Lord Farquhar
06-08-05, 08:04 PM
Takefu Suminagashi
Japanese multi layered steel
I bought two meters of this steel from Dick Tools a few months back and This is my first experiences with it.
I cut a section 6-inch long or about 15cm and cut the section in half so it was 16mm wide. The billet is 5.5mm thick so I thought there was some room for drawing out. I had spoken to bushman who I believe has done some stock removal of this steel and he said the pattern was rather boring and symmetrical. With this in mind I decided to forge the blade rather than cutting one. I put my small 15cm billet in the forge and brought it up to working temperature. I flattened and drew the steel out using a 3lbs smith’s hammer and I found the steel to be very easy to work with and it seemed very soft in comparison to some of the steels I have worked with. I was very careful to keep the steel in the right alignment and did not allow it to twist at all. Scale formed very quickly on the sides of the steel in very thin laminations and it seemed to happen quicker than some of the steels I have used. The scale was very thin and came of very easily and had the appearance of paper ash as it was so thin.
I drew a tang out and formed a blade. The ending dimensions from the 16mm wide 150mm long bar are, 115mm blade 120mm tang and the blade is 20mm wide and 3mm thick.
When it came to the grinding and finishing the steel was not soft like it was under the hammer but it was much like other carbon steels. As I had forged the blade and had given it a good beating I achieved some nice wavy laminations on the sides of the bevel and I ground the sides of the blade and that sowed some nice figure and some nice pools.
I hardened the blade via bringing it up to critical temperature (non magnetic) and quenched the full blade (not the tang) in oil. I ground of and scale from the quench to leave a bright blade and then I tempered the blade to straw using the blast from my forge. I then linished the blade then polished then sharpened then etched in ferric acid for about 30 mins . The blade now is clean and pretty and very sharp.
Pictures to follow.
My opinion?
For the price this is great steel that will produce some very nice blades that are beautiful and functional.
The edge holding seems to be great as it is shaving sharp with out much effort and it sliced threw my skin and I barely noticed.
Its easy to work and soft and malleable under the hammer
On the down side the laminations are of a low or non carbon steel and it made the sides of the blade very soft and very easy to scratch. I personally do not think this is a suitable steel for wood cutting knifes but really it is a kitchen knife steel and I think it should stay there. I tried cutting a branch with it and did some feather sticks with the blade and it did the work with ease but I noticed some scratches on the sides of the blade that were not there before.
Just my thoughts J
Japanese multi layered steel
I bought two meters of this steel from Dick Tools a few months back and This is my first experiences with it.
I cut a section 6-inch long or about 15cm and cut the section in half so it was 16mm wide. The billet is 5.5mm thick so I thought there was some room for drawing out. I had spoken to bushman who I believe has done some stock removal of this steel and he said the pattern was rather boring and symmetrical. With this in mind I decided to forge the blade rather than cutting one. I put my small 15cm billet in the forge and brought it up to working temperature. I flattened and drew the steel out using a 3lbs smith’s hammer and I found the steel to be very easy to work with and it seemed very soft in comparison to some of the steels I have worked with. I was very careful to keep the steel in the right alignment and did not allow it to twist at all. Scale formed very quickly on the sides of the steel in very thin laminations and it seemed to happen quicker than some of the steels I have used. The scale was very thin and came of very easily and had the appearance of paper ash as it was so thin.
I drew a tang out and formed a blade. The ending dimensions from the 16mm wide 150mm long bar are, 115mm blade 120mm tang and the blade is 20mm wide and 3mm thick.
When it came to the grinding and finishing the steel was not soft like it was under the hammer but it was much like other carbon steels. As I had forged the blade and had given it a good beating I achieved some nice wavy laminations on the sides of the bevel and I ground the sides of the blade and that sowed some nice figure and some nice pools.
I hardened the blade via bringing it up to critical temperature (non magnetic) and quenched the full blade (not the tang) in oil. I ground of and scale from the quench to leave a bright blade and then I tempered the blade to straw using the blast from my forge. I then linished the blade then polished then sharpened then etched in ferric acid for about 30 mins . The blade now is clean and pretty and very sharp.
Pictures to follow.
My opinion?
For the price this is great steel that will produce some very nice blades that are beautiful and functional.
The edge holding seems to be great as it is shaving sharp with out much effort and it sliced threw my skin and I barely noticed.
Its easy to work and soft and malleable under the hammer
On the down side the laminations are of a low or non carbon steel and it made the sides of the blade very soft and very easy to scratch. I personally do not think this is a suitable steel for wood cutting knifes but really it is a kitchen knife steel and I think it should stay there. I tried cutting a branch with it and did some feather sticks with the blade and it did the work with ease but I noticed some scratches on the sides of the blade that were not there before.
Just my thoughts J