# San Mai billet size



## Seffers93 (Mar 29, 2021)

Hey everyone,

I just went and bought a cheap hydraulic press and a welder and also made a pretty good makeshift anvil. I have been dying to try out some San Mai.
My only question has to do with bar stock thickness. If I’m trying to draw out a San mai billet to around (or a little over) 1/8” thick for a 7” to 8” blade, what thickness/size should I start with for my three bar stock steels to stack and weld?
Thanks


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## HSC /// Knives (Mar 29, 2021)

There are several ways to do this and different makers have different preferences. You might start with what materials are available to you. Sometimes this can be a constraining factor. can you list what core and cladding you will use and what you know you can obtain


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## Seffers93 (Mar 29, 2021)

HSC /// Knives said:


> There are several ways to do this and different makers have different preferences. You might start with what materials are available to you. Sometimes this can be a constraining factor. can you list what core and cladding you will use and what you know you can obtain



Yes, I was planning on using 1084 core and 15N20 cladding.


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## HSC /// Knives (Mar 29, 2021)

15n20 is a hardenable steel. Wouldn’t you want a low carbon soft cladding?


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## Seffers93 (Mar 29, 2021)

HSC /// Knives said:


> 15n20 is a hardenable steel. Wouldn’t you want a low carbon soft cladding?



That would make sense! I was just going off of what I’ve heard other people doing. I haven’t really dug into what steels would be best. I suppose I should take a hard pause and do more research.


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