new steel from Aldo

scott.livesey

Dealer - Purveyor
Aldo has posted on BF that he may be bringing in two new steels. the first in 1.2842 or 90MnCrV8 or O2
Typical analysis:
Carbon 0.90% Manganese 1.90%
Chromium 0.50% Silicon 0.35%
Vanadium 0.15%
heat treat for this one seems pretty straight forward, heat to 1500F, short soak, oil quench. hardness after temper similar to O1. here is link to CCT and temper guide
http://www.ozct.com.tr/en/pdf/1.2842%2090MnCrV8.pdf

the second is where I have questions. C125W is proposed as an alternative to Hitachi blue/white which Hitachi won't export. with high carbon and little else, is this steel water/brine quench? still looking, can't find a cct or ttt for this alloy.
1.1563(C125W) - 1.20 - 1.35% C, 0.10-0.30% Si, 0.10-0.25% Mn
 
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Scott, check out that Mn count on the White 1 equivalent steel. Max of .25% and basically NOTHING else in the steel besides the carbon and a sneeze of silicon. It will indeed require an exceptionally fast quench. Parks 50 oil should handle it (we're talking about 1/8" thick no thicker), but a brine quench may be performed as well, and may yield a better martensite transformation. The Japanese knife makers use water when quenching Blue and White steels, and it is true that the Hitachi steels keep impurities very very low, which helps when water quenching. But with an Mn count that low, and no Chromium at all as is found in W1, W2, it is going to have a pearlite nose less than 1 second, probably less than .5 seconds.

There should be some great hamons attainable with that steel as well, and would be a great choice in the kitchen. Edges should be extremely sharp with even the most basic of sharpening equipment, ala 1095, W2, 52100, White.

The O2 I have no use for at all, much preferring O1 over O2. O2 has such high Mn count, it etches very dark, and would be cool for damascus. Actually, I would much rather see a Super Blue equivalent over a White 1 equivalent, preferring the added wear resistance of the Tungsten, even if it means a little more labor to attain that super sharp edge.
 
if the O2 is priced right, i will try some as an alternative to 80CrV2 In the discussion with Aldo, I asked for 1.2419 and 1.2519, both of which are imported to the states on a regular basis by Bestar.
 
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