Hitachi Steels

I’d definitely be in if it becomes available. These rumours keep coming up, but they don’t come to fruition. I use mostly PM steels now, but the hamon will never be replaced, no matter how good pm steels are.
 
Has anyone contacted Achim Wirtz about the 125SC?
 
samuraistuart said:
I don’t think anything came of it. I seriously think that if we could get a white 1 equivalent and a blue super equivalent, they would go over like hot cakes here in the states.
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Thanks for the info samuraistuart. Yes, I would love to try out a steel with so much more carbon than 1095 but no other alloys to make big carbides. It would be interesting to compare it to 1095 in hardness and edge retention and sharpness.

samuraistuart said:
Roman Landes is a big champion of the F2, O7, Blue Super type steels So am I.
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I had never even heard of F2 and O7 till you mentioned them. I bet they are impossible to find?

Willie71 said:
I use mostly PM steels now, but the hamon will never be replaced, no matter how good pm steels are.
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Unfortunately, almost all PM steels are stainless and I try and avoid them now because of the bother with foil and getting dry ice and like the edges I get from carbon steels and ease of sharpening.

Larrin said:
Has anyone contacted Achim Wirtz about the 125SC?
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samuraistuart said:
I plan to Larrin. But have been holding off until after the new year for his 2019 price list.
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I was reading about 125SC and it seems like a pretty good alternative to Hitachi White #1. Do you have a way to contact Achim Wirtz and does he sell 125SC to anyone because I would love to try it out?
 
Jeff the Millwright said:
Thanks for the info samuraistuart. Yes, I would love to try out a steel with so much more carbon than 1095 but no other alloys to make big carbides. It would be interesting to compare it to 1095 in hardness and edge retention and sharpness.



I had never even heard of F2 and O7 till you mentioned them. I bet they are impossible to find?



Unfortunately, almost all PM steels are stainless and I try and avoid them now because of the bother with foil and getting dry ice and like the edges I get from carbon steels and ease of sharpening.





I was reading about 125SC and it seems like a pretty good alternative to Hitachi White #1. Do you have a way to contact Achim Wirtz and does he sell 125SC to anyone because I would love to try it out?
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I avoided pm steels for the longest time. Heat treat is a pain, and cryo is better than sub zero. The fine edge I get from z-wear approaches W2, and edge holding is double. Kiln and cryo are needed to get the best out of theses steels, especially if using the low temper protocol. Z-wear, 3v, and 4v have a lot to offer if heat treated specifically for knives.
 
The cool stuff that Achim had and may still have is the 1.2442/115W8. He cooked up that batch himself the first time around. IIRC, he did it as an early or maybe even first batch in the small furnace at the local college in Aachen. The bad news is that he ran out of some of the sizes at least according to the last price list that I saw.
 
Jeff, yeah F2 is gone bye-bye. I don't think it even exists now, anywhere. O7 is found in 2 variations that I know of. Both German steels 1.2519 and 1.2442 as mentioned by JDM61. The 1.2519 can be had by a few German vendors like Schmiedeglut, Messermacher-Bedorf, and one or two others. Last I checked they only had thick stock (5mm). The 1.2442 is found thru Achim, and was a private smelt he had done a few years back. It is a little more shallow hardening than 1.2519, and has a bit more tungsten. It is said to be both tougher and more wear resistant than 1.2519. I still have a few bars of the 3mm 1.2442 left! Waiting for the right project to use it up.

The 125SC from Achim is one I would love to try as well. Someone gave me a link to a different European vendor who had stainless clad 125SC. But it was super pricey, I didn't bother. Correction....it wasn't 125SC, rather 1.2562 (like Super Blue)...https://balbachdamast.com/shop/en/3-layers/182-472-sanmai-carbonaustenitic.html#/190-cross_section-50x4_mm
There are a few steels with the DIN designation 1.2xxx that would fulfill a dream if I could get my hands on them.

Stacy, that would be great! I sincerely wish Hitachi would open up international sales of their knife steels. But I also know a certain limerick about wishing in one hand...
 
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