ironstein Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 So a very nice lady contacted me through Etsy and requested three damascus bracelets! She is super nice to deal with so i went the extra mile and made some nice patterns. This was a fun project, i hope her three sons enjoy them! Thanks for looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sask Mark Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Once again, awesome work Brian! I love your bold damascus patterns. I'm sure the customer will be ecstatic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Beautiful work ironstien! Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Very nice those! Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillon Sculpture Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Sweet work, I really like the one with the open pattern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Dean Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Very nice. I wonder if it would be possible to have a color contrast, maybe one metal would turn blue before the other would, to accent the pattern more. Just thinking out loud with my fingers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Very nice, lucky lady's going to love em. Incorporate a little nickle in the mix will increase contrast Thomas. Just replying with my fingers I really don't have anything to add to the bracelets but maybe a little drool. Frosty the Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstein Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Yeah Thomas, i need to experiment with that, and i would like to try some blueing salts. Maybe blue them then polish till the silver comes through. Thanks to everyone for the nice comments, i know damascus bracelets aren't very original, i just like to post a few things once in a while to let all the nice folks on IFI know i am still making stuff! Oh and Danger, which one are you referring to? The one with the bold thick pattern? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metal Walker Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Really nice piece of "one of a kind art" She was smart in getting you to make these, each one is truly original! Great stuff.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I just had another thought. Deb and I wear mokume Gane wedding rings made by Jim Binnion. They're a basic twist pattern from a single billet. After difusion welding (white gold, red gold, yellow gold and silver) and twisting they were rolled into a square billet and sawn down the middle and finished in the style we wanted, mine's wider and flatter than Deb's with a round edge and Deb's is 1/2 round. Our rings are the same weld pattern only mirror imaged. Think two pieces of wood sawn/split from the same parent piece. The same technique should work reasonably easily with pattern welded billets so jewelry especially has a strong connection. Say a couple's bracelets, one finished for the lady and one finished for the gent. Just a thought. Frosty the Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Really nice looking bracelets. Great work. Mark Mark <º)))>< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstein Posted June 10, 2011 Author Share Posted June 10, 2011 Thanks for all the kind words. Frosty, those are some great ideas. I'm afraid i will need to hone my skills a bit to get into gold diffusion welding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Very nice, For getting the high contrast blue/silver: using a normal nickel alloy wont work, but pure nickel will resist hot blue wonderfully, even with mild steel for the dark layer. use .030 sheet nickel with 1/8 steel, as it tends to alloy , dont go over 400 layers for same reason. post pic's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstein Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 Good info Steve, thanks for that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 thats awesome, i cant even forge weld properly :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonjic Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 They look really nice! I would advise against pure nickel, there are laws against its use in many countries - some people are very allergic to it. I made some nice stuff with pure Ni, then decided it wasnt worth the potential hastle and decided to learn to P.W stainless instead (im a sucker for punishment ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstein Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Yeah John, i have been looking into stainless damascus. Do you use stainless steel foil bags, or do you just make a container and weld it shut? One more question, after the initial weld, how well does stainless damascus forge, not being in a container? Does it tend to delaminate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstein Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Update! I just received a call from one of the recipients of one of the damascus bracelets. Apparently he decided he wanted to size it, after not being able to bend it by hand, he put it in a vice and snapped it in two! Really? You receive a bracelet as a gift and you put it in a vice and crank down on it and snap it? I was kind of upset when i found this out, especially after explicitly explaining to the purchaser that sizing needed to be done by me or a competent smith. I explained that these cannot be bent without heating to at least a dull red. The man called me asking what i can do for him. I told him i would make him a new one for $150. He seemed to balk at what i told him, saying he needed to check his bank account. The only reason i air this is due to my frustration. I do this as a hobby, am not a professional by any means, but i spent a lot of time polishing and tweaking these items to make my customer happy and am somehow left with a guilty feeling after finding out someone placed the item i made in a vice. The conversation made me feel as if he was expecting me to replace it for free. Maybe i am just being sensitive since i spent so much time and energy to create a nice product. Rant over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altusjg Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Ironstein those ares some beautiful bracelets, every one of em. I know i would have the same discusted feeling if i had put all that work into a product and explanation of care only to have it ruined by the customer directly after he recieved it. I'm only a hobbyist myself and couldnt get close to the quality work you've shown here but anyone who has spent any amount of time at the forge pounding out a custom made piece can feel your frustration. Great work. Keep it up!! Ohh and what alloys did you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 You could tell the guy that you could repair it- weld it back together and reinforce it with rebar seriously that is a bummer dude I know you must have spent allot of time then some meat-head tries to tweak it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstein Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 The alloys used were 1080 and 15n20 (high nickel). I did tell the guy that I could stack the two pieces and forge weld and draw out and create a new bracelet. The cost would be the same as if I was making a new one. I was just disgusted with the attitude after the guy broke it. He was complaining that I emailed his daughter about the broken bracelet. I only did that because I was worried about one of the other recipients trying the same method of sizing. Didn't want one of the others to break theirs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstein Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 So after an email from the very nice customer who purchased the bracelets, i decided to make another one at little to no cost. Heres why: she wrote me with a positive yet informative attitude, and wasn't making accusations. She stated that she couldn't share the care info with the her father in time because it was a gift and she wasn't on the phone when he opened it. I suppose i should have included a care sheet with each bracelet so someone doesn't try a stunt like putting the bracelet in a vise. Again, none of this is my fault, i just figure that i am doing this as a hobby right now, i enjoy making damascus, and it will be good karma to replace the bracelet. Who knows it may help future business when i decide to do this full time. I did tell the customer to return the pieces of broken bracelet so i can make sure they aren't scamming me for another one for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sask Mark Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Good on ya Brian. That's classy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Furrer Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Brian, Good finish work on the bracelets..it is not a simple thing to get a good even look on such things. A few thoughts. In the future: Take the finished work after forging and once you grind off the scale and heat it to dull red and let it air cool in a warm place..like maybe cleanup all three and heat up the forge to orange and then set them in, block off the opening and turn off the gas and air (if a gas forge) and let it sit there till morning. This should give it enough softness to withstand resizing cold. A think section of the steels you used may, just may, harden to some degree if heated and cooled in open air so I say leave them in the forge to cool. Nickel: The european union has made the use of nickel (in other than some stainless steels) illegal...as in no pure nickel nor nickel silver due to allergic reactions. Something to keep in mind. Ric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstein Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 So does that mean 15n20 Damascus shouldn't be used? I maybe I shouldn't be selling these? It's not like I am making much money if any. I have so much time, and material invested in them. It wouldn't break my heart to not sell these bracelets anymore. Or are you guys referring to the higher nickel content Damascus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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