Carbon contamination on Stainless Damascus

H

Hebes

Joined
Oct 3, 2023
Messages
3
My first venture into Damascus steel and I hardened this blade with a slip of paper within the foil as per a suggestion on a Youtube video. The deal was that it would burn and use up any oxygen that was trapped within the envelope. Seems like it did that and then contributed its carbon to the steel, effectively case-hardening it.
I've ground it back a good deal but it's still there and I'll lose the profile of the blade if I take much more off.
Has anyone got any bright ideas other than, 'don't believe everything you see on Youtube videos'?
Thanks!




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Probably 98% of my knives are stainless. I never put anything in the envelope but the knife.
The most important part is to make the envelope as air tight as possible. Double fold all the seams and the tap them flat with a hammer. My blades always come out clean and to spec.
 
Thanks for that. If I am tempted to do it again then I'll put it in with the tang.
Any ideas as to how I can recover this one, though? Is reheating just going to draw it deeper in?
 
Hebes said:
I've ground it back a good deal
Click to expand...
Are you talking about that "shadow" in the middle of blade? Won't that come off with normal grinding as you finish the blade? You are grinding the flat of blade? How many thousandths of an inch have you removed? Measure thickness at the spine.
 
SBuzek: Is your website link valid? I keep getting an error msg from WIX.com "

Looks like this domain isn't
connected to a website yet​

"
 
I read somewhere that heat treating foil has an additive which minimizes oxygen in the envelope during austenitization. I've experimented a little bit with adding combustibles to the foil packet and haven't observed any difference or benefit
 
case hardening... how do you figure that?
It was in the furnace at some 1950 F correct?
that's alot of heat radiating for the given soak time.

so you have sanded and finished the blade and etched it?
can you grind it thinner and refinish and re etch?
that's what I would do, grinding it thinner shouldn't affect your profile.
 
If you sand it completely flat showing no pattern and it comes back you have a problem. I think you just haven't sanded it deep enough. Worst case scenario, re-do the HT.
 
Ken H> said:
SBuzek: Is your website link valid? I keep getting an error msg from WIX.com "

Looks like this domain isn't​

connected to a website yet​

"
Click to expand...
Don't know, will check thanks.
 
Carbon moves into steel pretty fast, that dark area still looks good to me, I would be thinking about trying to darken the whole blade to match it rather that remove it. Having never made damscus i would not know how to do that so take this with a pinch of salt, if you cant go any thinner perhaps case harden it all at minimum temperature polish and re-harden, it may still come back as a supersaturated shadow but you never know. The pattern looks really nice and I like how it progresses and develops through the distal taper. Good luck, I hope it works out for you!
 
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