A San Mai question

[Diamond G Knives]

Im wanting to try a San Mai Chefs blade. I was thinking a 52100 core, and a mild damascus exterior. Ive never tried mild steel damscus, only 10 series steels with 15N20, and 5160.

My question is this, would there be any fear of delamination of the mild steel from the 52100 due to diffrent steels reacyting diffrently to the quench?

And with a Mild steel mix, would simple 12-14 guage sheet steel and nickle work well?

Thanks in advance.


God Bless
Mike

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Multiple things here.First - If the core and the san mai are completely welded together,they will stay that way.Second,It is easier to weld up a medium carbon damascus than low carbon.Try 5160 and 15N20 ,or 1080 and 15N20.Use 1/4" thick steel and 1/8 15N20.Four layers of steel and three of the bright alloy.You only need to fold it (doubled) three to five times for san mai.If you are doing it totally by hand,use 1/8 steel and .049 15N20.,so you won't have to beat it so much.The thin strips are hard to do by hand if you don't have a press.
After the san mai layers are folded enough,place one piece on each side of the core and weld the assembly up.Go over it several times to assure a good weld.Forge to rough shape and finish on the grinder.Don't forge the edge beyond 1/8" thick,or you won't have enough core exposed when you grind the bevel.To figure the height of the core bevel to the san mai,you can glue together wood strips of varying core thickness (and different colors) and grind and see where the san mai will stop.Wasting a little wood is a good investment.Try 3/32,1/8,and 5/32 for the test core thickness.The thickness of the wood on the outside only needs to be 1/16 or so.It is just there to see the line at the bevel.When you know the desired core thickness,forge the san mai billet until the core is that thick.

 

[Diamond G Knives]

Thanks for the advise. Ill be doing it by press.

God Bless
Mike