Hello/i have been practicing with o1 steel . I finally purchased some wood and i made some full tang knives. I wanted to order some damascus steel. Is there anyone who can tell me how to use damacus. Ifin i ordered some how would i go about heat treating it / working with it from start to end. I haven problems finding the info. much appreciated/tony
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
damascus steel/how to
- Thread starter tonycap
- Start date
tattooedfreak
Steel mutilater is more like it.
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2010
- Messages
- 1,014
As long as you buy it from a reputable maker, they should include heat treat info along with it. It will act a little differently than O1 while working but nothing out of the ordinary, just take a minute or two before you fly right into it. It will throw brighter sparks than you are used to and will grind quicker in some spots and slower in others. Most will send it to you with a light etch so you can see the pattern and you can decide how to cut/grind from that, they should also give you etching info to get the best results after HT.
tattooedfreak pretty much has it. That said, there is a good bit of info required that you won't get by default from most folks who sell damascus. Take a look at my website to get some more in-depth info. In particular you're going to want to concentrate on the finishing section if you're buying steel.
Feel free to PM or email me if you have any questions. I'm happy to fill in any blanks for you.
-d
Feel free to PM or email me if you have any questions. I'm happy to fill in any blanks for you.
-d
- Joined
- May 3, 2004
- Messages
- 979
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2003
- Messages
- 2,361
There is an inherent flaw in this discussion that has yet to be addressed, although with Deker and Delbert present it should only be a matter of time. It is a shortcoming in our field to conceptualize "damascus" as a separate steel type as if it was singular, i.e. "I use, O-1, 1095, W2 and damascus." Damascus is not an alloy designation it is a process that uses those common steels, and as such there is no singular damascus steel but infinite combinations of steels in the process of pattern welding.
"O.K. Kevin, so what is the big deal" you are probably asking. Well it makes for a lot of confusion in describing methods of working with the materials. Tell a person to heat treat 15n20/1095 like it was O-1/L6 and there will be problems. You even get well established makers saying ridiculous things like "damascus doesn't cut like...", "damascus needs this kind of quench", "damascus is...etc...", none of which makes any sense. But if you switch to the steels used in the process- "W2/15n20, needs a faster quench than O-1/L6" it all suddenly makes perfect sense.
If both buyers and makers approached the topic in this way, communication about steel combinations, heat treatment and end use would all improve greatly. I have seen alloy combinations used that were probably the result of thinking that whatever went into the billet would just turn into this special material called "damascus" in the end, when in fact we still have to deal with the individual alloying that were combined.
tonycap, your best approach is to find a damascus maker, some excellent ones here already, and discuss the alloys used in their mixes versus your applications, and that will determine how you should work with the product. If you are already familiar with O-1 that could be a good starting point in choosing your combination.
"O.K. Kevin, so what is the big deal" you are probably asking. Well it makes for a lot of confusion in describing methods of working with the materials. Tell a person to heat treat 15n20/1095 like it was O-1/L6 and there will be problems. You even get well established makers saying ridiculous things like "damascus doesn't cut like...", "damascus needs this kind of quench", "damascus is...etc...", none of which makes any sense. But if you switch to the steels used in the process- "W2/15n20, needs a faster quench than O-1/L6" it all suddenly makes perfect sense.
If both buyers and makers approached the topic in this way, communication about steel combinations, heat treatment and end use would all improve greatly. I have seen alloy combinations used that were probably the result of thinking that whatever went into the billet would just turn into this special material called "damascus" in the end, when in fact we still have to deal with the individual alloying that were combined.
tonycap, your best approach is to find a damascus maker, some excellent ones here already, and discuss the alloys used in their mixes versus your applications, and that will determine how you should work with the product. If you are already familiar with O-1 that could be a good starting point in choosing your combination.
Thank you Kevin for keeping us honest. 
I suppose I focused more on the aspect of working/finishing than I did about discussion of heat treatment since a specific maker/steel hadn't been chosen yet.
Kevin is indeed right. Each of us has a mix of steels that we prefer and make our steel with. In going along with tattooedfreak that you will get proper HT info from your maker, I overlooked what Kevin has pointed out.
I make use of 1084/15n20 for knife steels (though I do other mixes to meet the needs of the application). Delbert primarily makes use of O-1/L-6/Nickel. The heat treatment for just these two mixes differs significantly.
So, to redirect this thread a bit. What type of knife are you thinking of making, and for what use? Also, do you do your own HT, or do you send it out? If you do your own, what equipment do you have to work with? Getting some of this info together from you will help us better to help you.
-d
I suppose I focused more on the aspect of working/finishing than I did about discussion of heat treatment since a specific maker/steel hadn't been chosen yet. Kevin is indeed right. Each of us has a mix of steels that we prefer and make our steel with. In going along with tattooedfreak that you will get proper HT info from your maker, I overlooked what Kevin has pointed out.
I make use of 1084/15n20 for knife steels (though I do other mixes to meet the needs of the application). Delbert primarily makes use of O-1/L-6/Nickel. The heat treatment for just these two mixes differs significantly.
So, to redirect this thread a bit. What type of knife are you thinking of making, and for what use? Also, do you do your own HT, or do you send it out? If you do your own, what equipment do you have to work with? Getting some of this info together from you will help us better to help you.
-d