# trimmings/offcuts of Damascus steel?



## duncsuss

Nearly 3 years ago, @therichinc generously sent me a piece of Damascus steel that was an offcut from one of his knives. I finally got to the point where I want to make a clip for a fountain pen from it.

After a week of hunting, I have to admit that I can't find it anywhere 

If anyone has any little pieces -- they don't need to be any larger than 1/4" by 3" (and I could probably use shorter than that) -- of annealed Damascus, please let me know. It has to be "un-hardened" so I can shape and drill it with regular HSS tools.

Let me know what you'd like in return (trade, $). Thanks!


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## ripjack13

Will you be taking lots of process pictures of this project? I would love to see how it is done....

Reactions: Agree 1


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## duncsuss

ripjack13 said:


> Will you be taking lots of process pictures of this project? I would love to see how it is done....


Me too -- this will be an adventure for me. I've seen the starting material, and I've seen the end result. Now all I have to do is figure out the bit in the middle 

It will almost certainly involve a jeweller's saw (since I haven't got a bandsaw for metal ... _yet!_), a drill press, a Dremel and/or Foredom-knockoff and/or a dental lab drill (air turbine with carbide burs). And lots of cussing.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


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## ripjack13

nice.....be sure to make up some good ones. 


duncsuss said:


> And lots of cussing.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## NYWoodturner

Duncan - send me your addy. I have some I can send you.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Way Cool 1 | +Karma 2


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## robert flynt

I also have some I can send. I save it to make jewelry and reforge in to small blades (neck knives) and such.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Way Cool 1 | +Karma 3


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## duncsuss

NYWoodturner said:


> Duncan - send me your addy. I have some I can send you.





robert flynt said:


> I also have some I can send. I save it to make jewelry and reforge in to small blades (neck knives) and such.



Much appreciated, gents.

It sounds like you already have a plan for yours though, Robert. If you're certain you can spare a couple of small pieces, I'd like to try them. I've seen pix of some of your blades, and if any of the maker's mojo is left in the trimmings it might give me a helping hand

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Tclem

@robert flynt @NYWoodturner I also need a scrap piece for a pen. It needs to be 1/8” x 2”x9”. Thank you for helping me out also. I’m sure y’all have my address

Reactions: Funny 11


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## ripjack13

Tclem said:


> @robert flynt @NYWoodturner I also need a scrap piece for a pen. It needs to be 1/8” x 2”x9”. Thank you for helping me out also. I’m sure y’all have my address



Hmmmm......that size looks a bit fishy.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## duncsuss

Tclem said:


> @robert flynt @NYWoodturner I also need a scrap piece for a pen. It needs to be 1/8” x 2”x9”. Thank you for helping me out also. I’m sure y’all have my address



If you're going to make a pen from it, you'll need it to be thicker than 1/8".

Just sayin'.

You're welcome.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 3


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## Tclem

duncsuss said:


> If you're going to make a pen from it, you'll need it to be thicker than 1/8".
> 
> Just sayin'.
> 
> You're welcome.


I’ll glue it together

Reactions: Funny 1


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## duncsuss

Tclem said:


> I’ll glue it together



Ooh, clever. I expected you to say you were going to roll it into a tube and weld it "to save having to drill it later".

Reactions: Like 3 | Funny 2


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## Tclem

duncsuss said:


> Ooh, clever. I expected you to say you were going to roll it into a tube and weld it "to save having to drill it later".


Is southerners are very very smart. (Donkeys)

Reactions: Funny 1


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## ripjack13



Reactions: Agree 1


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## robert flynt

Duncsuss the scrap damascus is on the way.

Reactions: +Karma 1


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## duncsuss

robert flynt said:


> Duncsuss the scrap damascus is on the way.


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## duncsuss

So this is embarrassing ... I'd spent two weekends moving things around in my garage looking for that Damascus before asking again. Both Scott @NYWoodturner and Robert @robert flynt have put some in the mail to me (for which Thanks Again), and I spent this morning moving all the boxes back into their places so I can get to my lathe. Slipped down the side of one of them was ... yeah, I don't need to spell it out.

Me:  You:

Reactions: Funny 2


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## NYWoodturner

Well you have several scraps on the way now so you can make clip city.  
Not all are Damascus. There is some AEBL, stainless, 52100 and others in there


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## duncsuss

NYWoodturner said:


> Well you have several scraps on the way now so you can make clip city.
> Not all are Damascus. There is some AEBL, stainless, 52100 and others in there



Wow ... I don't know what AEBL or 52100 are, going to have to look those up. From what I've read, stainless is not easy to machine, let alone work by hand -- or have I got that wrong?

Thanks!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## NYWoodturner

They are all annealed. I find the AEB-L pretty soft and the 52100 harder. the 52100 is high carbon steel. I can check the Rockwell hardness on both in their annealed state tomorrow and let you know. The Damascus I sent is from Alabama Damascus and is high carbon as well. I have a bigger piece of that that I will test too.


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## duncsuss

NYWoodturner said:


> They are all annealed. I find the AEB-L pretty soft and the 52100 harder. the 52100 is high carbon steel. I can check the Rockwell hardness on both in their annealed state tomorrow and let you know. The Damascus I sent is from Alabama Damascus and is high carbon as well. I have a bigger piece of that that I will test too.


Thanks -- but honestly, knowing the Rockwell hardness numbers won't tell me anything useful. I don't have any experience in metalworking, so I have no understanding of what the numbers translate to (in terms of effort needed to file, drill, etc.)

What I'm saying is, don't go to any more trouble on my account, I'll be stumbling around just as much either way


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## Wildthings

duncsuss said:


> So this is embarrassing ... I'd spent two weekends moving things around in my garage looking for that Damascus before asking again. Both Scott @NYWoodturner and Robert @robert flynt have put some in the mail to me (for which Thanks Again), and I spent this morning moving all the boxes back into their places so I can get to my lathe. Slipped down the side of one of them was ... yeah, I don't need to spell it out.
> 
> Me:  You:


MUMs the word!! But you're still required to show what you make!

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## duncsuss

Thanks for the box of goodies, Scott @NYWoodturner -- and the extra surprise you tucked in there

Reactions: Like 1


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## duncsuss

And thank you @robert flynt for the really nice selection of different patterns that UPS delivered today


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## ripjack13




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## Wildthings



Reactions: Like 1


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## duncsuss

ripjack13 said:


>





Wildthings said:


>



What? _*What???
*_
It's dark here, not enough light to take pix. Geeze Loueeze.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## ripjack13

duncsuss said:


> What? _*What???
> *_
> It's dark here, not enough light to take pix. Geeze Loueeze.



You may want to look into something like this after sundown....

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 2


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## duncsuss

ripjack13 said:


> You may want to look into something like this after sundown....
> View attachment 138005



I've got one of these, but it gets messy when I try to aim it downwards.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 2


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## duncsuss

Here is a quick pic of the pieces that Scott (on the right) and Robert (on the left) sent me - thanks again guys

Reactions: Like 1 | EyeCandy! 2


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## Mike Hill

ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh.................................


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## duncsuss

Mike Hill said:


> ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh.................................


I know, right???


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## ripjack13

Dude....that's so cool.
You could make an itty bitty lil knife out of one....

I double dog dare ya....

Reactions: Funny 1


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## duncsuss

ripjack13 said:


> Dude....that's so cool.
> You could make an itty bitty lil knife out of one....
> 
> I double dog dare ya....



Hah!

I was thinking of a model Concord.

And, as the saying goes, "There's no harm thinking."


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## ripjack13

The plane? I can see some pieces that could work....

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Spinartist

Now all y'all correct me if I'm wrong... say that Duncan files/ grinds & shapes these Damascus bits into clips or even a couple of cute mini knives, won't he have to re-dip them in the solution to have the patterns show??

Reactions: Agree 1


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## duncsuss

Spinartist said:


> Now all y'all correct me if I'm wrong... say that Duncan files/ grinds & shapes these Damascus bits into clips or even a couple of cute mini knives, won't he have to re-dip them in the solution to have the patterns show??



You mean like some kind of etching fluid? I happened to buy some from the local Radio Shack during its close-out sale

Reactions: Like 2


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## robert flynt

duncsuss said:


> You mean like some kind of etching fluid? I happened to buy some from the local Radio Shack during its close-out sale


Mix the etchant about 50/50 with distilled water or vinegar. It works best above 70 deg.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Strider

Soooo much kiridashi!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Lou Currier

Late to the party...is the clip done yet?


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## duncsuss

Strider said:


> Soooo much kiridashi!


I don't know what kiridashi is, but it sounds like it's either (a) really really good, or (b) kinda smelly and calls for a hazmat suit ...

Reactions: Funny 1


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## duncsuss

Lou Currier said:


> Late to the party...is the clip done yet?


Not yet, Lou -- I made a start, but then it got too cold to do any kind of work in the shop. Hoping to get back to it soon. Here's what I've managed so far:

SketchUp approximate design:


 


 

And translating that to the metal ... Drill, then shape one side on the bench grinder:


 


 

Now attack the underside with a Foredom-style grinder (the type with a hanging motor and flex shaft to the handpiece):


 


 


 


 
This is where I'm up to -- next I want to shape a round bump on the end and level it, maybe then go at it with hand files.

Reactions: Way Cool 7 | Informative 1


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## Spinartist

What you mean it's to cold?  It was 79* here today!


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## duncsuss

Spinartist said:


> What you mean it's to cold?  It was 79* here today!



Yeah, yeah, yeah ... and where I was all last week up to yesterday morning was 89* -- but my shop is in the Boston-burbs not Barbados

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Spinartist

Barbados!! You should of stopped by here on you way home!!

Reactions: Like 1


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## duncsuss

Spinartist said:


> Barbados!! You should of stopped by here on you way home!!


The flight path was way the heck out in the Atlantic, nowhere near Florida. I think the first land we saw after leaving the islands was Cape Cod.


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## duncsuss

Status report: now the temperature has risen a few degrees, I got back into the shop and did a bit more work on this clip. I decided it's time to separate the clip from the rest of the metal, and started by scribing a line against a straight edge. Then I picked up a jewelers' saw and rubbed it for five minutes or so, getting nowhere. Reached for the hacksaw, and had a somewhat similar experience with that -- I know I've got a fresh blade someplace, but after a few minutes searching for that I gave up.

Time for the Dremel with a heavy duty cut-off wheel: it wasn't fast, but the tool was doing all the work. Next up: more grinding to shape the underside, filing and smoothing.

Reactions: Like 3 | Way Cool 4


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## ripjack13



Reactions: Agree 1


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## duncsuss

I did some more with this clip: finished shaping it, sanded through 220 grit, and dropped it into etching fluid for a while. There are a couple of issues -- one piece of the Damascus broke away (I just ground it out into the curved area at the bottom), and there are a couple of cracks in it that I was told are "welding flaws".

I'm going to sand it again, through 600 grit this time, and maybe turn a blowtorch on it for a while before etching it again. Here's where it's at right now ...

Reactions: Like 3 | Way Cool 2


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## duncsuss

Sanded through 600 grit, missed the blowtorch part (I couldn't find anything to rest it on that would take the heat) but etched it again ...

Reactions: Like 1 | Way Cool 7


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## ripjack13

Looking good!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## duncsuss

At last -- I got this one finished. I sanded it with 1200 grit paper to shine up the silver highlights, and brushed away the loose dust with a soft toothbrush. Then I sprayed it with rattle-can lacquer, and after that had dried I gave it another gentle sanding.

Here it is attached to a pen cap that I'd made from a psychedelic blank -- which I think looks just like the Damascus but in technicolor

Reactions: EyeCandy! 2 | Way Cool 6


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## Lou Currier



Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Spinartist

That is really cool!!!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## NYWoodturner

That is fantastic Duncan. Very well executed. I am impressed sir!

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 2


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## duncsuss

Thank you kind sirs


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