First Attempt at Damascus

Ian Weller

Ian Weller

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
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201
Hello everyone, I finally took the plunge and attempted some damascus. What I have below is low layer (13) 15n20 and 1095 twist damascus. I don't have a press or power hammer so I wanted to keep the layer count low so I didn't have to throw out a lot of steel if the forge welds didn't take. I etched in ferric chloride and distilled water mixture (4:1). Since I haven't forged damascus before I'm just wondering if this looks correct. Is there supposed to be more contrast between the 15n20 and 1095?

Thank you in advance




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Hey Ian, it came out great. The problem with just etching and sanding low layer damascus is if you don’t etch deep when you sand the 15n20 you hit the 1095 too, erasing the big contrast.
It’s hard to tell exactly how you finished it just from the pictures but that could be one reason.
Another is the ferric isn’t super strong. When the ferric to water ratio is higher it etches darker. The more diluted with water the more grey it etches.
 
Thanks for the info! I was wondering if maybe it had to do with sanding and etch time. I sanded it to 400 grit and did 20 mins in ferric the first etch. Decided I didn’t like it a lot and so I did an additional 20 minutes in the ferric and 30 in coffee to see if that made a difference.

so possibly longer etch time and higher grit finish?
 
PaulDiStefano said:
Hey Ian, it came out great. The problem with just etching and sanding low layer damascus is if you don’t etch deep when you sand the 15n20 you hit the 1095 too, erasing the big contrast.
It’s hard to tell exactly how you finished it just from the pictures but that could be one reason.
Another is the ferric isn’t super strong. When the ferric to water ratio is higher it etches darker. The more diluted with water the more grey it etches.
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Another thing, I ground the bevels in prior to etching so the pictures are showing etch after that sanding, I haven’t done any sanding yet since etching.
 
Typically to get a nice contrast, makers do multiple etch/polish cycles. I do around 10 min in etchant then take out, sand the oxides off and then back in multiple times. The 400 grit is just fine and I wouldn’t go over 20 minutes ever. You might get bad pitting from the acid if it’s in for too long.
I’m stumped. Idk why it’s so light if you didn’t do any sanding or polishing after removing from the acid. My blades come out pretty much black out of the ferric
 
PaulDiStefano said:
Typically to get a nice contrast, makers do multiple etch/polish cycles. I do around 10 min in etchant then take out, sand the oxides off and then back in multiple times. The 400 grit is just fine and I wouldn’t go over 20 minutes ever. You might get bad pitting from the acid if it’s in for too long.
I’m stumped. Idk why it’s so light if you didn’t do any sanding or polishing after removing from the acid. My blades come out pretty much black out of the ferric
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Well unfortunately I didn’t read enough material! I have already put the handle scales on so it won’t fit on my bevel jig anymore (still working on freehand grinding) I could hand sand to 400 maybe and try again?
 
Ian Weller said:
Well unfortunately I didn’t read enough material! I have already put the handle scales on so it won’t fit on my bevel jig anymore (still working on freehand grinding) I could hand sand to 400 maybe and try again?
Click to expand...
Once you do your final grind you then hand sand and then etch. There’s no need to ever go back to a jig. Don’t go back to 400 grit if it’s alrdy hand sanded to that. Just try a couple more cycles of 10 minutes in etchant and then take it out. Sand it with a very high grit (I use 2500 grit) to remove the oxides and put it back in for more cycles. You can put nail polish on the parts of the scales near the steel so your not ruining the wood incase it touches the etchant by accident
 
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