Welding wrought iron and pure nickel

G

Gosolo

Joined
Sep 17, 2020
Messages
47
Are wrought iron and pure nickel compatible for forge welding? I know that they each are compatible with both mild and carbon steel, but are they compatible with each other? I have a project in mind that would look nice if I could layer it with these together.
Thank you for any help!
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
.1875"WI-.040"Ni -.010" carbon steel core (1095/W2/26C3) -.040"Ni-.01875"WI
Makes a great looking go-mai.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I’m looking forward to to moving ahead with this one. 7 main layers; 2 outside will be some wrought iron from an old anchor chain, the next 2 in will be pure nickel, then 2 layers of Damascus (19 layers each, straight/random, and a middle layer of 1084 or 1095. The grind should leave me assorted lines, mostly parallel to the edge. This piece of wrought has a really cool pattern when etched.
 
Your shichi-mai setup will work, but the core will disappear into the damascus for the most part.
You might want to consider moving the layer of nickel between the damascus and the core. It creates a hamon looking effect.

Comments and suggestions:
Be aware that the problem with too many layers is that none of them show much. Another issue is trying to keep the core straight.

The wrought iron will look and etch different after welding up the billet and drawing it out. Usually, finer grained and less fibrous.

Depending on how distinct you want the white stripe, use .020 or .040" nickel.

I would suggest trying a simple go-mai with WI/Ni/core/Ni/WI first, then see how it comes out when forged and ground to shape.

My favorite mix for a high-end kitchen blade is 26C3/nickel/wrought iron (san-mai), or, 26C3/nickel/damascus (suminagashi). The nickel makes a wandering hamon effect. I use this on blades that are katakiri (single bevel), with the 26C3 ha-gane (hard edge metal) creating the shinogi (edge bevel) and the wrought iron/Ni or damascus/Ni being the kitaeji jigane (upper layers of soft metal). Done with wrought iron, the upper bevel is left kuro-uchi.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Your shichi-mai setup will work, but the core will disappear into the damascus for the most part.
You might want to consider moving the layer of nickel between the damascus and the core. It creates a hamon looking effect.

Comments and suggestions:
Be aware that the problem with too many layers is that none of them show much. Another issue is trying to keep the core straight.

The wrought iron will look and etch different after welding up the billet and drawing it out. Usually, finer grained and less fibrous.

Depending on how distinct you want the white stripe, use .020 or .040" nickel.

I would suggest trying a simple go-mai with WI/Ni/core/Ni/WI first, then see how it comes out when forged and ground to shape.

My favorite mix for a high-end kitchen blade is 26C3/nickel/wrought iron (san-mai), or, 26C3/nickel/damascus (suminagashi). The nickel makes a wandering hamon effect. I use this on blades that are katakiri (single bevel), with the 26C3 ha-gane (hard edge metal) creating the shinogi (edge bevel) and the wrought iron/Ni or damascus/Ni being the kitaeji jigane (upper layers of soft metal). Done with wrought iron, the upper bevel is left kuro-uchi.
Click to expand...
Good suggestions and information!
 
So, it’s actually 45 layers, the way it went together;
WI/Ni/19LD/15n20/1084/15n20/19LD/Ni/WI.
19LD stands for some 19 layer Damascus I had left from another project. I’m not really concerned about the center wandering because everything in between the two nickel layers is carbon steel that, with migration, should average around .80.
Looking forward to seeing the pattern. Mostly wandering lines roughly parallel to the edge. I’m not sure what knives I will make with it, thinking about a large clip point skinner and another knife of some sort. Total billet ended up being about 17” x 2” x 3/16” +\-.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top