Hamon - 1095 or W2

Like I said, you need to know the manganese content of the actual steel you have … not just the ANSI ratings. Aldo gets steel for knifemaking, and buys or has rolled alloying that we desire.

His 1084fg is designed for easy of forging and HT. it has sufficient manganese to harden easily, and a touch of vanadium for grain refinement.
His 1075 has very low manganese.
 
kuraki said:
Aldo has stated the 1075 he's selling is actually "1076" being held to a lower manganese content than AISI 1075 allows for.

AISI 1075 Mn is .4 to .7
AISI 1095 Mn is .3 to .5
Aldo's 1075 Mn is .35

I believe 1075 at .7 Mn would have drastically poorer hamon performance than Aldo's .35, as greater than .4 seems to be the line of demarcation where Mn begins to significantly impact hamon activity.
Click to expand...

This is spot on. Above 0,4, you drastically reduce hamon potential. The other way to get a hamon is with low carbon, as the martensite will form in the narrow end of the wedge shape. There isn’t enough carbon to form martensite throughout the who,e blade in the thicker sections. Verhoeven has a good explanation of this, much better than this oversimplified explanation.
 
here's my first try in 1095,

42NrPYw.jpg



s2GoIXX.jpg
 
Probably resurrecting an old thread here, but here we go. I know they are both high carbon steel and both is prone to rusting, but has anyone noticed if W2 is any less prone to rust than 1095?
 
Iron plus oxygen creates rust. Add moisture and it rusts quicker. Make that moisture acidic and it greatly accelerates the rust. Increase the surface area by grinding on a coarse belt and the rust has both more room to grow and more places to hold moisture.

All carbon steel rusts. It is pretty much a wives' tale that X rusts faster than Y or tat you can stand there and watch O-1 rust.

The carbon alloying in carbon steels is a small fraction compared to the roughly 98% iron. It is the iron that rusts.

To keep rust off finished knives:
First, finish your knives completely. The coarser the surface, the easier it will rust. 400 grit should be a minimum on carbon blades.
Make sure the blade is completely dry. Just wiping off with a paper towel that is already damp from other tasks won't do it.
Coat the blade and handle with a light oil or wax that clings to the blade. Renaissance wax is a good product.
Store in a dry place. I don't recommend storing in a leather sheath, because most sheaths can hold moisture.
Clean and re-apply the coating every 6 months or so and after the blade has been handled a lot ( like after a knife show).

Here is a comparison chart of the two steels:
http://zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=W2, 1095&hrn=1&gm=0

As you can see from the graph, W2 is about 96.5% iron and 1095 is about 98.5% iron.
 
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