Tonight's emotional decompression.

[Darkwind]

Steel work and the artistry of a Katana blade has always led Me to seek out those artists who can create such a blade.

The fact that this is a "Damascus" Katana makes it all the better.

Video is 1:16:33.

 

[toobfreak]

Steel work and the artistry of a Katana blade has always led Me to seek out those artists who can create such a blade.
The fact that this is a "Damascus" Katana makes it all the better.

Purdy nice. Kid seems to know what he is doing. Was he ever on Forged In Fire? I don't recognize him.

 

[Darkwind]

Purdy nice. Kid seems to know what he is doing. Was he ever on Forged In Fire? I don't recognize him.

I don't think he was, but it's a possibility now.

He mainly sticks to Chef's Knives, and he's pretty damn good at it.

 

[toobfreak]

I don't think he was, but it's a possibility now.
He mainly sticks to Chef's Knives, and he's pretty damn good at it.

I'm not much of one for swords or katanas as they are both really battle weapons and not really conducive for personal use like a knife is these days, but the kid had good attention to details and makes one really nice damascus twist pattern. It just doesn't get much nicer than that.

 

[toobfreak]

He mainly sticks to Chef's Knives, and he's pretty damn good at it.

My kitchen knives are already damascus steel, not twist damascus, just straight damascus, but pretty nice.

They are actually made out of some special japanese steel, with riveted garolite full tang handles. They do some cryogenic process to the steel, first tempering it, normalizing it, then after the quench, they freeze it at hundreds of degrees below zero for like a day to make the steel super tough and resilient.

 

[Darkwind]

My kitchen knives are already damascus steel, not twist damascus, just straight damascus, but pretty nice.

View attachment 1165915

They are actually made out of some special japanese steel, with riveted garolite full tang handles. They do some cryogenic process to the steel, first tempering it, normalizing it, then after the quench, they freeze it at hundreds of degrees below zero for like a day to make the steel super tough and resilient.

Does the cryo harden the steel even further?

Does it make it brittle too?

 

[Leo123]

Does the cryo harden the steel even further?

Does it make it brittle too?

There is a sweet spot when tempering. Steel can get very brittle when quenched in water. I think they use some type of special quenching fluid, I saw that on Forged In Fire. I also remember taking a metal shop class where we actually forged, quenched and broke off the end of a piece to observe the grain. In addition the blade edge may be made of different metal than the rest of the blade.

 

[toobfreak]

Does the cryo harden the steel even further?
Does it make it brittle too?

I forget all of the fine details now, I don't follow the stuff as much as I used to. I used to study the atomic structure of various steel making processes like martensite and austenite, etc. For instance, the best way to tell your blade is ready for quenching is not by observing the color as nearly all forgers do, but to stick a magnet to it. Soon as the steel is hot enough to lose it magnetic property, you quench.

Likewise, I remember that when the steel reaches the right temperature, the heat causes the steel nuclei to move farther apart, just far enough that carbon atoms can now drop in and fit in between the steel atoms that they wouldn't fit earlier. Then when you quench, you lock these carbon atoms in place and it is these carbon atoms which give the steel the necessary and desirable properties.

But the cryo treatment, a number of companies use that process. I bought an Oster hair trimmer a few years ago (professional quality trimmer) and they use that process on their trimmer blades. Yeah, I think it does make the steel more brittle, but apparently the cryo makes the steel really hard and really hold an edge, for things where you want the edge to hold up to really hard use for a really long time.

But I've not seen any private forgers use the process because obviously, it would be costly to have the right equipment and dangerous and difficult to get and hold the right temperatures.

 

[Darkwind]

I forget all of the fine details now, I don't follow the stuff as much as I used to. I used to study the atomic structure of various steel making processes like martensite and austenite, etc. For instance, the best way to tell your blade is ready for quenching is not by observing the color as nearly all forgers do, but to stick a magnet to it. Soon as the steel is hot enough to lose it magnetic property, you quench.

Likewise, I remember that when the steel reaches the right temperature, the heat causes the steel nuclei to move farther apart, just far enough that carbon atoms can now drop in and fit in between the steel atoms that they wouldn't fit earlier. Then when you quench, you lock these carbon atoms in place and it is these carbon atoms which give the steel the necessary and desirable properties.

But the cryo treatment, a number of companies use that process. I bought an Oster hair trimmer a few years ago (professional quality trimmer) and they use that process on their trimmer blades. Yeah, I think it does make the steel more brittle, but apparently the cryo makes the steel really hard and really hold an edge, for things where you want the edge to hold up to really hard use for a really long time.

But I've not seen any private forgers use the process because obviously, it would be costly to have the right equipment and dangerous and difficult to get and hold the right temperatures.

Now that is some beneficial information!!

 

[toobfreak]

There is a sweet spot when tempering. Steel can get very brittle when quenched in water. I think they use some type of special quenching fluid, I saw that on Forged In Fire.

They quench in hot oil as quenching in water cools the steel too rapidly and wicks heat off the surface while the inner steel is still red hot. This leads to differential stress which usually results in breakage.