Damascus and Galvanic Corrosion: Is This Ever A Concern?

[VorpelSword]

Is there ever an issue with corrosion due to the close contact of different metals in pattern welded blades?

 

[TC]

AFAIK the electronegativity of the various steels is too close for this to be an issue.

 

[OrangeBlueOrangeBlue]

Is there ever an issue with corrosion due to the close contact of different metals in pattern welded blades?

AFAIK the electronegativity of the various steels is too close for this to be an issue.

The anodic indexes for stainless [18% chromium] and carbon or low-alloy steel (0.5 and 0.85) are different enough to support galvanic corrosion in non-controlled environments, but you shouldn't have an issue if you don't combine stainless and non-stainless.

Galvanic corrosion requires an electrolyte (usually water) to support the corrosion reaction. If you're not keeping the blade wet enough to support corrosion in general, you shouldn't see any issues with galvanic corrosion.

 

[pholder]

 

[TC]

The anodic indexes for stainless [18% chromium] and carbon or low-alloy steel (0.5 and 0.85) are different enough to support galvanic corrosion in non-controlled environments, but you shouldn't have an issue if you don't combine stainless and non-stainless.

Galvanic corrosion requires an electrolyte (usually water) to support the corrosion reaction. If you're not keeping the blade wet enough to support corrosion in general, you shouldn't see any issues with galvanic corrosion.

Thanks - I should have been more clear that I was referring to the typical pattern-weld pairings.

 

[OrangeBlueOrangeBlue]

Thanks - I should have been more clear that I was referring to the typical pattern-weld pairings.

A non-stainless core jacketed with stainless is a pretty common pairing. But if you're talking about something like Chad Nichols' damascus, he uses "pure nickel" in addition to the steel alloys (AEB-L, 404C and 304 for his stainless, or 1075 and W-1 for carbon). Technically, the nickel has a much lower anodic index than either stainless or carbon steel (0.3), so the nickel would act as the cathode in the theoretical galvanic circuit. In practice, it means the steel will patina before the nickel, but unless you're purposely trying to get corrosion, I wouldn't worry about it. After all, most damascus is already purposely corroded as part of the etching process.

 

[pholder]

Well said my friend