Anyone here try Cowry X yet?

[DiverTexas]

I've got a customer that has already bought a 12" X 2" X 1/4" piece of it for $200 and wants me to make a knife for him. I have never used this steel and know absolutely nothing about it.
Anyone here familiar with it at all?

 

[Steve Randall]

never heard of it. is it SS or carbon steel ? must be good if it cost that much LOL

 

[c-9]

Its good steel, but more than that, its one of those difficult to obtain Japanese steels, like VG-10 and ZDP-189, which is why it commands such a high premium. The bar is probably san-mai, so keep that in consideration if doing any extreme grinding.

Heat to 1025C and air-cool or quench in a suitable manner for air-quenching steels and then cryo, or 1000C if no cryo. Temper at 100C for peak hardness.

 

[DiverTexas]

Thanks for the info c-9. Can you explain what you mean by extreme grinding?

 

[c-9]

Stuff like chisel grinding, extreme distal taper, weird hollow grinds etc. Anything that would be adversely affected by the laminate structure.