Need some advice ASAP!

D

Da Thurmanator

Joined
Mar 21, 2013
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I'm going to try posting this in sections so because it won't let me post this in one post:

Hi guys. A good friend is having me make her husband a chef's knife for Father's Day. I had Buck Knives heat treat it. I made it out of 1095 that I ordered online but now I think they might have sent me damascus. When I went to Buck to pick it up (I live close to their factory) the guy said that he thinks it might be 1095 rain drop damascus because he has done regular 1095 before and has never seen it act like mine did.
 
It has a bunch of random spots all over the blade that look pretty awesome. I took it home and sanded off all the residue left on it from tempering. After sanding it still has a scratch around the edge of where each spot was. I've never worked with damascus before so I don't know if means its just a mistake or if it really is damascus. I'm really confused.
 
Has this ever happened to anyone else? Should I go ahead and acid etch it or should I sand it down all the way and act like it never happened? Even if it is not real damascus, would it still look cool if I acid etched it? I like the pattern of the scratches.
 
I bought some muriatic acid yesterday and I will acid etch it today if i get the okay from you guys. I need an answer soon so I can get it done today. I have spent a lot of time working on this knife so I really want it to look good. Since I only have a couple more days to complete the knife, I need some advice ASAP.
 
Pics usually help with this kind of question.

Edit: Whoops, too slow! I've never seen anything like that before. I've seen some strange bubble effects from different quenchants and funny shenanigans with heat treatment, but nothing like that.
It's not raindrop damascus, anyway. There may have been some kind of contamination of the blade before HT, or they may have forgot to degrease the blade before applying anti-scaling compound. The patterning suggests one of those "oil and water don't mix" effects. If you sand it back and then etch and the pattern returns, the pattern is in the steel. Cool effect, though.
 
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Did the link to photobucket work? If it does, then the first picture in the album is the best. I don't think I can post pictures since I'm not a paying member.
 
Da Thurmanator said:
Did the link to photobucket work? If it does, then the first picture in the album is the best. I don't think I can post pictures since I'm not a paying member.
Click to expand...

Here is the photos - ??? Someone maybe able to help? I can't.....:confused:

image_zps4e932a1c.jpg


image_zps047bc661.jpg
 
Da Thurmanator said:
Did the link to photobucket work? If it does, then the first picture in the album is the best. I don't think I can post pictures since I'm not a paying member.
Click to expand...

If you look at your photobucket account in full website mode rather than mobile phone mode, you'll see a menu called "links to share this photo" at the RH side with 4 URL's in it if you click on a picture in your album. Copy the IMG url and paste it into your thread and the picture will appear.
If you use the "reply with quote" button on a thread with a picture in it, you'll see the IMG URL. Have a look at this as an example.




Edit: Too slow again. The pattern definitely looks like oil on water emulsion effects. Maybe an interupted quench from oil into water?
 
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parbajtor said:
Pics usually help with this kind of question.

Edit: Whoops, too slow! I've never seen anything like that before. I've seen some strange bubble effects from different quenchants and funny shenanigans with heat treatment, but nothing like that.
It's not raindrop damascus, anyway. There may have been some kind of contamination of the blade before HT, or they may have forgot to degrease the blade before applying anti-scaling compound. The patterning suggests one of those "oil and water don't mix" effects. If you sand it back and then etch and the pattern returns, the pattern is in the steel. Cool effect, though.
Click to expand...


So are you saying that it would look good to etch it anyway? Or would you suggest leaving it alone?
 
parbajtor said:
If you look at your photobucket account in full website mode rather than mobile phone mode, you'll see a menu called "links to share this photo" at the RH side with 4 URL's in it if you click on a picture in your album. Copy the IMG url and paste it into your thread and the picture will appear.
If you use the "reply with quote" button on a thread with a picture in it, you'll see the IMG URL. Have a look at this as an example.

Click to expand...

Thank you! Good to know.
 
Da Thurmanator said:
So are you saying that it would look good to etch it anyway? Or would you suggest leaving it alone?
Click to expand...

If it were me, I'd leave it alone. The effect is very cool, kind of "Martian Amoeba". If they did this pattern in damascus, I'd buy a couple of billets. This is not that much different to "forced patina" effects and retards attack by corrosion as well as adding visual interest. I''d maybe dip it in "kurust" or "rust remedy", though, to convert the red, because red rust is bad , black rust is good.
 
As far s I know, Buck )Paul bos only treat air hardening steels.

1095 is an oil quenching steel.

I don't know if that's your problem or not.

The photos are so small I can't see them and I can't get to the proper desktop links either.
 
I have no idea what that is????
I would suggest you sand down to bare shiny metal, and then etch. I would etch it in 3:1 ferric chloride, but if you use HCl, please dilute it a lot.
 
Not like anything I've seen before . . . And I think this is the first time I've seen Stacy stumped!!;)

Looking forward to an explanation!
 
Not for nothing, but if they ever or you ever figure out how they did that, I have a couple of 1095 blades I will send you... lol.
That is cool. I like it! :thumbup:
 
looks like it was overheated and the surface started to go into solution in a non oxidizing (inert) atmosphere so the carbon didn't burn like it normally would. I would like to see a micrograph of that if the knife ever breaks. My guess is that your grain structure is a little on the coarse side.

-Page
 
It does look really awesome. Does it go into the tang too? If so, take the tang to a 600 grit and see what happens to the pattern. Does it disappear and more importantly, can you bring it back with an etch? Would hate to see you loose the effect but the blade still doesn't look quite finished yet.

Stacy stumped?? Na, he's just playing with us.
 
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