[TheForge] Pattern Welding Billets

[James Binnion]

On Apr 2, 2011, at 12:51 PM, Noah Morris wrote:
 
> According to my rough calculations I have lost 50% or more  of the original material. I understand that I am changing the density of the metal and its over all shape, but I did a displacement test to compare and that is where I am getting the 50% from.

Damascus is a particular formula of crucible steel that gets its pattern from the heat treatment it goes through during it's smelting and cooling. There are only a handful of people who have made any modern examples of damascus steel. Look on the web for information about Dr Verhoeven, Al Pendray and others who have done a lot of research into damascus steel and made modern examples.  Pattern welding is what you are doing. Fifty percent loss in pattern welding is not too excessive but you can do better as Noah points out. You are not however changing the density of the metal and short of having a neutron star handy to create collapsed matter there is nothing you can do to change the density of the metal. Density is a physical property of the metal and you cannot change it. You do change the shape of the volume of your billet by forging and drawing and you do loose material to scale formation. 



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James Binnion
jbin at well.com