[TheForge] Banding Steel

[Bob Ehrenberger]

---Original message----
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2007 07:53:54 -0800 (PST)
From: Jerry Smith <jerry_smith at anvilsandinkstudios.com>
Subject: [TheForge] Banding Steel

I have a bucket full of banding steel, would this be
good for making bilets or some kind of pratice
damascus?
If it is just junk steel, it will go to teh recycling
pile.

Merry Christmas,

Jerry

----Reply----
The only thing wrong with it is it, is that it is usually painted which is a 
pain to grind off. My son used to use a mix of band steel and band saw 
blades.  The band saw blade was L6 or 15n20 which was brighter when etched. 
Another problem you may have is, it is so thin it is hard to get a good 
soaking heat without burning the outer layers. The good thing is that 
because it is thin you get a lot of layers on the first weld and only have 
to fold it a couple times, or not at all if you want a bold pattern.

We discovered that we got better results when starting with thicker stock. 
Get a really good first weld and then do the folding.


Robert Ehrenberger
Shelbyville, Mo.
eforge at centurytel.net