Softer Damascus ?

[Matt Walker]

Hey Guys,
I've had several calls for pattern welded material to be used in non-blade applications. What I would like to find is a combination of steels that will give the great contrast we get with 1084 & 15N20 without the complications of work-hardening. I can trust that a knife maker should understand basic heat treatment. I can't make that assumption about the craftsmen in these other applications, so it would be nice also to find a combination that doesn't require heat treatment to get the contrast to pop. I realize nickel would be great for the bright but the cost for higher nickel content would be exorbitant and I would still need a black component to go with it. Your suggestions on recipes and sources will be appreciated.
Matt

[jph]

Matt:

well the best contrast would be..as far as I can say wrought iron and pure Ni....

JPH

[deker]

For this stuff I use 1018 and nickel. The 1018 does need to be quenched to get to its darkest (all the Mn in it makes it go BLACK), but you can temper back to about 600F without losing the darkening properties of the Mn oxide, a 600F temper on 1018 will make it nice and soft to work with.

You can also use a203e for the bright, it's 0.20c which will put it just about the same spot as the 1018, but with a load of nickel in it.

Here'an example of the contrast I get from 1018/nickel.



-d

[adn_sun]

YOu can't get high contrast without the hardenning process . Because carbon needs to be hardened .
You can use high carbon materials like 1095 for a bit contrasty shade without hardenning but it'll also give jet black color after hardenning .

_________________________
Proud to be a Black Smith

[Don Halter]

I've used 1095 and mild steel (1018, 1022?) in low layer counts with pretty good success. When quenched the 1095 etches much faster and comes out pretty black while the mild stays fairly unetched with a short soak (10 min) in a strong ferric chloride bath. For high layer counts, it all blends togehter, though. I start with 0.032" steel and can do a few welding cycles before the contrast blurs as the carbon evens out across the steel.

I was going to use some nickel mix for some side plates of a single-action rifle I'm making. I want something I can polish, then blue to get the pattern without having to etch.