I have been offered some W1 steel at a "hard to turn down" price but have no experience with it. It seems very similar chemically to W2 which I have used. The online analysis of it though shows a huge possible discrepancy in carbon content so I am a little nervous as to just how to work it. Should I treat it like W2 or is it a totally different animal?
I would appreciate any input from those of you who have previously used it, either good or bad.
Thanks,
Gary
Gary I say go for it. From my understanding W1 is like W2 with less vanadium. Think of it as clean 1095. Most of the carbon range I have seen is around .90 to 1.05. As for the carbon range, I have seen similar ranges for W2. I would treat it like 1095 and start the tempering at 400 then move up in 25 degree increments if it is too hard. I temper my 1095 and W2 ( Aldo) at 450. I have not used W1 so I cannot give firsthand experience.
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
Thanks, Brion. I appreciate the insight.
Gary
Gary,
Sorry for the late response but maybe I can still add a little to this discussion. In short, W1 can be a terrific knife steel, but within the US there can be some pretty large variances in chemical composition from one batch to another, so it's really important to get to know your W1 before simply applying your standard heat treat formula and assuming everything will turn out as expected.
According to AISI spec, carbon content in W1 may vary from 0.70 to 1.50 points, which is a HUGE range (another source I saw quoted a range of 0.60 to 1.40). So essentially, one batch of W1 could be a hyper-eutectoid steel and the next batch might be hypo-eutectoid but they would still be considered the "same" by their AISI designation. For this reason alone it might be very worthwhile to send out a sample for chemical analysis, or simply do a lot of testing on your own until you are very confident in the proper heat treat regimen for your steel.
By the way, here in Europe a lot of bladesmiths are using C105, also known as 1.1545, which is basically the same as W1 but manufactured to much tighter chemical tolerances (it usually has a carbon content much closer to 1.05%). I've been using this steel for the past year or so and have had very good results with it. Edge-holding is great, and it can also produce a really nice hamon.
Anyway, I hope this helps, and wish you much success with your new batch of steel!
Thanks, Derrick. This batch of drill rod is from .95-1.0% carbon so I've been H/T'ing it like W2 which seems to be working fine. I haven't tried for any hamons yet but I'm thinking that it should work well for them.
I appreciate the input.
Gary
