Quote Originally Posted by randydance062449 View Post
OK, now I know what your referring to. Yes, 1095 can be differentially hardened and W2 steel shows it even better. When you said alloy banding I thought you were referring to something like Wootz steel. I do plan on doing some differentially hardened blades in the near future. That will be interesting to see what is required to show the banding. I believe a mirror or near mirror polish is out of the question. Perhaps a 1000 grit finish?
Actually I was referring to the Wootz 'look' but as Mike said you can have both. I accidentally discovered it polishing a Tanto in 5160. Took a lot of repeats with the vinegar to finally get the hamon to pop but noticed the 'Wootzy' effect as a bonus. And I did take it to a mirror polish but maybe 1000 grit would work better. I don't know but I do know repolishing with the japanese fingerstones subdued everything... a lot. Horses for courses I guess.