I am in need of help with a project I started. My father in law is a Vietnam vet who spent time on the USS Independence. Last summer, the ship was taken to Texas to be dismantled by International Shipbreakers, Inc. which gave me an opportunity to finally get a piece of that ship. What I have is a piece of armored plate off of the flight deck. My plan is to forge a blade out of that steel. My problem is that it is somewhat of an unknown steel. My research shows that it has very high nickel content to help with the corrosion from the salt spray and may be called HY100, which was commonly used for ship building in the 50s. I also called International Shipbreakers and they gave me this chemical composition:
Copper 0.271
Nickel 3.18
Iron 93.99
Chromium 0.47
Magnesium 0.258
Zinc 0.065
Moly 0.074
The carbon is unknown, but typically HY100 had anywhere from 0.18-0.21, which I think would make it slightly higher than mild steel.
I can’t be real sure on any of these numbers but this is all the information I could find. The plan is to try to heat treat very small pieces in both P50 and PAAA but I doubt it will harden very well. So my next option would be to San Mai a piece of high carbon steel in the center. Here are some questions:
1. If this is the option I go with, what would this steel be compatible with to forge weld?
2. Are there any other options that anybody can think of?
3. Has anybody ever done anything like this before?
Ryan,
Even if the carbon is on the high side of the range that is given, you won't be able to harden it sufficiently to make a blade.
However, I don't see any reason it wouldn't weld easily to just about any simple carbon steel in san mai construction. I would probably use 1084 just because it is so forgiving.
One thing I am curious about is the presence of Magnesium, which I don't recall being in any alloys I am familiar with. Let us know what happens!
Jordan
The only logical way to incorporate that into a blade would be San-Mai. As has been said, it will not harden. With the nickel and magnesium content, you're gong to want to keep any forge welding temps on the lower side. I have to admit that these days I often shake my head when I see people wanting to use "armor plate" for blades.....it's simply not designed for that purpose. I can only assume that using it is a "cool" thing to say "it's armor plate".....and that must conjure images in peoples minds as it being a "fantastic blade".
That being said, I totally understand your reasons for wanting to use it, but when it comes to knife blades, ANY "armor plating" is nothing more than a novelty.
Ed Caffrey, ABS MS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
www.CaffreyKnives.net
I just did 5 min of google research and found that hy100 is a steel first used in seawolf class subs, first built in the 80s previous to that is seems STS plate was used starting around 1910 that steel appears to be pretty close to A203E in composition. A203E was mixed with w1 in damascus for years and shows great pattern, it is unhardenable so getting enough w1 into the mix and getting the layer count high enough to homogenize carbon content is important, heat treat is a bit of a crap shoot as well. I would mix it with 1095 or w1/w2 bring it to 100 layers or so then san mai with 1084. less risk of cracking than straight san mai, better performance at the edge than un-know damascusmix and it will look awesome.
MP
