steel question

K

kisuke

Joined
Feb 4, 2008
Messages
18
Hi a few years back i bought a couple of pieces of w2 round bar they are 1 3/4 icnches wide and 11 inches long i forgot about them until i ran accross them the other day what i want to know is what would one of these make would one of them be enough steel to say forge a katana thanks for any info.
 
Any properly heat treated carbon steel (such as W2) is enough to make a good sword.
 
thanks for the help but what im getting at is would a swordsmith be able to forge a katana from one of these bars i mean is there enough steel in one of them to forge it thanks.
 
I suppose if you wanted a really small one... sounds more like Wakizashi material to me. However, I suspect that most custom guys probably already have a good steel source and would be more likely rather use stuff that is a known quantity rather then the W-2 that you got from whereever.
 
Seems on the small side to me for a sword if you do the math. Besides most makers have their own favorite steels to work with and making them go out of the box isn't always a good idea. Also the raw materials is usually pocket change compared to the labor put into the sword as far as final price goes.
 
How thick are they? If they are like 3/8ths thick you can defionately get a katana out of them, maybe even 1/4 might be enough.
 
That piece of steel will weigh pretty close to
eight pounds....more than enough for that
project.
BUT...W2 typically has around 1% carbon,
which is considerably higher than is usually used
for sword blades, due to toughness considerations.
 
thanks for the info guys but i have seen many katanas made from w1 and w2 and they seem to perform just fine and look great.
 
That would be more than enough for a katana blade, you could easily get one long, one medium and one short blade from a peice of steel like that, If i had my press up and running i would be more than happy to trade you one of thsoe bars to draw out the other into flat bar.
 
My mistake. Russ is right that should be about 8 pounds and a typicat katana is about 2 pounds.

greg
 
thats cool i have had plans to get a katana and a wakashashi forged and a couple of small knives also i rememberd where i got the w2 from i bought it from Don Hanson awhile back he said it was great steel.
 
Oooops just realized this post is so old that steel probably rusted away by now....lol
 
Well I still had it until a few days ago lol I sent it off to sam to be broke down for me but thanks for the off though.
 
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