November 21, 20196 yr 14 years smithing and I have never really toyed with pattern welding / damascus. I have decided to start practicing in preparation for a "super secret" project I am working on. While these are tools, I decided to put this post here because the focus isn't on the tools......rather this is a generic here's what I tried, and here's the results, post. So these were three test pieces I did.......the center punch (far left) is 16 layers of 1080 and 5160. Dark pattern, distinct, but does not "pop." The chisel is 16 layers of 1080 with 16-inch circular edger blade material. (I was told it was 15n20 but it does not pop enough for that so the material grade is unknown.) The weld was good except for one small part that delaminated in the third heat of the first stack. However it welded back in and otherwise seemed to weld fine. Whatever the material is, it did crack a bit during hardening and it follows the blade material in a spiral with the pattern. Of course, there are many variables with hardening and I was not using my oven. Very well could have been operator error. The butcher (right hand tool) is 16 layers of 1080 and large band-saw blade material. (According to specs, known 15n20 steel.) The weld is clean, held up good, and the pattern really pops out. All three test billets started as 8 layers. They were welded, forged, cleaned, cut, stacked, welded, forged, and then twisted. The circular and band saw blades were sourced from friends. Each piece was normalized three times prior to rough grind and hardening. Etch was post quench and temper in muriatic acid and then coffee. Commercial link removed
November 21, 20196 yr Looks good. All the welds seem to be holding. When you say large band saw blade - how large?
November 21, 20196 yr I have heard that the some of the manufacturers of band saw blades used by lumber mills use 15N20 for their blades. I have some band saw blades for cutting steel and tool steel that are 2" tall by .072 or slightly thicker than 1/16 by 14'-6" . I hope that they are 15N20 or at least have a good contrast. I tried to do some online research of the manufacturer and couldn't find any info on steel composition of their blades unfortunately .
November 21, 20196 yr Try them out! A simple heat-quench-break test should show if the body of the blade has enough carbon to try it in a billet and then the etching will show if it has enough Ni content.
November 21, 20196 yr Thomas I definitely will . Unfortunately even though I am an old and crusty welder/fabricator . I am still Green and inexperienced when it comes to forging. I would probably be well served to be someones striker for a while. I don't even know how much I don't know yet {probably a lot !!!!!!!} Without further research I don't know how to do a heat-quench break test . Etching I know just enough to do it wrong probably. I have read about ferric chloride muratic acid and instant coffee used as etchants. But I am learning so there is still hope
November 21, 20196 yr Author 1 hour ago, Randy Griffin said: Looks good. All the welds seem to be holding. When you say large band saw blade - how large? The particular one I got a hold of is .082" thick and about 8 inches wide. I am being told by one of my steel sources that saw-blade 15n20 is only made thicker than .045" and thinner than .125" with the majority being .095".
November 22, 20196 yr heat-quench break test is one of the more esoteric ones: Heat the "sample" till it won't attract a magnet, (forge torch, etc---it doesn't matter!). Quench immediately in water, (fresh, salt, recycled---it doesn't matter) Then using PPE (You only have to protect your eyes if you plan to be using them later!) put it in a vise and thwap it with a hammer and see if it breaks. I start with a gentle tap and work my way up to something substantial. If it breaks easily then it has enough of a carbon/alloying content to go in a billet---IMNSHO If it breaks with some difficulty then I might use it in a billet that has a lot of High C stuff in it.. If it bends over I would only use it in ornamental billets---Pattern welded is not just for blades you know!
November 22, 20196 yr Good to see you post Dave, we missed you. I like low layer count high contrast pattern welds, I like the pop. Nice pattern welds time for practice developing the patterns. You've had welding down for how many years now? Making cool patterns is the fun part and a good thing to practice with different color modeling clay. We know you're busy and all but drop by and say hi once in a while will ya? Frosty The Lucky.
November 22, 20196 yr Bam site has a pretty comprehensive free PDF about break testing and improving your heat treating skills. If you Google bam site heat.pdf it Should be the first result or at least it is when I use Bing Pnut
November 25, 20196 yr On 11/22/2019 at 3:10 AM, pnut said: bam site heat.pdf Thank you Pnut. Right on time.
November 25, 20196 yr My pleasure, It's a pretty easy to understand PDF. I thought it was useful and straight forward. Pnut
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