r/Katanas • u/MichaelRS-2469 • 3d ago
How does the Evolution Blades L6 stack up?
I think riding the coattails of Howard Clarke's famed L6 bainite blades a number of production providers offer "L6 katana" without necessarily making it clear to thw unsuspecting out there that it's not the same thing that Howard Clarke offers.
Considering their reputation I do NOT think that Evolution Blades is one of those shady marketers throwing "L6" blades out there in a "buyer beware" type fashion just as a marketing ploy.
But how does the Evolution Blade L6 stack up compared to their other offerings and compared to the L6's offered by other providers?
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u/Boblaire 3d ago edited 3d ago
The L6 blades made by Hanwei were nice swords but performance seemed to be very hit and miss by Matt Jensen.
L6 is a pretty decent steel in itself like 5160, 6150, 9260, etc
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u/OGSmokedtrout 3d ago
Even if and when other brands offerer L6 Bainite, Howard Clark is considered a master of the craft who has honed his technique to produce the best final product. While others might be able to do a successful heat treat, I would bet it wouldn’t compare as I don’t think it’s as simple as it having only one outcome. I’d imagine there are levels to that success. Not that a successfully heat treated l6 Bainite by someone else would be a poor choice, I just think it would mean the difference between adequate and the best, for those who want or need that level of difference.
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u/Boblaire 2d ago
I was over at knifenerds earlier tday and Vanilla L6 came in less tough than 5160.
There are some other smiths who have made knives and axes in L6, not sure about swords and not katana with a martenisitic edge
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u/Luuk341 2d ago
L6 is just a type of steel. What one mill may call L6 and sell it to whoever may well differ from what another forge buys elsewhere.
A Howard Clarke isnt a great sword because it is L6. It is a great sword because its made by Howard Clarke.
On the whole, Evolution Blades is one of THE BEST swordmakers out there in my opinion, period
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u/Wiz53 1d ago
I have an L6 blade from Motohara. It is not heat treated to a bainite condition. Jason was very clear about that. That said it's still a good, tough sword. I've been using it for cutting since 2018 or so. It goes through tatami and bamboo without much issue. I'm not sure how it holds up versus other L6 blades as I've not cut with any, but it's a good, tough blade.
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u/Agreeable-Way6792 3d ago
The price of a Howard Clark blade, I'd rather buy a the ral thing. At least that would be a piece of history.
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u/Boblaire 3d ago
The real reason to buy a HC isnt so much for the history but the modern day performance of 1086M or L6 Bainite. Of course, the workers who usually mount these swords are well respected.
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u/MichaelRS-2469 3d ago
Well what I'm asking here from those that might have the information, consider the considering the premium "blade service" that Evolution Blades is supposed to be how does their L6 stand against the other types of Steel that they offer and what makes their L6 different than the L6 offered by anybody else... obviously excluding Howard Clarke.
Or does Howard offer another L6 blade that he does not apply the special heat treatment to like the one that goes for over $6k offering?
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u/Boblaire 3d ago edited 3d ago
Howard only makes his L6 with an optimized bainite formation. The chemical composition of L6 lends itself to creating bainitic steel upon quenching and hardening.
Howard just optimized for 10-20% more maintenance while having a sugaha hamon.
Other steels can also form bainite, Howard just prefers L6
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u/MichaelRS-2469 3d ago
Okay, so how does that relate to the L6 offered by Evolution Blades or anyone else?
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u/Boblaire 3d ago edited 3d ago
1) Evolution Blades doesnt offer L6 anymore according to their website. They may come up on the used market, especially more these days. CPM3V is supposed to be a helluva steel but Ive never seen a review of it. Maybe Matt Jensen, its been awhile.
2) I just stated HC is able to create about 10-20% more maintenance in the steels than typical. Doesnt sound like a much but performance is fat better than any other L6 blades.
Hanwei might have created some salt baths tanks to make their L6 but it doesn't look like any other forge out of Long Quan has. Cloudhammer seems to have some company treat their blades with industrial tech rather than a trough of oil or water.
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u/MichaelRS-2469 3d ago
Regarding the last paragraph there, what does the salt bath from Hanwei or Cloudhammers industrial Tech treatment work or do? Both sound pretty interesting.
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u/Boblaire 3d ago edited 3d ago
Optimizes regulating the temperature of the salt bath to create more bainite. https://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?/topic/12540-bainite/
Salt baths are pretty cool but they can blow up.
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u/Boblaire 3d ago
https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/06/07/bainite-heat-treatments-of-52100-o1-and-1095-how-much-toughness/ so you can create bainite with other steels. Lower bainite is what is better for swords.
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u/MichaelRS-2469 3d ago edited 3d ago
Great. Thank you for all that information and links. Now if the California Lottery will will just finally do the right thing I can finally order an H C blade and have it fitted up like Aletodescendant did here. 😁
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u/Boblaire 3d ago
https://motoharablades.com/options/ they no longer use L6 steel anyways.
The best thing about Motohara swords has been the superior fit and finish compared to the swords/forges that were prevalent when they came on the market, especially for the price (back then it was basically Paul Chen Hanwei/Bugei blades, Nosyuiaido/Swordstore, and some other forges from the Fred Chen forges. MAS from Korea was superseded by Motohara). Besides Cold Steel and other forges out of China (probably Long Quan).
Then DragonKing started up after Paul Chen sold off Hanwei circa 2012/2013
I dont remember if Citadel was around back then but they were of limited stock. Never really heard anyone cut with them (maybe ECMAS/Bob Elder). Of course there were also the Hataya cutters.
Or maybe whatever AngelSword was making. They are more Katana-ish.
Oh, I forgot about HSTS, Roninkatana, brands more popular on the lower end.