Updates from Metal land.

[zitangy]

Will.. you making stainless Steel? sort close to AEBL equivalent?

I wld be interested..

good luck and hv fun..

 

[WillC]

Yes its very close to Aeb-l or 13C. Only it has a little more chromium and nitrogen to bring the grain size down. It is in the very fine carbide category of steels as opposed to a pm steel. I wanted something as close to a really good simple carbon steel as possible. So that pretty much ruled out pm steels, for now at least. I want something which is a joy to sharpen and takes a very fine edge. I'll let you know how I get on with it after heat treatment. I'll try it as hard as it goes with LN and see how I like it from there.
Here is some data on the steel from Sandvik
http://www.smt.sandvik.com/en/products/strip-steel/strip-products/knife-steel/sandvik-knife-steels/sandvik-14c28n/

 

[WillC]

Finally have some LN in the shop and HT'd the first stainless test pieces today. I have made a new HT area out the way behind the hammer.

Ooo thats cold, just after cryo quenching

Checking hardness, well they both reached full hardness.

Looking forward to trying this steel out on some food.:biggrin:

 

[Eamon Burke]

Frosty!

 

[WillC]

Yes sir thats mighty cold. Looking forward to seeing if it makes any difference to 01 too.:cool2:

 

[Bulldogbacchus]

Ummm, what knife is that??

 

[WillC]

Its a little Petty Matt, there are two. These are just tester's to abuse, If the HT is right, I'll start on yours. I have had a good few stainless orders actually so thanks Guys. :doublethumbsup:

 

[TB_London]

Exciting times

 

[WillC]

I've been at it again...

Its satisfying to see a billet put through that amount of stress without a single weld opening up.
It is of course ...More feather damascus for an ordered chef knife and a carving set, yes i'm doing another damascus fork too, not in the feather, though the knife will be. I'm on a tight time limit with the carving set now...all needs to be done end of next week. another billet will be swiftly following maybe 2. And I will make a start on my "Fire within Gyuto" I've decided it needs to be a giant gyuto to make the best of the pattern.

I'm away for a weeks holiday from the 20th of July, so i'll try and get as much done on commissions by then and get other jobs planned ready for my return.
Josh is doing well. I now have some knife steel shelving and a grinding bay. Next is a separate woodwork bench at the back of the shop. Josh will try the hammer for the first time next week. Over the course of the summer I would like him to work through the processes for 2 san mai kitchen knives.:biggrin: Tomorrow he is helping to prep and assemble some billets ready for me to forge.

 

[Bulldogbacchus]

Good luck Will.

 

[WillC]

Thanks Matt, I'll get some more pics today. I got two large lumps out of the feather billet, for the long Carving knife and Andrey's Gyuto and there is a thinner slice too which should do a 180mm Petty or small Gyuto easily.

 

[WillC]

I'm back from my wee break, rested, enthused and ready for the onslaught. I also at this point need to properly organize my list. While I have record of everything. I need to get it all into one place. Here seems a good place for that. Thanks all those who are waiting for things for your patience. I will be onto it directly.

 

[WillC]

O dear not a great start, it seems my electric ht oven elements have not stood up to long stainless anneal cycles and the higher temperatures required for HT. I have a new set of coils on order, doubled over at the ends where these ones failed. So i'll be making damascus and roughing out blanks for the rest of the week.