Nick Brodsky 2

With all the thought of Wrought iron it got me wondering how does the strength of a wrought iron cladded San Mai blade compare to a mild steel or medium carbon cladded blade?

Thanks all 

Nick

Double thanks

ok Thanks

hey all 

I'm not sure how to list my state on my profile but I'm in Nebraska 

The steel i'm using for my casing does etch lighter than my 1080

and I left it in the boiling vinegar for 5 hours than in cold vinegar for 12 I should have said that earlier sorry

and the cracks I was referring to formed along the spine

Thanks all

Nick

thanks for all the suggestions

What would be best to etch in?

Ah ok thanks.

also is there a good combination of steels to try? and would I get a better etch with something like Ferric Chloride?

Also if the wheel isn't wrought what might it be?

I had heard the clay could prevent the spine from splitting which happened on my last blade.  The boiling vinegar is just something I saw online.  and I just assumed that home depot steel would be mild because I couldn't harden it which is my mistake 

thanks I'll look for the grain in the rust

Thanks for the advice ill look at buying one of the wheels soon

Hi all I've been trying some Damascus and San Mai recently with mixed results but I was wondering if anyone had any tips on getting a nicer transition than this

I'm finishing with a fine surface conditioning belt and etching in boiling vinegar.  is it my steel choice? on this blade I have a 1075-1080 core from admiral steel and home depot mild steel sides.  I also noticed that when a pulled it out of the etch it would have a nice black edge with a silver or white spine like in the next picture but that would wash off leaving what you see in the top picture.  I see pictures like this online and am wondering what I need to do differently 

I also found some small cracks running parallel to the spine that appeared after temper even though i clayed the spine how could I prevent those and get I nicer etch

Thanks all

Nick

Hi all 

Im getting to my 100th knife now and want to expand my skill set a bit so i was looking for some wrought iron to make more interesting San Mai with and found these at a local antique store  

I had heard that wagon wheels were sometimes wrought so I thought it would be worth it to put up a picture and get some opinions. I also found some old saw blades that I was hoping might be high carbon so I thought I would post a picture of one of those to.

it's about 36in in diameter and they want 57 bucks for it.

what's the chance its actually good steel and if it were to be good steel is it worth the money?

Thanks for any responses 

Nick