Thread: Honing a GD 66: what I learned about it, me, and my Apart

Originally Posted by Utopian

If you would like to look up someone who knows, then contact Mike Blue, who is a member here.

I attended Howard Clark's "ites class" last fall and we saw dramatically reduced grain structures in the GDs when they were properly heat treated.

Ron,

I am retired but loved my former technical work, so please do not take my comments the wrong way. You may get more questions than you expect and I am not trying to be difficult, but you have made comments that make me almost want to go to work again. But not quite.

Who is Mike Blue and what is his background? I can PM him but he might take such a query, out of the blue, the wrong way. I do not want to offend anyone.

What's an 'ites class'? Does Howard Clark do materials science? What did he use to see reduced grain structures? That usually takes an electron microscope.

My apologies sir, you have stirred my curiosity and just tell me to go away and I will!

Cheers, Steve

Mike Blue and Howard Clark both are members here and their usernames are their names.

Mike has a medical background but is an experienced blademaker. He is a fairly active here. If you ask Mike a question, he will answer it. You probably would be hard-pressed to offend him just by asking a question.

Howard Clark makes a living making blades--primarily Japanese swords. He rarely is on this forum. Howard has worked closely with John Verhoeven for years. His website is HERE.

"Ites class" (as in martensite, austenite, cementite, ferrite, pearlite, and bainite) simply was the name of Howard's heat treatment class. Despite taking his class, I cannot claim any expertise in heat treatment; however, it is my understanding that according to the ASTM, the standard method for grain size determination is by grain count under 100x magnification.

Mike Blue, being available here, is a much, much, much better source of information than I am for anything relating to steel.

Thank you Sir!

Cherrs, Steve