Damascus question

J

Justin1978

Joined
Nov 28, 2017
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So i starteda billet of Damascus, I'm up to 96 layers, was hoping to get more, can i forge another billet, then combine the 2 for a higher layer count, or will that mess up the pattern of the 96 layers i already have? Thanks
 
You can combine 2 or more billets, but forge into 3 bars and have the two outside bars from the same billet. This way you blade will look somewhat the same on both sides.
 
Another way to get more from a too thin billet is stick a piece of regular steel in the middle and make damascus san-mai. 1084, 1075, 1095, O-1 and 52100 are good core metal.
Do the HT for the core metal.
 
Yes, 5160 should work. Most folks say that it's harder to weld to 15N20, but it can be done if you pay attention to what you're doing and not to forge under a bright orange heat.
Also, 5160 isn't as dark as the other metals mentioned.
Out of curiosity, what are the metals of the original billet?
 
weo said:
Yes, 5160 should work. Most folks say that it's harder to weld to 15N20, but it can be done if you pay attention to what you're doing and not to forge under a bright orange heat.
Also, 5160 isn't as dark as the other metals mentioned.
Out of curiosity, what are the metals of the original billet?
Click to expand...
15 n 20 and 1095
 
That should work and look cool if done well. It'll look like a 3 layer san mai blade with a good light/dark contrast on half the blade with the 1095, with a grey-ish other half. I'll warn you though. IMO this type of pattern is the hardest one to get right, because you meed to forge the blade evenly on both sides of the knife to keep the middle steel (in this case the 5160) in the middle of the billet. If not, you'll get more of the damascus pattern on one side compared to the other.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. I wasn't necessarily trying to do this, but as I was drawing out the final billet under my friend's power hammer, I didn't keep it square and let it get a little trapezoid.

0nfkENM.jpg

f4itS8s.jpg


As you can see, there's a uniform pattern that covers the blade completely on the top picture, but on the bottom, you can see the straight layer pattern of the billet that rolled over at the spine when I didn't correct the trapezoid enough.

I've got another santoku in a 3 layer 15N20/O1/15N20 that is another example of not keeping the O1 close enough to the center by forging equally on each side. If I finish it soon, I'll post pictures.
 
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I see that, i hope to keep from that, but I'm still a beginner, that knife still looks good tho, thanks for the help
 
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