Should I save swarf? (question for the canister damascus folks)

billyO

billyO

Well-Known Member
Hello all. I posted this question on another forum and didn't get any (IMO) relevant responses.
I've been doing a lot of hand filing and cutting (with a hacksaw) of my 1080/15N20 blanks lately and wondering if it makes sense to fab a bin to catch my shavings/swarf to save for future canister use? Does/would this stuff look good in a canister pattern? This is like a handful of sand and I'm not sure how this will look in a final blade when etched. I'm thinking It won't be dark like the 1080, and it probably won't look as bright as a 15N20 layer. I'm afraid it will just look 'muddy' and not look good on a finished knife.
A few years ago I did a go-mai santoku with 1084/15N20/mild steel (A36) and when finished and etched, the mild steel looked to me like what you would see when you break a blade with bad grain structure. (I was hoping for a more uniform grey color, not a shiny grainy look.)
@Chris Railey posted a pic of his recent scrapmascus blade: https://knifedogs.com/threads/chris’-kith-for-gene-kimi.51718/post-412111 and this looks better than my one mild steel attempt.
So do you think these shavings/swarf that's a mixture of 1084/15N20 will look good? Or do you think it will look more horrible grain structure?
Thanks.
 
I have thought about trying to catch stuff like that and use it but for me I believe the stuff would rust before I could use it due to humidity here. I do not think it would give much of a pattern when mixed with powdered steel I think it would blend with it.
 
Catching swarf isn't a good idea for canister damascus. It's often full of other impurities such as grains of abrasive grit, and just plain other "dirt" from around the shop, and unless meticulously gathered/cleaned, will usually end up producing voids and cold shuts. I tried it in the past, and is was always more trouble than it was worth.
 
I'm with Chris. I would think that by the time that you had any usable amount of swarf to pack into a canister the bulk of it would be iron oxide, aka rust.

Doug
 
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