Stainless/Carbon San Mai (410/52100)

S

Sirgreggins

Joined
Mar 21, 2016
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I'm very new to knife making and have fallen in love with ss/carbon san mai. It looks like a super vivid hamon which I also love. I noticed that the pattern is wavy making me assume that what I'm seeing is forged, not stock removal. Since njsteelbaron.com sells 410/52100 clad I was wondering what to expect when using it for some stock removal knives. Heat treating is being subbed out to a professional facility right now so thats not a something I don't have to worry about at this time. I posted a pic to show what I'm talking about.

SanMaiBlackie-1.jpg
 
Should grind easy, you won't get a wavy pattern without forging, you also need some acid to etch the carbon steel to make it pop like that
 
Yes, if you are purchasing forged billets of this steel, you'll get similar results as long as you grind and etch accordingly.
 
I think it's a little too pricey for me, anyway (aldo's 52100 san mai). I prefer the V Toku 2 san mai from Bill Burke, VERY reasonable pricing. If you do not disrupt the lamination line before HT, either full on forging or simple disruption, the lamination line will be straight. Well, as straight as your grind is, anyway.
 
I just wanted to add that what you see is not called Hamon. It's just a contrast between patina on carbon steel and clear SS clad.

Hamon is formed during differential hardening, usually observed on honyaki blades.
 
To clarify I was just saying it looks like a hamon. I know the hamon is differential hardening and is appplied to shallow hardening steels like 1084, w1,w2 etc. Thanks for all the feedback. I'll have to try other distributors
 
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