# Some stainless success!



## WillC (Jan 14, 2012)

Well I have a stuck billet, a simple damascus, about 60-70 layers however many I managed to squeeze in the can.  The weld went rather well and when I managed to peel and grind it out of the mangled can I had a solid lump of stainless.:EDance2:
The pattern looks pretty blotchy on top, on grinding it should be a nice rippled laminate, I did a kind of forged ladder effect.
I'll try some of this san mai'd up blue paper steel and see how it goes. I'm hoping to get hold of some thin pure nickel to put in next to the core to keep the carbon inside at stainless welding temperatures.
Anyway here's a couple of pics.


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## jmforge (Jan 14, 2012)

What steel combo did you use?


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## WillC (Jan 14, 2012)

Joe. for now I used what I could find in small quantities of shim stock without making any big orders. 304L and 430. The contrast is in the difference in nickel content. Not really gona get any blacks in there but I think it should look nice with a proper finish and etch.


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## Eamon Burke (Jan 14, 2012)

Woo-wee! Stainless Dammy on an Aogami core? OUTSIDE of Japan? Seriously, are you the only guy doing this?


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## kalaeb (Jan 14, 2012)

Nicely done will. I bet those will contrast very well once etched.


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## zitangy (Jan 15, 2012)

Hey Will


Whatever you are making of it, I would like to purchase this item if it is not spoken for..

Kindly allow me to select the wood and only request is is 12cm handle and a shorter neck of teh knife
Been busy over the week-end huh....

Have fun

rgds

D


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## WillC (Jan 15, 2012)

Many thanks guys. I was very stoked and brought the billet home with me so I can fondle it, i'm that weird.
David, well thats always good to know, This is very much a test billet. See how it goes from here. The idea is to get some knives together from either this billet or another and do some testing. If all is well and I can confidently repeat the process, I'll adjust my pre-order options. I'll try some simple stainless clad too.
I had forgotten how critical the heat heat is on forging stainless and i'll have to see how that effects my process, as i've got used to finishing blades pretty close to final taper by using dull red heats in the power hammer. Stainless likes to crack forged below 1000 degrees C and turns into moulten oat meal if you hit it above 1200. I'm still ironing out the finer points, but its a start.:biggrin:


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## oivind_dahle (Jan 15, 2012)

Im looking forward to see what you end up with WillC
You have put yourself on my radar. I have a no new order policy for 2012, so I cannot order a knife from you. I have 14 knives coming my way in 2012, and due to me being a home chef I cannot order more atm  However I really like your knives. I think you have some really nice profiles, and Im interested in how they preform. 

Are there any guilds in Europe like the ABS in america?


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## WillC (Jan 15, 2012)

Cool, thanks Olvind, maybe you can test something from me this year at least. I'm not sure about Knife guilds, I'm awarded a diploma of merit by the Worshipful company of blacksmiths which allows me the letters AWCB after my name. I notice there is one ABS MS listed in the uk so maybe I could do the testing through him, its something I need to enquire about. I would enjoy the challenge if it were possible.


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## jmforge (Jan 15, 2012)

Jim Jackson is the one ABS MS that I know of in the UK. Nice guy and he has had some pretty interesting jobs in the past like "Queen's Armourer". Now the bad news. You have to be an ABS member for 2 years before you can do the performance test for JS and 3 years before you can stand for judging at Atlanta or San Antonio.


WillC said:


> Cool, thanks Olvind, maybe you can test something from me this year at least. I'm not sure about Knife guilds, I'm awarded a diploma of merit by the Worshipful company of blacksmiths which allows me the letters AWCB after my name. I notice there is one ABS MS listed in the uk so maybe I could do the testing through him, its something I need to enquire about. I would enjoy the challenge if it were possible.


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## WillC (Jan 15, 2012)

Cool i'll look him up. I suppose kevlar would be out of the question for the queen. Hector Cole judged me for my award from the worshipful company, he is a pretty well known blade smith as he does a lot of re-creation stuff for the tv. But he was looking at gates and railings when he came to visit.


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## Dave Martell (Jan 15, 2012)

I can't wait to see the results of this.


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## JMJones (Jan 15, 2012)

Very impressive. Also if you want to test for JS or MS through the ABS you have to attend the blade show in Atlanta or another show in San Antonio in person.


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## WillC (Jan 16, 2012)

That could be restrictive, not that I wouldn't love to come out to a blade show. In fact I plan on it at some point.


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## WillC (Jan 16, 2012)

The stainless now sits either side of some blue paper 2, in the form of something knife shaped and tapered, will get some pics tomorrow.:spin chair:


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## TB_London (Jan 16, 2012)

:coolsign:


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## WillC (Jan 17, 2012)

I'm a tease, no pics yet, The blade is largely finished, but I need to reshape the tip a bit and etch the pattern.
I sharpened this up to do some edge testing. Its certainly lost a considerable amount of carbon from the core. It shows signs of distortion when I really push on the edge, I would say its ended up a tad softer than my damascus. Probably 57/58hrc. Still takes a mean edge but kinda makes it pointless investing in the blue paper steel. So I shall stomp up and buy some thin pure nickel strip to go either side of the core in the next billet, that will hopefully do the trick.
Gona be pretty though. The carbon migration will show up on the etch, which will be a nice visual effect at least.


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## TB_London (Jan 17, 2012)

If you want some nickel quickly to try
http://www.britishblades.com/forums...my-nickel-200-201-for-your..&highlight=Nickel


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## WillC (Jan 17, 2012)

Thanks man, probably a bit thicker than needed that. And I need all my precious 15n20 Lemmy sent me some chunks but they are huge, will use them in damascus instead. John N hinted he has a reel of thin stuff, which would be ideal. To buy it its something like £200/kilo now. Fortunately I don't think it takes very much.


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## oivind_dahle (Jan 17, 2012)

Im looking forward to pics 
Do you do stainless damascus spoons?


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## WillC (Jan 17, 2012)

Olvind, I made a couple of pretty little spoons in my mokume once all forged. Would be a fun project to try one in stainless. I've pm'd you.


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## TB_London (Jan 17, 2012)

WillC said:


> Thanks man, probably a bit thicker than needed that. And I need all my precious 15n20 Lemmy sent me some chunks but they are huge, will use them in damascus instead. John N hinted he has a reel of thin stuff, which would be ideal. To buy it its something like £200/kilo now. Fortunately I don't think it takes very much.



ah cool, didn't know if it was the kind of thing you could forge out. At least if you're only using it in 0.1mm thickness it should only be a few grams per knife....


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## WillC (Jan 18, 2012)

Ok, some pictures for you. The knife is a 210mm petty. I gave it a flatter profile to my usual and a nice bit of height 44mm with a versatile idea in mind for the line or home chef. Got some nice taper on there, from about 2.6mm over the heel to 0.7, 10mm behind the tip. Convex faces. Sturdy yet thin in the right places.

Right out of the etch, quite allot going on in there.




After a gentle polish with micromesh











































More subtle than some stainless combinations but I happy with the result, other than the carbon making a dash for the cladding. This seems to be showing itself in an area above the weld line more resistant to the etch. Hopefully the nickel will stop the carbon migration next time. Interesting visually though.


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## PierreRodrigue (Jan 18, 2012)

VERY NICE Will! The frosted decarb line, is a desireable look. It's far enough from the edge to not cause issues. Very well done! How was the hardness?


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## WillC (Jan 18, 2012)

Thanks Pierre. It was fun, other than all the flap preparing the billet Hardness suffered, I would say its about 58hrc, should have been 62hrc on the edge. So its a bit more like a normal high carbon steel now rather than a super star steel. Perfectly usable though. Nickel next time I think. It might not look as interesting though. There is all sorts going on in there, makes me wonder if anything else other than carbon is on the move?
I could probably get away with a lower temperature on the weld, but then I might have to give it more time, swings and roundabouts.


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## oivind_dahle (Jan 18, 2012)

Is your last name catcheside?


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## stevenStefano (Jan 18, 2012)

The pattern on that looks exactly like Caddy's Yoshikane Tamamoku in the BST, it looks great


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## WillC (Jan 18, 2012)

Thanks Steven, Olvind, Yes its my surname. Just a little out of interest thing, Catcheside means "Windy side of the hill" or words to that effect. There is a place called Catcheside up north somewhere, presumably on the side of a windy hill. They won't give it back to me I've asked.


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## WillC (Jan 18, 2012)

Just carved the chicken with this blade, making sure I got lots of juice all over the core. I'm liking this.


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## Aphex (Jan 19, 2012)

Wow! That one turned out much better than i was expecting. The damascus has some very pretty structure going on plus the carbon migration just adds to the beauty in my opinion. Well done.


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## ecchef (Jan 19, 2012)

Looks like foamy waves on an angry sea. High coolness factor! :thumbsup:


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## HHH Knives (Jan 19, 2012)

KNICE! Will your really rockin it lately!


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## zitangy (Jan 19, 2012)

Hi Will,

Noticed that the pictures are more pleasing, maybe because of the contrast... Is the the cameraman or a new camera..?

Excellent results for a "virgin" attempt for stainless damascus . 

rgds

D


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## WillC (Jan 19, 2012)

Aw, thanks Guys, few issues to iron out but stainless should be on the menu soon, mmm tasty stainless 
Don't know about the camera thing, just my usual. There is a load more Nickel in 304L than the 15n20 in my carbon damascus so it does really shine when it catches the light. Hard to capture with a camera with the polished look. Comes over less contrasty through the lens in natural light.


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## zitangy (Feb 14, 2012)

Hey Will

On a dateless Valentine's day, I spent some time examining at your Damascus Works over 2 monitors for comparisons and detailed examination

*Tragically, *the 1st picture is attracting me to the possible patina on the rustable areas. It does look mean and viscous ! sort of the no nonsense look. The last pic, I see the yellowish/ brown patina. It would really be interesting to see how the patina develops. I noticed that on the hiromoto stainless clad, the patina is always greyish ( light or dark gray) this is on 2 knives owned by people who are not aware abt patina.. just lazy to give it a thorough clean-up... Point i am making is that could be the steel used that it forms a greyish patina by default...

So any more pics on how the patina of your : bloodied" cutting chores wld be appreciated...

thanks adn rgds

D


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## WillC (Feb 14, 2012)

At the moment it is a deep blue on the core. I cut some steak with it. I like the blue and it stops it turning brown with onions. Makes it nice and stable. I'll get a pic tomorrow and you can decide if you want it with blue patina or shiny. It is blue paper steel as well, so a blue core seems quite apt.:groucho:


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