~ ABOUT TN DAMASCUS ~ ~ KNIFE-MAKERS USING TN DAMASCUS ~ VIDEOS ~ ~ FINISHING SUGGESTIONS FOR TN DAMASCUS ~ ~ HEAT TREATING TN DAMASCUS ~
ABOUT TWISTED NICKEL DAMASCUS Please Note: As of July 2006, Jim is no longer making custom damasus steel. Twisted Nickel has been manufacturing high quality custom damascus steel for the past 17 years. To date, over 9000 pounds have been made. Twisted Nickel's damascus bars have been used around the world by top knife-makers, guitar luthiers, and many other crafts-people.
ABOUT TWISTED NICKEL DAMASCUS
Please Note: As of July 2006, Jim is no longer making custom damasus steel.
Twisted Nickel has been manufacturing high quality custom damascus steel for the past 17 years. To date, over 9000 pounds have been made. Twisted Nickel's damascus bars have been used around the world by top knife-makers, guitar luthiers, and many other crafts-people.
Twisted Nickel Damascus is forged from C-1095 and Nickel 200. The average bar starts out with 250 layers of alternating steel and nickel layered up and flat welded at 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. Our 75 ton hydraulic press sets the weld at this temperature allowing for a very high definition pattern. All bars are normalized and annealed before surface grinding. You can bandsaw, drill, mill or file work the steel in this state. Nickel is a bright finish material, highly corrosion resistant, and will allow you to finish your blades with a very high contrast. You can also hot gun blue or black oxide them for an outstanding look.
VIDEOS Both videos can be viewed through Windows Media Player or through any program that plays "Mpeg Video."
VIDEOS
Both videos can be viewed through Windows Media Player or through any program that plays "Mpeg Video."
View forging video 4.7 MB
View twisting video 5.2 MB
HOW TO FINISH NICKEL DAMASCUS TO REALLY BRING OUT THE PATTERN There are two ways to finish nickel Damascus, hot gun bluing and acid etching. Gun bluing will give you a high gloss finish with good contrast. The best Damascus to use if you are bluing is a bold pattern, a fine pattern may be lost or subdued. Take your blade to as high a polish as possible; do not etch, and then have a gun shop dunk it for you. When you get it back, you will find that the nickel will have a copper brown oxide on it. This can be removed by coating the blade with oil and rubbing it with a Miracle Polishing Cloth. Rub lightly with lots of oil and clean with a dry white cloth or paper towel. You will see a dark coloration on the cloth, this is the oxide coming off. DO NOT OVER DO IT. The trick is knowing when to stop rubbing, as you can start removing the black from the steel.
HOW TO FINISH NICKEL DAMASCUS TO REALLY BRING OUT THE PATTERN
There are two ways to finish nickel Damascus, hot gun bluing and acid etching. Gun bluing will give you a high gloss finish with good contrast. The best Damascus to use if you are bluing is a bold pattern, a fine pattern may be lost or subdued. Take your blade to as high a polish as possible; do not etch, and then have a gun shop dunk it for you. When you get it back, you will find that the nickel will have a copper brown oxide on it. This can be removed by coating the blade with oil and rubbing it with a Miracle Polishing Cloth. Rub lightly with lots of oil and clean with a dry white cloth or paper towel. You will see a dark coloration on the cloth, this is the oxide coming off. DO NOT OVER DO IT. The trick is knowing when to stop rubbing, as you can start removing the black from the steel.
The nickel is surface coated, but there is penetration into the steel. When you are satisfied with the results, rub the blade with clean oil on a clean cloth to remove any loose grit. I find that a coat of boiled linseed oil brings out the deep black finish and it seals the tiny pores in the steel to prevent rust. When using linseed oil, make sure you do not leave it on too long as it scabs over, and you have to remove it with thinner. Finally buff the blade with a clean soft cloth, and let set in a warm dry place, with nothing touching the blade for a day or two to let the linseed oil cure. Don't use instant bluing. It etches, it's blotchy and you wont like it. When you have put so much work into a blade, don't skimp on the final finish. Notes of warning. #1 Hot bluing salts are mostly caustic soda, and the finish is done at 292° F. This will eat solder, silver, and other non-ferrous metals as well as handle materials. #2 The longer you wait to rub out your blade after bluing, the harder it is to remove the oxide as it does set-up. Acid etching, when properly done can bring up any secondary pattern in the Damascus and even give you a 3D look. I use Murriatic acid (pool acid) because it is easy to get, cheap, and it doesn't pit like ferric chloride. I never throw-out old acid, I just remove the crystals that form at the bottom of my tank and ad acid as needed. Your acid will turn dark after a few uses, this is iron oxide building up in the solution and you want this. This gives you a quick color change to check your pattern as you work on your Damascus. This oxide sinks to the bottom of the tank and etches at a different rate, so I do not recommend using a pipe as a container for your acid, unless you continually agitate the solution or pump the solution from the bottom to the top of the container. I use a plastic tote bin with a plastic basket inside. "Pic and Save" is a good place to buy these cheap. When I etch I turn the blade over about every 15 to 20 minutes to get an even finish. If you get an uneven look it may be due to the heat-treating. A differential heat-treat or drawing out the temper in part of the blade will change the way it looks after etching. The method of heat-treating will also change the look of the etch. When heated in an open-air furnace the surface of the steel forms oxides which act like an etch. When done in high-temp salt the surface of the nickel and the steel remain bright and clean. To begin bringing out your pattern, finish your Damascus to about 400 grit. Place in full strength acid for 15 to 20 minutes, then flush in water and backing soda, rinse in hot water and dry. Rub out the steel with a mild abrasive like Semi-chrome using 0000 steel wool. Rinse in hot water and put the steel back into the acid for another 15 minutes. Keep doing this etch-polish routine until you have the finish you want. Acid is dangerous, so protect your eyes and wear rubber gloves. Have clean flush water near-by to rinse yourself if you get acid on you. After your last hot rinse, dry the steel thoroughly and coat with linseed oil and-or wax.
HEAT TREATING TWISTED NICKEL DAMASCUS C-1095 is a fast quench steel. You must drop from 1500 degrees Fahrenheit to below 900 degrees in one second. A brine quench is about the best way to achieve this. I recommend heating the blade in high temperature salt to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit.
HEAT TREATING TWISTED NICKEL DAMASCUS
C-1095 is a fast quench steel. You must drop from 1500 degrees Fahrenheit to below 900 degrees in one second. A brine quench is about the best way to achieve this. I recommend heating the blade in high temperature salt to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Avoid drafts as you move the blade from the salt to the quench. If one side is cooler than the other, your blade may warp. If you are not set up for high temperature salt, your best bet is to send your blade out to someone skilled in this particular method. Once hardened, you will need to draw out the temper.
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