High speed wootz

[Soupyjones]

A rather odd thought came to me last night that I am sure has been covered at some point, yet escapes my fumbling research. 

In my research in the past I have read about high speed steel being poor for most blacksmithing applications for a laundry list of reasons. Similar reading tells me that wootz steel owes it's excellent characteristics to some things that seem similar to why high speed steel is a poor choice. 

This led me to wonder if one could possibly turn some old taps or drill bits into good usable steel. If a person was to make a cannister damascus bar containing some high speed steel and some low or mid carbon steel, draw it out and fold it a few times, could they get a crude wootz type steel? Granted it would not be true wootz, but at least a bar with similar qualities?

[Frozenthunderbolt]

Not sure about damascus from it, but large diameter HSS drill bits make decent knives if you draw out and flatten the shank end rather than the twist.
I've made some beautiful little whittling jack's from drill bits.
If you were to experiment with Damascus in this way about the only useful thing I could contribute would be to avoid any bits with a Tungsten carbide coating.

[Frosty]

Try dropping a few clean drill bits in a steel can with saw cuttings or drill swarf to fill the voids and do a can welded billet. I see mixed results with trying to forge HS drill bits. My one attempt to incorporate a few in a billet was a miserable failure but I screwed up fundamentally on the can weld. I should've read the stickies!

The one thing I did that might be useful for folk wanting to try welding drill bits as they are. They need to be clean but grinding or brushing them is a PITA yes? I chucked them up and ran them in a can of clean silica sand and it sanded them as clean as can be in about 30 seconds. A quick rinse and spritz of oil and they were clean, Clean, CLEAN.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Steve Sells]

You my want to read up on M2 steel, and the term wootz.

[Soupyjones]

Thanks guys. At this point it is purely hypothetical as I lack the setup to build it so far. More than anything I was just curious if I was thinking along the right lines

[ThomasPowers]

Wootz is funny stuff and the percentage of the carbide formers needed is very low indeed; in earlier times they were considered part of the "trash elements" and unimportant.  I'd read everything you can get ahold of by Verhoeven and Pendray

It's not just what elements it's how much----like carbon can make mild steel, high carbon steel or cast iron depending on how much is in it.

[Soupyjones]

Thanks again guys. I will study up. I am doubtful about the quality of a bar made this way but if it is a possibility it would be very cool. Imitation wootz is now my goal. 

[ThomasPowers]

might look into alloy banding too and read the maker forum over at Sword Forum International---if the old posts on wootz and faux wootz are still there

[Dan P.]

I was going to say, HSS and "techno-wootz", you might find them in some venn diagram along with the term "alloy banding". Tungsten is/was often the culprit/hero.