Hello All! Hope all is well with you. I recent happened upon an interesting shiny almost glittery/ grainy/ crystalline almost looking layer in my 1095 layers. I was told by someone it is what’s called “Shoring” basically from what I gathered it’s pretty similar to carbon migration? I wanted to get some other opinions on it tho.
Heat treated as the steel supplier recommended as per HT recipe in a kiln. I did the three normalizing cycles etc. so not sure if I did something wrong or need to adjust something. Maybe I just have some less than ideal steel? The supplier has been under fire before for not sending you what you order so maybe that’s what I’m fighting? Either way the layer doesn’t want to etch like the rest and it’s patchy so not consistent throughout the whole layer or even blade. I originally thought I was fighting drying agents in my acetone from degreasing and switched to dish soap and water and is seemed to etch a little better but not better enough. I hit the blade against my anvil to see if the blade would snap. Hit it pretty hard. A few times. I’d rather not do a break test on it. I don’t think it’s effecting the integrity of the steel but I can’t say for certain.
has anyone seen this or know what or how to deal with it and maybe how to prevent this from happening again? I’ve seen it before but only in the end of my monosteel stuff at the rear of the tang where I grabbed it out of the kiln with tongs for quench. I previously chalked it up to cooling down from tongs sucking heat out and not getting proper austensizing (sorry I can’t spell)? And aesthetically wasn’t an issue due to the finishes I went with. So I didn’t really think too much into it. However I’m not able to get the etch and darkening like I want due to it so I’m trying to figure that out.
The last thing I considered was decarb but I was pretty certain that all should have came off already and not what I know decarb to look like.
Thank you guys for any info! Photo below for you viewing!
Here is another picture
only times i have gotten this kind of look was in overheating the welds by a significant amount, once welded i haven't been able to reverse it. I didn't find any performance issues with the billet but ended up just using it for fittings.
That could be possible I suppose. I am pretty paranoid about not getting up to forge welding temps and not getting my welds to stick right. And I keep it up there pretty hot while doing the drawing out in the press to try to avoid a weld to split on me in the process. I kinda felt like my forge was struggling to hit welding temps. But maybe not. Maybe I should get a pyrometer and monitor my internal forges temps?
I could be way off here, but shouldnt the 15n20 be the same color as the "glittery" part. If I had to guess, it looks l would try sanding again to 800 or 1000 then cleaning and then re-etching. it almost looks like there is still a fine layer of decarb on the 15n20. I did a video on how I etch and the etchant I use
etching: https://youtu.be/OhDhNqamjMM at about 2:45 mark
and the etchant I make: https://youtu.be/YW_p1ye2Ugc
Bob Bryenton
Solar Storm Group Ltd.
Phone: (780) 953-0016
Email: [email protected]
https://www.solarstorm.ca
“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible" -- Arthur C. Clarke
I agree with Matt on this one. I notice in the second photo that the effect is occurring along the weld seam between different steel layers. Without knowing some particulars about the steel and processes used, it is difficult at best to pin down what is going on. The questions I would have probably cannot be answered based on the info you already provided, like what is the specific steel chemistry, what temps did you normalize at, and what temps you welded and quenched at.
It looks like you have significant carbon migration happening across the weld seam leaving you with a mutant layer that does not etch the same as the other two layers. This is running through the entire thickness of the bar and will be impossible to remove at this point without completely blowing the HT on this blade and starting again. This effect is most commonly seen in multi-bar patterns and bladesmiths refer to it as "white lines" that appear where one bar is welded to another bar.
I have removed them in multi-bar construction in two ways. The first provides extra carbon at the seam prior to welding. The second replaces the carbon after tiling or accordion cutting and flattening the bar. If you want to try an experiment on this blade, here is what I suggest.
First you will need some stainless-steel heat treatment foil and some pure graphite spray. Do NOT get the spray with added silicone. You already have a kiln. Spray both sides of that blade with the graphite and let it dry. Wrap the blade in the foil with a piece of paper and close it tightly by folding over the edges three times. Put the package in your kiln, set the temp for 1250-1300 F and soak it for an hour or two. Remove the package and let it cool to room temp. Remove the blade. Clean up should be quick and easy using clean water and a soft Scotchbright pad. Inspect the blade and go through hardening and tempering again if it looks OK. If the blade is already sanded to 400 grit or better, use some anti-scale compound on it during hardening and quenching to keep additional sanding to a minimum.
“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”
Also:
A way to measure temperature in your forge is a gamechanger. In place of that set up, you can also use a small amount of flux on your billets to "read the flux" and know when you are ready to weld. Take the billet up to a red heat and sprinkle some flux on it. You do not need to cover the whole billet, just one or both of the flat sides will do. It is just for a visual clue as to when the billet is hot enough. The flux will boil at welding temp.
My favorite flux: FORGE WELDING FLUX 5 LB. PKG – Knife and Gun Finishing Supplies
“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”
Listen to Matthew and Joshua..... I was about to write a reply, but they both said everything I was going to! 😀
Ed Caffrey, ABS MS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
www.CaffreyKnives.net
