Dragonskin Damascus.. How?

[FullMetalJackass]

Beyond stunning!

 

[CosmicPotato]

Ah, thanks for the info. But how do they get these colors? How does it work?

I'm not exactly sure how the color is produced but I'm pretty sure that is has the do with the metal but treated with a molten salt bath. Can anyone confirm this process or explain it?

 

[Jorad de Vries]

Stan Wilson used it in on one of his Advisor folders, of which he also did a WIP! He seems to blue the steel in a warm bath of something. The coloring of the steel can be found on page 4, allthough the entire threat is well worth the read!

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/733966-Stan-Wilson-Advisor-III-a-making-of-thread

 

[CosmicPotato]

Wow that is really nice almost step by step of a beautiful piece, almost wish I have the equipment to make my own. You know with like 100 failures but hay got to start somewhere.

He doesn't exactly say how the glueing is done though just some kind of soup idk?

 

[Thomas Carey]

Oh my! A lot of what I would call Art in this thread. =)

 

[PURPLEDC]

I have a bar of it that I have been saving for the right knife. The bars are composed of ball bearings all forge welded together.

I was gonna say it looked to me like mosaic damascus with ball bearings in a can with powdered steel as well. Wouldnt the color be from a bluing salt and various temps?

 

[Petr Melicharek]

Hi . This is top class work indeed My guess it is made by using nickel coated balls or rods and the colors are just the tempering oxides .. As the nickel dont get them you may create the beautiful coloring and contrast using various temperatures The coat is very delicate . Check this axe made by my friend and me . We used tempering colors with nickel and some kind of varnish coating to conserve the color There surely will be some chemical solution to obtain different or more resistant color. Bye Petr

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[Dago Red]

That is beautiful. I'm interested in more information on the chemical mix and the temperature affects. Also how easy does it wear off? I'm thinking about putting together my own cane and having a nice Damascus head made for it. Thanks all

Red

 

[Someone1]

Hi . This is top class work indeed My guess it is made by using nickel coated balls or rods and the colors are just the tempering oxides .. As the nickel dont get them you may create the beautiful coloring and contrast using various temperatures The coat is very delicate . Check this axe made by my friend and me . We used tempering colors with nickel and some kind of varnish coating to conserve the color There surely will be some chemical solution to obtain different or more resistant color. Bye Petr

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That axe made my heart skip a beat. That's when you know you're off the deep end. Beautiful work.

 

[navman]

Just as an FYI...American Metal Xchange, INC, has some Dragon Skin Carbon Damascus in stock....it is not cheap.

 

[coldsteelburns]

I know this is an older thread, but seeing that it's been revived, as mentioned in a couple of previous posts the damascus is colored using nitre blueing salts, and different colors can be achieved with different times and temps. Some use heat as well, but it seems that nitre bluing is the most common technique used for these highly priced art knives. Apparently is doesn't wear that well so it is mostly used for looks on knives that won't really be used. Also, it can lower the steel's hardness a bit, but if the smith/maker knows what he or she is doing it can be be minimal, I have read maybe 1-2 points lower RC. But yea, it's purely aesthetic.

edit: here's a cool example by Reese Weiland of different color shades you can get with nitre blueing salts.

~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (It's been a few years since my last upload)

 

[elementnature]

I know this is an older thread, but seeing that it's been revived, as mentioned in a couple of previous posts the damascus is colored using nitre blueing salts, and different colors can be achieved with different times and temps. Some use heat as well, but it seems that nitre bluing is the most common technique used for these highly priced art knives. Apparently is doesn't wear that well so it is mostly used for looks on knives that won't really be used. Also, it can lower the steel's hardness a bit, but if the smith/maker knows what he or she is doing it can be be minimal, I have read maybe 1-2 points lower RC. But yea, it's purely aesthetic.

edit: here's a cool example by Reese Weiland of different color shades you can get with nitre blueing salts.

~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (It's been a few years since my last upload)

I'm curious if you have any information as to the actual properties of the stuff like wear resistance testing (maybe TCC testing on cardboard? Or similar) or toughness testing (maybe c notch? Or anything really), or even just a general range the stuff is usually hardened to (Rockwell)? If not I understand but I'd be very interested, although I'm aware it's purely used for aesthetic reasons, I'd still like to know.