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Old 06-07-2017, 06:29 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Acworth, GA and/or Hanging Dog, NC
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Dunno, I kind of like playing around with the old worn out mystery files. Some are very surprising. One can do the simple snap-test to see if it is solid or casehardened. That tells you a little. Then do a spark test comparison with some know - hardened - 1095, 1084, and W1/W2. Each has it's own spark pattern and color combination. You can get reasonably close to an educated guess as to steel. Then test the blade to see if it performs as desired.
Agree, lot of junk out there, but takes only a few minutes to find out if it's anything close to bladeworthy. Then you can do thermal cycling with a modicum of confidence. Won't know for sure with out lab analysis.

I like the challenge of repurposing steels when I have the time to experiment and test. Way my shop is setup it is no big deal time/effort wise as I am continuously back and forth from forge to grinder, etc. Not everybody's cup of tea, but works ok for me.

I have made some very unusual discoveries over the years with different files. One, no markings, was a very old handcut file. I think I read somewhere that "modern man" started machine cutting them around 1800. This particular file was fabricated from laminated steels....yeah, what everybody calls damascus these days. At first I thought it was carbide banding or something akin, but microscopic inspection proved it was laminated layers. No, didn't get as hard as 1095 or W2, but was more like 1070. Still it was a very interesting piece of work and made a beautiful period piece. The laminations were very distinct.


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