Your thoughts on W2 tool steel

I just checked my stash. I have a post office bin about half full of the square stuff. My remaining round bar stock is all like 11 inches long to fit in the USPS flat rate boxes. I actually took calipers to the bars to confirm their sizes. I have 25 of the .75, 14 of the .90, 16 of the 1.05 and 3 each of the 1.25 and 1.75, plus two 10 inch bars of 1 1/4 x oversized 3/8 that I flattened in the press a while back. Those two chunks are scheduled to become a long skinny stag bowie/fighter and a larger Fikes style blade in the near future. I figure that If I had an efficient way of hammering out those .9 and 1.05 bars aka a power hammer, i would have enough for perhaps 90 wah handled gyutos in the 240 mm range., maybe a few more. One of those rounds would covert to like 3 feet of 1 x 1/4 bar stock. so the same MOL if you wanted 2 x 1/8
 
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jdm61 said:
I just checked my stash. I have a post office bin about half full of the square stuff. My remaining round bar stock is all like 11 inches long to fit in the USPS flat rate boxes. I actually took calipers to the bars to confirm their sizes. I have 25 of the .75, 14 of the .90, 16 of the 1.05 and 3 each of the 1.25 and 1.75, plus two 10 inch bars of 1 1/4 x oversized 3/8 that I flattened in the press a while back. Those two chunks are scheduled to become a long skinny stag bowie/fighter and a larger Fikes style blade in the near future. I figure that If I had an efficient way of hammering out those .9 and 1.05 bars aka a power hammer, i would have enough for perhaps 90 wah handled gyutos in the 240 mm range., maybe a few more. One of those rounds would covert to like 3 feet of 1 x 1/4 bar stock. so the same MOL if you wanted 2 x 1/8
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You got in early when I had a bunch of the smaller dia. The bulk of what I sold was 1.5"-2.5".
 
You weren't offering the real big stuff when I bought. The 1.75 was a slightly later order IIRC. The reason that the .75 is still in its packaging is that I was not sure what to do with it. I mostly used the 1.25 for those bowies that I made a few years back and a couple of the 1.75's for ridiculous knives like this one. I broke down the bar for this one on Cliff's Say Mak. DSC_0129.jpg
Don Hanson III said:
You got in early when I had a bunch of the smaller dia. The bulk of what I sold was 1.5"-2.5".
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Don Hanson III said:
I didn't have that batch made, it was old stock I found. Others knew about it, but I ended up buying most of the 30,000 lbs. When I discovered how good it was, I set off to buy it all! I sold over 20,000 lbs in a 5-6 year maga sale. Not all W2 is the same, something very strange with the stuff currently available.
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Did anyone ever get your W2 tested for specific makeup of it and what makes it different from the newer W2 from Aldo? I'd love to know what is going on that gives the stuff you had such wicked hamons. Ive been using aldos for most my pieces lately and it just doesn't compare. Literally down to my last few inches of the round i got from Lisch a few years back and been trying to find some more surplus and holdin out hope someone has more made to the "good stuff" specs.
 
Aidenag said:
Did anyone ever get your W2 tested for specific makeup of it and what makes it different from the newer W2 from Aldo? I'd love to know what is going on that gives the stuff you had such wicked hamons. Ive been using aldos for most my pieces lately and it just doesn't compare. Literally down to my last few inches of the round i got from Lisch a few years back and been trying to find some more surplus and holdin out hope someone has more made to the "good stuff" specs.
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I seem to remember that Aldo had the steel made to these specs, but obviously quality control isn’t what it should be. The batch I still have a few pieces of is close, but not exact.
 
Don, did you make "shiny" damascus with 15N20 using the square W2 or just the old school high layer iron stuff?
 
What was your HT recipe for the shiny stuff and how did you etch it? That stuff may call for the final coffee etch. I don't know how much of that square I have, but it has to be at least 50 pounds, probably more. The only piece that has gotten used since I bought it was one flat piece that Jerry Fisk used to forge out that first cancer society bowie. Still have all of the rest.
Don Hanson III said:
Joe, I made both but more of the shinny stuff.
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The specs as given in post 45 are not what was specd by a recent comp analysis by lab. Most importantly, the carbon was 0.75% low to 0.86% high and the low Mn was 0.30%.

That is a WIDE carbon range and low at that.
 
jdm61 said:
What was your HT recipe for the shiny stuff and how did you etch it? That stuff may call for the final coffee etch. I don't know how much of that square I have, but it has to be at least 50 pounds, probably more. The only piece that has gotten used since I bought it was one flat piece that Jerry Fisk used to forge out that first cancer society bowie. Still have all of the rest.
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I heat treat just like W2 except slightly hotter for quench. Etch 20-40 minutes rubbing the black off every 5 minutes. I haven't messed with the coffee thing much.
 
samuraistuart said:
The specs as given in post 45 are not what was specd by a recent comp analysis by lab. Most importantly, the carbon was 0.75% low to 0.86% high and the low Mn was 0.30%.

That is a WIDE carbon range and low at that.
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If I remember right those specs were from Russ Andrews. He sent a piece of 2" round stock from the same batch I have for testing. What W2 are you referring to?
 
I sent samples of the round stock from Don and from my flat stock for testing. The composition for the
round stock is on the money, as it was for the flat stock I have....

Also....any time we get steel from a distributor, we should request a copy of the mill's Certified Test
...also called a Cert......NOT just a nominal specification......yes some suppliers will refer to"nominal
certs".....which are only averages. and not actual tested results for your steel......
 
If I’m following, the good W2 is all stashed away in the shops of some of you gents, and the W2 more generally available isn’t really up to snuff. The currently available 1095 is also less ideal for hamons than it used to be due to metal recycling? So where is the best place to turn if someone wants to try hamons and is looking for the best starting point for success metallurgically? W1 drill rod? I was just about to order some of the W2 flat bar to play with at the anvil when I saw this thread.
 
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