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I Forge Iron

What steels do you like in your Damascus/pattern-welded blades?


Torin

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Hummmmmm....ok I have been using a lot of 200 series stainless, not much C I know (only 15 pts or so) but it sure contrasts nice....and for a colour layer used in a multi core composite with say 1060/70...it rocks...in fact I have a large dagger/shortsword I am etching right now with this mix..might post it when it's out under a seperate heading

For the other stuff...meteoric iron just for the "wow" factor...a lot of L-6, 1095 or my MAD6 mix...M2/A2/D2 for when I am feeling really self destructive as this stuff does NOT want to move under a hammer and the contrast isn't that great but man does it cut..

I putter about alot trying different stuff so it's hard to say...from old Ak47 barrels to pry bars....

JPH

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By the way Jim, I want thank you again for having produced the video you did. The visual of what borax looks like at welding temperature is priceless.

Welding the billet up went mostly ok. I'm not that great at forge welding 1/16" and 3/16" stock. Especially with the 3/16" having a rounded top surface. As soon as my steel order gets in, I'm going to be switching over to .062" and .065" stock.

I seem to have lost my copy of your video in the last move or two. Anybody still selling it?

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Jim; M2/A2/D2 -- wow!! that is a tough blade! someone on IFI was asking me if M2 was forgable; is it "technically" forgeable and if so does it work around how A2 feels? That is a very interesting mix, man!

For damascus I have heard 1084/15N20 cut real nice, and I have seen some really nice contrast in blades with that combo. I use 10XX spring steel (dunno what it is exactly but it hardens nice) and pure nickel; only downside is nickel doesn't cut worth a darn..it does etch real nice though, so for guards/buttcaps its fine. I'm going to switch to 1084/15N20 when I get more serious with damascus. For cheaper costing "junkyard" damascus I have used motorcycle chain w/ nickel, and cable, both cut good and look interesting. As Jim said with the metoric iron, the motorcycle chain often gets the "wow" factor :) Damascus is just plain fun stuff!

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