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Modern Katana; tips and recommendation


Henrick

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Hey guys,

this is my first post in the forging-community.

I want to make a modern katana, but it should be made by a low budget, so without damascus steel and Tsuba.

But the metallurgy-process will be made by a professional bladesmith.

I am not sure if I should use 1.2235 (80CrV2) or C75 (1.1248) ?!

The blade will be 40-50cm long and 3-4mm thick...what do you think about this and how wide do you think?

My Inspiration for the Katana: '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>>

 

As a proof that I am not a beginner :D 

 

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Nice greetings from Germany ;)

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Welcome aboard Henrick, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you'll discover we have lots of folk from Germany here on IFI.

 

Sorry I'm no help with selecting blade steels, especially European alloy designations. Heck, I'm not a bladesmith guy here in the USA.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Wouldn't accept a commission unless we agreed on the alloy(s) beforehand. 

I'm with you  Thomas, that or charge time and materials above the agreed price.

 

Not to hijack the thread Henrick, sorry.  But I need a little help here, I was digging through a box of steel I fellow sent me some time ago and I found something I don't know about. Crucible Rex-95.

 

Anybody know what I have here?

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Do you want to go with a traditional heat treat with a differential hardening and low tempering?

 

For a sword to fight off the zombie hordes I'd go with 5160 or Cr55 if I recall the european designation correctly.

 

A straight 1050 will show off clay hardening better; but of course traditional heat treating leaves you with the traditional weaknesses of such blades.

 

When a client tries to mandate things on a blade that are NOT a good idea even against my thoughts on the matter.  It's time to drop the client.  They will never be satisfied and will bad mouth you for *THEIR* mistakes.  If they think they know more about bladesmithing than I do I generally offer them the hammer, forge and anvil so I can learn from their greater knowledge; still waiting on learning something other than how to ruin a chunk of steel.

 

The great clients are the ones that work with you to accomplish their "dream" or even just tell you that they like your work and so please make them something...

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I'm with you  Thomas, that or charge time and materials above the agreed price.

 

Not to hijack the thread Henrick, sorry.  But I need a little help here, I was digging through a box of steel I fellow sent me some time ago and I found something I don't know about. Crucible Rex-95.

 

Anybody know what I have here?

 

Frosty The Lucky.

http://www.crucible.com/eselector/prodbyapp/highspeed/rex95.html

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A lot of Tungsten and cobalt. Wouldn't that make it rather hard to work?

 

Yes it does and probably is. I didn't think of just Googling it till a little later and then couldn't remember in which thread I'd asked. <sigh> According to the Crucible site it's for cutting tools and retains it's hardness and strength at red heat, makes me think it's going to make dandy slitters, hacks and such hot tooling.

 

Thanks,

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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How is it's reaction to impacts and notch issues?

 

I don't know yet, I've been prepping for a local event where we have a significant presence. That and the honey do list, a couple sick animals, etc. typical life getting in the way. all my time in the shop has been sorting, arranging, planning and my usual pre-demo stuff.

 

As I recall though it's supposed to be impact resistant but that's MY memory of reading the Crucible sheet. I think I'm going to take a piece with me to the Art On Fire event and an angle grinder and the whet grinder knife sharpener and play with it. It'll give me something else to talk about and I can do it a little at a time while I do my usual demo stuff.

 

I will be getting back once I know how it works.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Because i will use carbon steel, it shouldn't be decorative!

Maybe i want to use it....

 

n.g

Henrick

since the definition of steel is Iron and all steel is a "carbon steel", that tyerm does not clearify much, could you please re phrase your answer so we know what you are talking about , we cant help you decide on a steel for usage we know nothing about.

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