Me and my father was wondering about a forge welding a canister Damascus using steel wool is it possible can someone help ous out??

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the Iforge gang live within visiting distance.

I don't KNOW of anybody canister welding steel wool but why not. What do you want to include for pattern? You need different carbon content components to develop a pattern. What do you  have in mind to make with the billet? I don't know if steel wool is high enough carbon to make a decent blade, maybe someone here does.

Frosty The Lucky.

I think, perhaps you're asking the wrong question.

( We live in a world where virtually everything is "possible". )

The challenge lies in determining that which is "practical".

The process of "sintering" has been with us for quite some time, ... and yields a variety of useful products.

But none of those products are recognized for a particularly attractive appearance, or texture.

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I don't anything about the carbon content either but I do know steel wool is flammable. Don't believe me? Pull a small piece off and hit it with a lighter or a small torch. That said, if you decide to try this you're going to need lots and lots of steel wool to pack together tight enough it doesn't burn up when you get it to welding heat. Truth is I'd be afraid to try it and risk blowing the canister apart from the exhaust gasses of burning steel wool. 

The powder steels are made in canister. There may be some information on the web.

e.g.:-

 "Damas steel, which looks like traditional Damascus but is a tremendously strong, super-material created by bringing together two powdered steels in a nitrogen vacuum. Read more at http://www.thefield.co.uk/shooting/most-expensive-guns-26087#C440TO1seT5WKL6P.99 "

But as Smoothbore says....possible aint' the end of it. Although it may be possible but then again getting to the moon we know is possible...whether you can afford the development  and process infrastructure cost who knows?

The powder steels are very expensive...if it was simple and cheap one would presume it would be made by many.

But why not crush a load of swarf from different grades/carbon content steels in a container and get it hot and find out for yourselves?

Have an adventure!

Alan

 

All steel is flammable some flares with a bright yellow glow and some just slowly turns to rust. Stuff steel wool in a canister and seal it to keep oxygen off it and it won't burn.

Back to making pattern welded billets though I still don't know if it's worth the trouble.

Frosty The Lucky.

2 hours ago, Frosty said:

All steel is flammable some flares with a bright yellow glow and some just slowly turns to rust. Stuff steel wool in a canister and seal it to keep oxygen off it and it won't burn.

Back to making pattern welded billets though I still don't know if it's worth the trouble.

Frosty The Lucky.

Trouble with steel wool or swarf is that it is mostly air by volume almost impossible to squash it tight enough to keep oxygen out of the canister. Have to evacuate or fill it with inert gas prior to sealing.

Seems an awful lot of energy has gone into making the steel, converting it to steel wool, and then trying to convert it back again...maybe rethink and cut out the middle man...

Alan

 

O

2 hours ago, Alan Evans said:

Trouble with steel wool or swarf is that it is mostly air by volume almost impossible to squash it tight enough to keep oxygen out of the canister. Have to evacuate or fill it with inert gas prior to sealing.

On the other hand, a canister of swarf filled up with steel powder could give some interesting random pattern.

5 hours ago, JHCC said:

On the other hand, a canister of swarf filled up with steel powder could give some interesting random pattern.

 

The people at Dama steel put two powders together to get the patterns they produce...I presume it would look like one of those novelty glass tubes with different colour sands from deserts around the world before they fuse the it.

The description of the process indicates that the powder grains are rather small...I wonder how they make the powder?

Alan

I think they'd force liquid metal through a small aperture to atomise it.

Well, I assume you'd run into the same issue you have with the smaller cables with the tiny threads, oxidation preventing a good weld. You could seal the cannister, but isn't the usual warning not to completely seal because it might explode when struck?