Pattern Weld practices

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Warfleigh Forge

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Nov 24, 2018
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Hey all, I've been working on making low layer 1080/15n20 blades for the last few months, and have been having some great results. Obviously the downfall of carbon "damascus" is that it needs to be re-etched every so often to retain it's pattern. My thought is to use some pure nickel shims to add a bit of flash, but my concern is that they will run out of the billet before the rest is at welding temp, any suggestions on how to prevent this, or am I overthinking it? I am using a 2 burner propane forge, hand hammering and avoiding flux where possible.

edit- spelling
 
I’m not sure what you’re asking, are you afraid of the nickel melting?

If you are getting it that hot, your welding temp is too high.

Hoss
 
Yes, that is my main concern, I haven't worked much at all with pure nickel with the exception of a few small mokume gane pieces, but I have noticed that even working copper at a cherry red my nickel was squirting out all over the place. I am using a very thin gauge, maybe that is my issue?
 
With pure nickel which has a melting point of >2600°F even a thin layer of nickel shouldn't be melting at a "cherry red copper" temp, unless you have some really hot spots in your forge. That is my understanding and is certainly open to correction - I am NOT a forging expert.
 
Some smiths put a thin (.005") piece of pure nickel strip between every layer. It will make the transition between each layer have a glint. By adding a piece of nickel around .020 - .030" between the core and san-mai layers you will get a sort of hamon looking transition line when you grind the bevels.
Pure nickel bond very well when welding the billet . You can buy the thin nickel in rolls, strips, and sheets from many knife suppliers and from Kelly Cupples ( a great source of damascus supplies).
 
I use strips of bandsaw blade which is most often 15n20 that contains some nickel and etches similar
Most of us have old blades lying around
 
And just to allay fears of the folks who heard putting nickel strips in your damascus will make the edge soft ( nickel doesn't harden), what you get is a micro-serrated edge. For most cutting tasks it is a very good edge. The very thin strips become less than .001" thick when drawn out ( probably closer to .0001"). Because the amount of hardenable steel is vastly thicker, the result is somewhere usually between 25:1 and 40:1 hardenable steel to nickel. This isn't a significant ratio along the edge as far as hardness goes. As I said, it may actually yield a more aggressive cutting blade.
 
I had never considered micro serration as a possibly outcome, is there no carbon transfer possible between nickel and the other steels? At the base practice you are essentially "alloying" the metals right?
 
The nickel stops all movement of carbon from layer to layer. In effect it creates a non carbon zone that can't be crossed.
 
Don't want to hijack thread but would the nickel in 15n20 do the same in terms of carbon migration?
 
No, it is not high enough. It is high enough to be a whiter stripe compared to a simple carbon steel when etched. That, plus the .70% carbon, make it a great damascus mix with 1080.
 
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