How To Clean Steel For Damascus Billets
Gratitude
Thanks to cbw, Doug Siddens, Nick Dunham, and Robert Martin for becoming Pocketknife Steel Nerds Patreon supporters!
I interviewed several knifemakers for this commodity. Thanks to Ed Schempp, Hank Knickmeyer, Steve Schwarzer, Rick Dunkerley, Jim Batson, Shane Taylor, Jeff Carlisle, Kelly Cupples, Daryl Meier, John Davis, Matt Diskin, Wade Colter, Barry Gallagher, Howard Clark, Bob Kramer, and Devin Thomas for talking to me.
Miscellaneous
I appeared on the Large Brown Acquit Youtube Channel with Shawn Houston talking about edge retentivity: click here.
Damascus Steel
Conventional pattern-welded Damascus steel uses alternate layers of steel which will etch at different rates to provide contrast between the 2 different types. Layer counts can be modified past using sparse stock, taller billets, or by cutting, stacking, and re-welding the billet.
If the steel is simply forged flat to exist a knife information technology results in a "random" pattern. There are a multifariousness of techniques that are used to give different patterns in the last piece which volition non be covered in depth here. One simple patterning method is "twist" where the bar is forged round and twisted prior to forging apartment again, which looks something like the following in the finished piece:
There are a range of techniques which rely on different designs on the cease of the bar, and these patterning types are loosely chosen "Mosaic" patterns. These tin range from the uncomplicated to the very complex. One uncomplicated blueprint is "basketweave" where forged billets are re-stacked in contrasting directions:
Image adapted from [1]
Since the design is on the end of the bar it tin be used in applications such every bit bolsters by simply slicing a piece off and using it as-is. When using mosaic patterns in a pocketknife it is somewhat trickier because forging it to flat barstock would not be visible on the knife. If enough pieces are welded side by side a "loaf" can be made where slices are cut off to be the blade. However, unlike techniques tin can be used to bring the end design to the surface of the bar such as the "accordian" method:
Image adjusted from [1]
Damascus History
I previously wrote near the history of pattern-welded Damascus steel in this article about Damascus steel myths. I did non provide a total history of pattern-welded Damascus steel in that article nor can I practise so in this ane. For convenience I volition refer to "pattern-welded Damascus steel" simply equally Damascus steel for the rest of this commodity. Damascus steel was produced anciently and production of it connected into the early on 20th century particularly in rifles. It was popularized in the United states of america equally a knife material by Nib Moran starting in 1973. In the 1970's and 1980's there was a steady evolution of different patterning techniques in Damascus to make dissimilar types and looks of the last steel. I of the patterning techniques explored was the use of specific images in the steel, recognizable pictures, words, etc. Gun barrels were produced in the 19th and early 20th centuries with the proper noun of the gun manufacturer forged into the Damascus [ii]. Daryl Meier was able to use a like technique in 1978 to produce Damascus steel that had his concluding name in information technology:
Image from [3]
By the early on 1990'southward patterning techniques could be quite advanced, such equally the Daryl Meier flag bowie presented to George H.Due west. Bush at the White House in 1990. This impressive piece had fifty stars in each of the 13 flags, and the flags were the advisable orientation on both sides of the blade. Each of the 50 stars has v points. Meier told me that he put in virtually 800 hours into the knife.
Epitome from [four]
The knife was produced from "multi-bar" Damascus which yous can see with the different sections, the bottom being a twist design, higher up that the "USA" section, then the flags, and finally some other twist Damascus bar. Below you lot can see a closeup of ane of the flags in the pocketknife.
Image from [iii]
Some other example of "picture" Damascus is the Hunter's Dream landscape by Steve Schwarzer, produced in 1993:
Image from [v]
Both the stars in the flag produced by Meier and the hunter scene produced by Schwarzer used wire EDM blocks to produce the images. This requires 2 large blocks of steel in contrasting materials where a male and female block are produced and so that once mated they tin can exist forged to the terminal solid piece. Once etched the ii dissimilar materials will be dissimilar colors and so that the image is visible. Wire EDM and large blocks of steel are very expensive so this method has never had particularly widespread use.
Early Use of Powder Metals
In the mid-1980's, Steve Schwarzer was presenting on Damascus steel at a Jim Batson hammer-in. Gary Runyon was working for Allegheny Engineering science and had access to nickel powder. Runyon was attempting to get nickel powder to stick to cable to produce a nickel-infused cablevision Damascus. Schwarzer suggested that he put it in a piece of pipe so that the powder could not escape. In the early 90's Schwarzer had his signature cutting out with wire EDM and was attempting to stuff thin nickel sheet around the signature but it was not working. He contacted Runyon to larn nickel powder and poured that effectually the wire-cut signature instead.
Prototype from [6]
Pelle Billgren was the CEO of Söderfors [7], a division of Erasteel, a producer of powder metallurgy steel. I wrote most the history of powder metallurgy steel in this commodity. Billgren visited bladesmith Kay Embretsen who produced Damascus steel using traditional methods. They decided together to develop a method using the pulverisation metallurgy steel to produce a Damascus steel product. This method relies on "hot isostatic pressing" of two or more steel powders to produce relatively large billets in unlike patterns. They submitted a patent application in Sweden in the beginning of 1994 [8]. This production was branded as Damasteel and is still sold today.
Benchmade Knife with a Damasteel Odin Heim blade. Image from [ix]
Hank Knickmeyer is some other USA bladesmith that started using powder in the early 1990'south. Knickmeyer had heard near the utilise of powder from Steve Schwarzer and Daryl Meier. Knickmeyer credits Daryl Meier for pedagogy him many patterning techniques when he got started with Damascus steel. Knickmeyer was aware of the wire EDM work beingness done by Meier and Schwarzer just felt it was as well expensive to be worth it. Knickmeyer had been experimenting with the utilize of different steel shapes and odd pieces in canister Damascus but needed a filler in between the pieces. He started with steel "sandblasting grit" to fill up in the pieces. Hank says that he is most proud of the mode that he used "baloney" of the bars of steel as he forged them to make unique and interesting patterns. Hank told me that he presented the use of this pulverization method at the 1994 ABANA briefing in St. Louis. He suggested that I endeavour to detect a list of presenters from that conference to bank check his dates. The summary of the 1994 conference did not list Knickmeyer's proper name though information technology was a summary of the highlights, non a full listing of presenters. So if powder Damascus was presented at that place it apparently wasn't a highlight (Ha!). I did find, still, that Knickmeyer presented at the 1995 conference of the Florida chapter of ABANA where he discussed mosaic Damascus.
Hank Knickmeyer "Butterflies and Flowers" Damascus steel in the Best Collaboration knife at the 2008 Blade Bear witness. Paradigm from BladeGallery [10]
Ed Schempp was experimenting with different pulverization metals effectually 1996 where he tried some unusual combinations like canister Damascus with solids and powder nickel. He also later attempted some stainless steel pulverisation mixed with tungsten carbide. Sources for pulverization steel were rare at this time. The kickoff iron-based powder he purchased was "reduced fe" which is produced for fortifying breakfast cereal and other foods. It was purchased in a 750 pound pulsate so it was divide between Ed Schempp, Devin Thomas, and a few others. Because this was fe it had insufficient carbon for practiced hardness and contrast after etching in acid. And so they were adding graphite to increase the carbon content of the atomic number 26. The graphite was lighter than the fe so it tended to float to the top. Schempp added WD-40 to the graphite and so information technology would stick to the iron and better mix through. Schempp also fabricated a competition chopping pocketknife using 1084 and 3V powders forth with 15N20 and roller concatenation. He successfully cut seven pieces of complimentary hanging rope with the pocketknife.
Knife past Ed Schempp using Damascus steel produced using 1084/15N20 and powders of 4600E/1084/1018. Image from BladeGallery [11]
Cheaper, Simpler Image Techniques
Devin Thomas used long pieces of nickel sheet to grade different shapes and and then fill them with pulverisation. This provided a cheaper method than the use of wire EDM blocks for producing images. Relatively intricate designs can be produced this manner without expensive wire EDM.
Gifs created from YouTube video [12]
A Pocketknife produced by William Henry Knives (circa 2000) which was one of 4 pieces commissioned by Billy F. Gibbons of ZZ Top. The Damascus steel was produced by Devin Thomas using nickel canvas and steel powder which has the letters "ZZ Tiptop" forwards and backwards.
Devin fabricated a slice of Damascus with a fish in it using his nickel sheet and pulverisation method and showed it at Rick Dunkerley's hammer-in in 1997. Dunkerley is one of the original members of the "Montana Mafia" which included Shane Taylor, Barry Gallagher, and Wade Colter. The four had been producing a range of unlike mosaic Damascus steel patterns and the use of powder offered new possibilities. At Dunkerley'south 1998 hammer-in he presented how to produce mosaic Damascus using nickel canvas and powder. Rick Dunkerley produced a pocketknife for the 1999 Blade show using powder steel and nickel sheet for the Damascus. At that fourth dimension Dunkerley merely knew of i other person who had produced a knife using pulverisation (Schwarzer). So despite the utilize of powder by Schwarzer and Knickmeyer in the early on to mid-90'due south, it hadn't really begun to build in popularity until about 1998 or 1999.
Dunkerley's starting time pulverization steel Damascus knife. Image provided by Eric Eggly of PointSeven Studios
Another pulverisation Damascus knife produced by Dunkerley. The inset piece in the handle is fish Damascus produced by Devin Thomas described before in the article. Prototype provided past Eric Eggly of PointSeven Studios.
Steel Choices and Sources for Powder
Before the mid-90's, there were a variety of steels being used in Damascus such every bit W1, 1095, 5160, 52100, A203e, and others. At that place was no broad agreement well-nigh the appropriate steels to use, and forge welding could exist difficult with all of those dissimilar steels with varying compatibility. Rick Dunkerley tells me that Devin Thomas began encouraging people to switch to 1084 and 15N20 because they were easier to forge weld and very compatible for forging and rut treating. 15N20 has a like carbon content to 1084 simply with a two% nickel addition to provide contrast afterward etching. When stock for Damascus steel became regularly supplied by people similar Jeff Carlisle of Swains Spring Service, 1084 and 15N20 became the standard choices.
Afterwards learning about powder Damascus from Rick Dunkerley, Jeff Carlisle acquired 1084 and 4600e powders to sell to any Damascus makers that wanted to use it. 4600e was similar to 15N20 so it was like shooting fish in a barrel to use for Damascus steel makers that were using 1084 and 15N20 canvass of plate in their Damascus. Bob Kramer institute the source for 4600e that Carlisle began purchasing for sale to Damascus steel makers. Considering of the ubiquity of 1084 and 15N20, 1084 and 4600e were easy choices as alternatives to the prior sheet and bar stock. Somewhat afterwards Kelly Cupples also became a popular supplier of pulverisation and sheet for Damascus steel.
Teaching of Mosaic Damascus and Pulverisation Methods
Many of those I interviewed expressed how much of a collaborative atmosphere there was at this fourth dimension in the belatedly 1990'due south and early 2000's. There were many small discoveries related to Damascus steel patterning techniques and who offered each one is a bit difficult to track downwards now. There were several hammer-ins at the shops of different people like Ed Schempp, Rick Dunkerley, Shane Taylor, Jim Batson, and John Davis. There was a lot of sharing between Damascus steel makers at that time leading to rapid growth of dissimilar techniques. I obtained a re-create of "Hammer Doodles" by Joe Olson (thank you John Davis) where Joe illustrated demonstrations from several different Damascus steel makers between 1997 and 1999, which you can see here: Hammer Doodles. His illustrations included humour and some good information on making steel, to boot.
Many other Damascus steel makers at this time began experimenting with pulverization and offer their ain tweaks to the process, people such as John Davis, Gary House, and Robert Eggerling along with those mentioned so far. John Davis sent me a photo of a knife he made in 2000 where he made a king of beasts using nickel sheet and information technology won "Best Damascus" at the 2000 Oregon Pocketknife Collectors Association show. So it was pretty shortly after Dunkerley'south knife that others were making their own.
John Davis Mosaic Damascus knife from 2000
With educational activity of powder techniques beingness more widespread and easy availability of powders to use, the number of Damascus makers using powder and nickel sheet grew chop-chop. One of the near impressive users of nickel sheet and pulverization for "picture Damascus" is Cliff Parker, which you can come across an example of below:
Cliff Parker mosaic Damascus knife. Images from BladeGallery [13]
Laser Cutting and Waterjet Cut Images
Matt Diskin saw a presentation of pulverisation Damascus produced with powder and thin sheets and first tried using a similar method. Nonetheless, Diskin had learned CAD in college and was familiar with light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation cutting and waterjet methods. He used laser cutting to cutting shapes out of sail steel and then stacked them on summit of each other and then filled that with pulverization. Matt tells me that he first produced steel using an elephant that he cut out. Considering of the much lower cost of this method when compared with wire EDM other makers were interested like Steve Schwarzer and Shane Taylor. Diskin produced plates for several of those makers. Diskin's favorite was Shane Taylor who did interesting and unique images like dragons which you can come across below:
Image from BladeGallery [14]
Use of Powder in Other Design Types
Powder isn't only used for the cosmos of images. Mayhap its most mutual use is equally filler fabric when making Damascus with bike concatenation or brawl bearings. While images were an exciting new possible employ for patterning in Damascus, powder offers other more subtle patterning techniques. The use of powder continues in a range of different Damascus pieces. Powder is applicative in any situation where information technology is difficult or incommunicable to fill up steel in betwixt other types of "solid" steel stock.
Summary and Conclusions
Damascus steel has greatly grown inside the knifemaking customs since the 1970's when information technology offset gained popularity. Patterning techniques have evolved to where a large range of possibilities are available, from uncomplicated random to complex mosaic patterns. The utilize of powder is a fun one to cover for my site since I like to discuss different material types and artistic uses of steel for knives. There are many people who contributed to the level of mastery nosotros see today amid the greatest Damascus steel makers. Understanding the development of these processes and the methods that are used in making more complex pieces ways that future Damascus steel producers will be able to take Damascus to further heights. And buyers volition have a greater appreciation of the knives that they purchase and the work that the maker put into it.
[1] Dunkerley, Rick. "His Forge Burns Hot for Mosaic Damascus." Kertzman, Joe, ed. Blade'southward Guide to Making Knives. Krause Publications, 2005.
[2] http://www.culverart.com/Word%20Damascus%20Gun-Barrel%20Patterns.pdf
[3] http://www.meiersteel.com/
[iv] https://blademag.com/knife-collecting/the-american-flag-custom-damascus-knife-made-for-president-george-h-w-bush-league
[five] http://www.steveschwarzer.com/images/ss-knf-pic-9.htm
[6] Schwarzer, Steve. "The History and Presentation of Mosaic Damascus." Kertzman, Joe, ed. Knives 2022. Gun Digest Books, 2022.
[7] https://damasteel.se/about-united states/
[viii] Billgren, Per, and Kaj Embretsen. "Sätt vid framställning av en sammansatt metallprodukt." Sweden Patent 503422, issued June ten, 1996.
[9] https://damasteel.se/inspiration/folding-knives-benchmade/
[10] https://www.bladegallery.com/shopexd.asp?id=86341
[eleven] https://www.bladegallery.com/shopexd.asp?id=837
[12] https://world wide web.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrGJLunpHC4
[13] https://www.bladegallery.com/shopexd.asp?id=2436
[14] https://www.bladegallery.com/shopexd.asp?id=1088
Source: https://knifesteelnerds.com/2019/08/19/the-history-of-powder-metals-in-damascus-steel/
Posted by: hubbardtheigners.blogspot.com
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