Canister ball bearing Damascus

[Tom Lewis]

I have been making some canister ball bearing Damascus and need to get some more ball bearings. Some are chrome plated and some are just steel. Would the chrome cause difficulties in the forge welding process? McMaster Carr has 52100 ball bearings which I think I will get.

 

[weo]

It's been a while since I've been able to play with damascus, but IIRC chromium really inhibits forge welding. My experience with this issue was when I was trying to add some O1 to my billets for added contrast due to the manganese that O1 has. I did a few billets without a problem, then had a few failures in a row and when I did some research, found that some O1 has chromium, and was told that this was the issue. I stopped trying to make billets with O1 since and still have a few pieces that have been sitting on my shelf for the past 7 years.
I look forward to hearing what others have to say, though.

 

[Tortuga Bladeworks]

If you treat it right, it can actually make a pretty cool pattern. Look up Black Dragon forge and shattered glass Damascus. He uses a coated ball bearing for that effect. I’ve used it successfully a few times and been really happy with the results.

 

[DevinT]

Sometimes they refer to 52100 as chrome ball bearings due to its 1.5% chrome. Other types are high speed steel or stainless steel ball bearings.

Hoss