference in the actual thickness from the mill between his 1/4" 1095 and 1/4" Low Mang. 1075? I don't have any 1/4" 1095 though to check it against that quickly. Just wondering if maybe his oversized (in thickness) bars differ between each steel type?

And just in case anybody says anything, I know it's all good steel whether it be 1075 or 1095, but there is a reason I ordered the 1075 instead of asking for another bar of 1095. But I'm guessing you guys understand, as there are many other steel nerds here :p ;) Plus I'd like to know what it is for if/when I sell anything made from it.

Thanks!

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
... (It's been a few years since my last upload)
 
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What color is the paint on the uncut end of the bar?

1075 is green paint and 1095 is yellow.

Aldo is getting more 1075 in soon. It's still low manganese.
 
A bar of 1095 I ordered from Aldo looks like it says 1075. It's 1/8" for Damascus, so I know it's not 1075, as he doesn't sell it in that thickness.

I've taken to using a sharpie and marking the steel type every 6" along the entire steel length when I get my order. :)
 
I have seen 7's that looked like 9's and vise-versa. Some of the numbers on Aldo's steel are nearly undecipherable. The writing is even worse.

As an experiment, you could HT a coupon of it along with a coupon of 1095. Temper at 500F and check the hardness with a Rockwell tester. The 1075 should be a tad harder at that temper than 1095 ( yes, IIRC, the lower carbon steel holds more of its hardness on higher tempers), so if they are close to the same, it is probably 1095. If the sample is higher by a couple points than the known 1095, then it is more likely 1075. I'll look up the charts tonight and see how much difference there should be.
 
J. Doyle said:
What color is the paint on the uncut end of the bar?

1075 is green paint and 1095 is yellow.

Aldo is getting more 1075 in soon. It's still low manganese.
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Dude, thank you! It's green! :D I can't believe I forgot all about the color codes :o Thanks for reminder brother :)

Willie71 said:
A bar of 1095 I ordered from Aldo looks like it says 1075. It's 1/8" for Damascus, so I know it's not 1075, as he doesn't sell it in that thickness.

I've taken to using a sharpie and marking the steel type every 6" along the entire steel length when I get my order. :)
Click to expand...


That's funny, I've been doing that for a long time as well, I had written 1075 maybe 5 times along the bar in blue sharpie around when I got it and I was just remarking it with my new white welder's marker. I guess I just never really saw or paid attention to Aldo's writing on it till the other day.

---------------------------------

Thanks for the tips Stacy, but as I don't have a kiln or any way to test the actual hardness I wouldn't be able to do those tests.. Thanks goodness for the painted ends! It is most definitely a clear 9 in the 1095 written on the bar. I can understand accidentally marking a bar 1095 instead of 1075 if you were constantly writing both steel types down on tons of bars all day long ;) .

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
... (It's been a few years since my last upload)
 
If the paint is worn off or otherwise missing, take a quick lick. I've found that 1075 has a slightly more piquant, forward flavor on the palate, with notes of stone fruit, cardamom and ginger. 1095 offers a more robust, full bodied delivery with hints of cinnamon, steel-cut oats, caramel and buttermilk.


;)


Or, you can just spark test it.


Heheh.
 
Matthew Gregory said:
If the paint is worn off or otherwise missing, take a quick lick. I've found that 1075 has a slightly more piquant, forward flavor on the palate, with notes of stone fruit, cardamom and ginger. 1095 offers a more robust, full bodied delivery with hints of cinnamon, steel-cut oats, caramel and buttermilk.


;)
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That was a good laugh :)
 
Matthew Gregory said:
If the paint is worn off or otherwise missing, take a quick lick. I've found that 1075 has a slightly more piquant, forward flavor on the palate, with notes of stone fruit, cardamom and ginger. 1095 offers a more robust, full bodied delivery with hints of cinnamon, steel-cut oats, caramel and buttermilk.


;)


Or, you can just spark test it.


Heheh.
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I THINK I know what you mean.....but just to be sure I understand, could you shoot a video of that? I just want to be sure I'm doing it right before I try it.
 
[video=youtube;i8svluaAlKQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8svluaAlKQ[/video]
 
You are my hero Matt! Well done, sir......well done.

I can't wait for all the phone calls you're gonna get from that. :D
 
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