BackwoodsBeast

Yesterday was quite a learning experience. I made my 2nd blade, and love the way it turned out. This was my first heat treat as well, so I followed instructions I've read on here (for W-2). Did 2 thermal cycles, soaked for 5mins and quenched in parks 50. My heart sank when I heard some cracking, but luckily it was just the clay (I went for a hamon). I had gotten a slight warp in the tang because I only quenched the blade, so that was a mistake not to be repeated. I managed to get it out by clamping it to a piece of angle iron during the temper. After grinding and hand sanding up to 3000 grit, I did close to 10 etches, each about 1-2mins, wiping it down with windex each time to get a deep etch. Now it looks even better than I had hoped. And I honestly don't think I've ever learned so much in one day. And after all of this was done, I proceeded to chop a 2x4 to test my heat treat. And to my surprise, the edge held up as if I didn't even hit anything.

I appreciate all the responses, thanks guys. And unfortunately I'm not able to spark test, considering I'm still fresh into this without any power tools. But once I get a little free time, I'll quench a few pieces and figure out what gets the best results. And yes, the idea was to use it for blades later on, once I get better at this. I just like getting info ahead of time.

Hey guys. I was just wondering what this stuff is made out of. I came across one today, and this sucker is about 40lbs. Ive seen a few discussions about it, and some say 5160, and others around 1075 considering it apparently takes a good hamon? Any response would be great!

Thanks for clearing that up guys. This community is great.

I forgot to I'D the manufacturer, but if it helps, they looked just like these.

First of all, I'm new here, so I apologize in advance if I'm posting in the wrong section. But I've seen a lot of (guesses) thrown out there about what type of steel these are made of, so I found a list of the properties. Now I'm not familiar in this area, so I'll just let someone else answer that. But here's a screenshot of it. Hope this helps.