good blade steel sandwiched between cheap damascus??

[Brett Holmes]

hi,
i have read that the damascus produced by ancient arms in india isn't very good for blades due to it containing mild steel, but i was wondering if i could forge weld it to a peice of 01 or similar, i forget the name of the technique(san mai????) but its where there is a paice of plain old 01 with a layer of pretty damascus on either side, so the cutting edge is 01. would this be a way to utilise an afardable peice of damascus?

also ive never welded a proper billet before, would i have trouble? i did make a peice of chain damascus once, would that suggest i can get the temperatures i need?

any help is appreciated as always,
Brett

[Ray Rogers]

Just my opinion, but if you're going to use damascus of a questionable quality that's probably the best way to do it.

If your forge has enough heat to weld, then it should have enough heat to laminate. If you've never made a billet before, it might be a good idea to get some practice making a couple before trying to laminate the more expensive materials....

[Ice Tigre]

I would say, if your going to got to all the work of getting the 3 layers to laminate, why not just go ahead and make the damascus yourself? its the same basic process(as I understand it), just a bit more work, but you'd probably save time and money.

0.02

Gary
(Disclaimer: I have never forged a darn thing.....other than mokume.)

[Brett Holmes]

thaks fro the input guys, beleive me gary, i would love to make my own damascus, however i think it involves alot more beating with a hammer then im willing to do. also my forge is charcoal and poorly insulated so it takes ages to get the steel up to heat, i would think it would take more than a day to make one billet, but as soon as i get a gas forge i will be jumping right in to the damascus.
brett

[GHEzell]

The ancient smiths did it all the time. Most of the old composite blades were set up to maximise very valuable 'edge steel' with local or less expensive steel that, by itself, would not provide as servicable an edge. The europeans tended to use the 'pleided' type construction seen in viking and other cultures, while the japanese smiths went with a sandwich construction or some varient thereof. Alot of modern and traditional blades from northern europe show a sandwich type laminate.

[Ice Tigre]

I just got to thinking(bad idea, I know) most axes are done with soft steel with the edge as ahardenable piece forged into a groove.


Gary

[ArielSalaverria]

Here's how I make san mai damascus
52100 in this knife, but I've also made it with O1 perfectly!

http://www.aescustomknives.com.ar/do...ingkitchen.htm

Regard,

Ariel