Recommendation? an odd idea I had,metalurgy/making my own alloyed steel?

Evan Wilson

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I will start by saying that I understand that alloying steel and other metals requires firm knowledge on the subject of metallurgy and I am interested in the communities thoughts on if the idea I have is viable in theory and whether or not anyone may have delved into this before or not so I might get a better idea of if I want to pursue this or not.

the idea I had that was something along the lines of powdered steel and other powdered metals like tungsten cobalt nickel and the like can be obtained in powdered form is it possible to thoroughly mix powdered metals like this and forge the metals via the canister damascus method to get a alloyed steel?
risks: of canister as I see them either things don't weld due to not being able to achieve the necessary temps or the metals wont want to weld or wont due to differences in the needed temperatures and potentially wasting money on something that might not be viable.
possible benefits: a more homogeneous piece of steel more comparable to modern mono steel might be possible without needing a blast furnace.

if not canister than could something similar be achieved by a bloom iron/steel melt then processing the bloom similar to the way Japanese smiths would traditionally forge swords by flattening pieces and sorting the metal to then stack a billet and folding a 12 to 14 times?
risks: of bloom steel something potentially usable has a higher success rate but would otherwise be less homogeneous and I would be introducing potential inclusions.
possible benefits: more room for controlling the alloying through multiple steps in the process through multiple stages.

from what I understand of modern steel and metallurgy in order to achieve a good alloyed steel then a refractory process is needed where the metals in question are added to a crucible and melted to create a homogeneous piece of steel.

from the historic aspect of traditional and primitive iron and steel making I understand that a somewhat homogeneous piece of steel can be produced at least with simple carbon steels through the process of using bloom steel creating a stack and folding that a few times.

what are your thought and is there any potential in the idea?
is there anything I might be missing or have not considered?
is this something that might be good to try as a hobby or for a personal knife aside from the expense?
 
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You will waste a lot of time and money for an inferior outcome.

It would be a fun project and you would learn a lot but modern steel making is far superior.

You would need to get to 2000 layers for a homogeneous product and the chances for failure will go way up.

Look instead for steel made by VIM-VAR, ESR, or CPM/PM process for the best and cleanest steel.

Hoss
 
Not the same thing. But i have wanted to do some crucible steel, with tungsten and vanadium additions for a while. Just havent had the time, or anything yet.

Mostly for fun, for one. Because of the reasons stated above by devin. Its not going to be a superior product to something i could buy.

I think it would be a fun project to try to make something like f2 but crucible steel.
 
You will waste a lot of time and money for an inferior outcome.

It would be a fun project and you would learn a lot but modern steel making is far superior.

You would need to get to 2000 layers for a homogeneous product and the chances for failure will go way up.

Look instead for steel made by VIM-VAR, ESR, or CPM/PM process for the best and cleanest steel.

Hoss
the 2000 layers is nice to know.
same with the "steel made by VIM-VAR, ESR, or CPM/PM process" this will be an interesting few things to look into thanks.

Is there any other way that would be cost effective and low tech that might produce modest or desirable results that I might be missing or could look into?
I am setup with a short stack steel hearth that can be used to make 5 to 10 lbs bloom steel/iron I know if I were to go down trying this it would be costly and would result in at best a steel /alloy that would not compare to modern mono steel,I suppose I like the option to have more control over what may go into the metal/alloy and would rather be my own quality control so to speak.

I don't like necessarily being limited to this steel or that steel so to speak ,while there are plenty of steels to choose from and explore and all of the modern mono steels available are quality metals I find them boring aesthetically I feel it takes the difficulty,challenge and artistry away from the humble beginnings of the thousands of year old craft.

I am not ashamed to say I like the hard work and challenge of forging meteorite,bloom steal/iron,wrought iron and shear steel I find working with these to be more relaxing then working modern mono steel.
 
Not the same thing. But i have wanted to do some crucible steel, with tungsten and vanadium additions for a while. Just havent had the time, or anything yet.

Mostly for fun, for one. Because of the reasons stated above by devin. Its not going to be a superior product to something i could buy.

I think it would be a fun project to try to make something like f2 but crucible steel.
I would love to give exploring wootz a try some day I am set up for small blooms to be made but not quite there yet for crucible steel.
some day maybe.
 
A couple of observations. Vanadium Carbide is one of the more desirable inclusions IMHO. Conventional smelting limits VC to about 2.5%. The Powdered Metal Process increases the limit to 15%. In the PMP, the particles that are collected, via the melt being sprayed through a nozzle, are uniform in composition. This can yield a small grain size with excellent dispersion that is hard to achieve by other methods, not to mention relative purity of the product.
 
the 2000 layers is nice to know.
same with the "steel made by VIM-VAR, ESR, or CPM/PM process" this will be an interesting few things to look into thanks.

Is there any other way that would be cost effective and low tech that might produce modest or desirable results that I might be missing or could look into?
I am setup with a short stack steel hearth that can be used to make 5 to 10 lbs bloom steel/iron I know if I were to go down trying this it would be costly and would result in at best a steel /alloy that would not compare to modern mono steel,I suppose I like the option to have more control over what may go into the metal/alloy and would rather be my own quality control so to speak.

I don't like necessarily being limited to this steel or that steel so to speak ,while there are plenty of steels to choose from and explore and all of the modern mono steels available are quality metals I find them boring aesthetically I feel it takes the difficulty,challenge and artistry away from the humble beginnings of the thousands of year old craft.

I am not ashamed to say I like the hard work and challenge of forging meteorite,bloom steal/iron,wrought iron and shear steel I find working with these to be more relaxing then working modern mono steel.
Just do it :) it doesn't have to be better steel than *Maxamet* It would be steel that YOU make and you will love it more then any other steel out there ! I make and have two children, if I had adopted them, would I have loved them more?
 
Just do it :) it doesn't have to be better steel than *Maxamet* It would be steel that YOU make and you will love it more then any other steel out there ! I make and have two children, if I had adopted them, would I have loved them more?
okay I will the next two months I'll eat 3 minute ramen with a one meal ration and spend a small fortune on powdered metals
 
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