NOTE: Some people may be put off by this topic. I urge those sensitive about death not to read on.

 

My friend of 23 years passed away recently and I requested to keep some of his ashes to turn into damascus for knives and jewelry.

I was planning to sift the ashes so only the fine (hopefully mostly carbon) dust remained, then sprinkle sparingly between layers of 15n20 and 1080 (or similar). I figured the best way to ensure a weld was to weld a box around the whole deal, giving it a squirt of oil before closing it up.

 

Straw ash and human ashes probably have very little in common chemically - I am hoping that the bone/calcium will remain large and easy to filter. It seems as if ashes contain a lot of calcium phosphate, which may melt at higher temperatures, but be an impurity.

 

More importantly, can I legally do this? I know there are often issues with human remains in art, even though I have the family's permission.

 

Any input is appreciated. Chris was a good man, passing away far too young, and as hard as this is for me to write I know he would be happy.

Theo

My sisters and mother used a service that used my Fathers ashes incorporated into a frame for a photo of him, rather than an Urn,  I passed and let them have it. Check with local Funeral Home for your local laws.  This is a world wide forum, and tho a few disagree, not all areas have the same rules.

Thanks Steve!

Honestly, I don't know if the ashes would have any effect or add anything to the steel.  There would be a way to incorporate into a handle though.

Mix with molded resin for scales? 

I don't think the ashes would add anything beneficial, it would be damascus for rings and letter openers. I am worried about delamination if I do any twisting or cutting though....

I think its a wonderful idea I have already got the ok from my wife if she passes before me. I know I would be honored.

I always liked the idea of using human ashes for case-hardening. Personally, I'd like my own ashy-remains to be used in such a manor. In any case, I think it's a great way to honor your friend. 

Forging went well... enough. I used slightly too much ashes, next time I'll use a finer sift too. I used borax, so I'm fairly sure most of the larger particles flowed out during the welding. I did let it soak for a bit, the goal was to imbibe some carbon and trace elements of Chris into these rings, which I'm confident I did. 

My forge can only handle welding tiny pieces, like in the pictures I placed them on the anvil for scale. Thankfully it can heat ring-sized pieces. This is just a test etch.

They need to be thinned and fully polished. The big one needs to shrink a ring size.

Next time I will use a better forge = more layers and better welds (hopefully).

Any suggestions on the jewelry end of things?

Fascinating stuff!

 

 I read once that it used to be done many years ago by warrior races (Vikings for example).  They would put ashes of famous warriors or kings into the mix while making swords.  They believed it would add some of their spirit and some of whatever quality that warrior or king was famous for.

 

  :)

I had considered mixing the ashes with the borax... but then it seems as if his remains wouldn't even touch the steel, and just flow out the sides when hammered. Eventually I would like to do a sword.

I really like the case hardening idea. Wouldn't I need it to be charcoal though, and not ashes? Or maybe there's still plenty of carbon?

Good wrk theo, nice to honor a friend

where are the pics of the knife? remember the japanese use straw ash for a flux for their blades,  ash is ash mostly.

I would like the same done with my ashes. Terrific idea!

Dave

I recently saw a YouTube video of some folks incorporating his wife's ashes into metal for an everyday carry knife along with a few smaller pieces for jewelry.  Those guys did a canister weld method mixing the cremains with the powdered steel.  They used a stainless square tube with a smaller mild steel square tube set into the ss tube at a 45 degree angle (a diamond in a square basically).  Slivers of high carbon steel and nickle steel were set into the tubes, then several grades of powdered steel and nickle steel (mixed with the cremains) were poured into the gaps.  A cap was welded on after squirting some WD-40 into the canister.  Canister was brought to welding temperature and pressed to create a billet.  Once the piece was solidified, the exterior stainless tube was stripped away and the billet was cut, folded, and welded several times to refine the billet.

I don't know what the ash/steel mix ratio was. 

I plan to mix my dad's ashes with casting resin and make fishing lures, so I can still take him fishing after he's gone. He is totally on board with it.

Dude, that is a great idea. Some people want their ashes spread in the ocean or at a favorite park or on the family farm. Why not have them as part of a piece of art or a tool that will be used in something they loved? One more reason i need to get a will done.

You could mix a bit of him with some other carbon, and use him to carburise some wrought iron into blister steel - I would be more confident of some uptake into the material that way !

man am i glad i found this thread i have my first dogs ashes she was one of my best friends growing up and i have not had the hart to scatter her ashes some place i might not stay and this seems like a perfect thing to do for myself and my brother and sister

There are companies loading ashes into shotgun shells, and also turning them into diamonds, so you should be fine legally.

I regret not keeping some of Mom's ashes to put into my bowling ball. Mom was a bowling fanatic, bowling on 3 leagues, and secretary for 2. She was still bowling 2 weeks before passing away.

NOVA mentioned the Vikings possibly using bone shards when making wootz. I'd certainly like to be made into a weapon after I die.

http://youtu.be/sm4DuBOWEUU

Ha!   I was just coming back to this thread with the same link!  :)

 

 The video gets onto the topic of this thread at about 18 minutes 30 seconds.   B)

My buddy had convinced himself he wanted to be a diamond, this thread has changed his mind.

Well well, my older brother died last night, sister found him dead in her spare room.  :(

 

 Won't be able to do anything until after Christmas, but cremation has been mentioned.  I'm thinking some of him will need to be forged into something, so this thread will be very useful over the coming months.

 

 Would it be ok to post results here Theo? Might not be for some some weeks yet.

Yes, of course, please share. I'm sorry for your loss.

Finally got a chance to begin work on blister steel for the first series. People familiar with my work know I typically don't use the same design twice... well this has been an interesting challenge.

 

I started with 3/32" x 1 1/2" mild steel strip, cut to shape and beveled. Keeping the profiles and bevels of the knives consistent was odd, since instinct told me to make each one unique. 

 

The charcoal is from my own fireplace. My grandparents ashes had to be sifted first - I saved the bone fragments for some later project - and their fine powder was mixed in. I also added a table spoon of iron carbide powder I had leftover from patternwelding experimentation to potentially imbibe some more carbon.

 

Here's where I'm missing some pictures... I packed the steel and charcoal mixture into a 2" inside diameter black pipe and welded one end almost completely closed (plenty of warnings out there about making your own pipe bombs by accident). This tube was then placed in my forge and cooked for 5ish hours at 1500-1800; the temperature variation is where in the forge it sat as I worked around it.

 

I have yet to pop open the black pipe, so I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures :)