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Ed Caffrey's Workshop Talk to Ed Caffrey ... The Montana Bladesmith! Tips, tricks and more from an ABS Mastersmith. |
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#1
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15N220 / L-6 Question
Im making a chefs knife out of what Im pretty sure is either 15N20, or L6, its wide (12" or more) bandsaw material, and is a little bit thicker than 1/8 inch.
My question is this. Will I gain anything by multi edge quenching this type steel? I would like to have a visible hamon line, does this steel lend its self to this? Would clay coating be benificial? or just edge quenching. Am I wrong to belive that clay coating will help reduce warpage in a thin cross section blade? Would you do your thermal cycles with the clay on the blade? Or would you thermal cycle the blade, and then clay coat it?? Thanks in advance! God Bless Mike __________________ "I cherish the Hammer of Thor, but I praise the hand of God" |
#2
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From my experience you won't gain anything by multiple quenching 15N20, except more chances of warping it. I would certainly recommend multiple normalizing cycles, both after forging and before hardening.
If your looking for a temper line on this steel, don't waste your clay. Edge quench it, then, once you have the blade finished out, give it an etch in ferric chloride. Concerning whether clay will help prevent warpage...I doubt it's gong to make a difference. Whether the blade/edge warps or not is going to depend on how much stress you've introduced during grinding, and if you've relieved those stresses or not before hardening. You might be able to get away with having the clay on a blade during thermal cycling...but my suspicion is that your going to wind up loosing a lot of it (the clay) during the heating/cooling cycles. __________________ WWW.CAFFREYKNIVES.NET Caffreyknives@gmail.com "Every CHOICE has a CONSEQUENCE, and all your CONSEQUENCES are a result of your CHOICES." |
#3
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Thanks Ed
Just the info I was looking for! God Bless Mike __________________ "I cherish the Hammer of Thor, but I praise the hand of God" |
#4
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Mike, I use clay quite a bit. To keep the clay on the blade wrap wire around it spaced about 1/2" apart. It will give the clay something to hold onto. I've been doing a number of blades out of saw steel the last few months thinking its L-6. With useing straight clay the hamon never ends up where you are wanting it so I've been mixing in vermiculite which adds more insulation and it does seem to make a difference. Quench straight in. Put the clay on after you normalize. Run the clay/vermiculite mix about 1/4" from the edge.
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blade, forging, knife |
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