I'm confused

wmhammond

Well-Known Member
I bought a piece of Damascus on ebay from Pakistan or India or someplace. They said it is 512 layers of 1095 & 15N20. I did a site search on Annealing and I read all the stuff on normalizing, annealing and everything in between and I have no clue what I should do first to this piece of steel. I want it as soft as possible so I can drill it, cut it, shape it, rub it on my head, etc. I don't have a heat treat oven but I do have a BBQ and a hair drier. What should I do to get it softer? Thanks,

Wallace
 
First of all Welcome to KD.

I would be surprised if you would need to anneal the billet. if you can take a file to it and cut it easily then it should be fine for drilling and cutting. If it is on the hard side then all you need to do is take it to none magnetic in your forge and then let it cool as slow as possible. I put my stuff in a can of vermiculite and let it cool over night. think slow, slow, slow, cooling. As far as "normalizing" the steel that is another thing. I have no idea how they treat their steel in Pakistan. I have seen the prices and it is my thought you get what you pay for. if the maker knows what he's doing that should be done as a part of the forging.

I buy my billets here on KD and the guys know their biz and have a stake in making sure you are happy. I happen to get mine from Randy Hass ( HHH Damascus) but there are many more that are good too.

Erik
 
Eric: Thanks for the welcome and thanks for the response to my question. I bought it before I knew about this site - won't make that mistake again. Think I'll just throw it in my "Forge" and heat it to non magnetic. Then stop the hair dryer and let the whole thing cool overnight. We'll see what happens. Thanks again,

Wallace
 
Wallance,
Some of that overseas damascus can be quite good but some can be spotty with bad welds etc.
The file test will tell you alot . i have profiled and then used Carbide drill bits if I sespect hard spots.
I get my Carbon steel Damascus from Randy and others here in the USA. When I want stainless steel Dammy I buy from Devin Thomas.
 
The billet should not be hardened - It would be very atypical to harden a damascus billet - there is no logical reason to do this. Just start working it as planned.
 
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