Damascus san Mai

Gahagan

Well-Known Member
Ok I have a custom order that came in and it is very new to me. The customer is wanting a Damascus san mai blade 3/8 thick and about 2.5 in wide. Ok I have made the Damascus out of 5160, 15n20 and 52100. I am looking for a core that will give good contrast. I would love a stainless core but don't have the tools to make it (unless someone would volunteer to weld it up for me). Can anyone recommend a good core for me ,also what thicknesses I need to achieve the 3/8 thickness. I have made the Damascus to the 3" wide and 3/16 thick and have ground it smooth and would like the core to show up to about a 1/4 to 1/3 of the blade. Any good suggestions would be appreciated.
 
W-2 --1095 - some mofified 1086 m if you can find it . any better quality carbon steel will do . Its what I use . On your damascus I would have used 1095 instead of 52100 , then I would have used the 52100 for core . I use that recipe all the time..... Just my thoughts
Bubba
 
Thanks. How have things been going? I heard that you were having to give up making is this true?
 
I am not sure ? I doubt I will be doing much forging for a while LOL . I am weak as hell cant do to much . low energy levels .

Probably make some small stuff later on, I hope ! Have a lot of forged blades that need to be polished and sharpened . Can sharpen some

but, regular waterstone work is way tough for me now. Will have some new treatment ( STEM CELL) sometime around end of year . That is

the only thing left besides a new liver .. As long as I can work at something bet, I will be doing it ....... thanks for the thoughts.

Bubba
 
Man sounds rough. Ill be thinking of you. I appreciate the help and wish you the best.
 
If your looking for a brighter contrast... I would suggest L6 as the core. Its a bit more difficult to work with post welding , in terms of annealing and such, but the nickle it will not etch as dark as say 01,1084 etc. As for the core starting thickness....assuming from your other post you dont have a press, you will be welding by hand or mechanical hammer. This is gonna eat up some of your Damascus thickness from grinding off hammer marks. So its kind of hard to say.... If I were doing this in my press I would use a core thickness of .125. To allow for a little cleanup on the outside. The L6 core wont move as much as your Damascus because of the nickle.
Blade grind type also plays a part on how much core shows. If your doing a full height flat grind youll see more core than if you do a Sabre flat grind...
Just a few thing to think about.
Hope this helps some.

Shawn
 
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