Thread: Pinstripe damascus

A couple of times now I've made a 5 layer razor by just making a stack, forgewelding it together, drawing it out and forging the razor. Since I use just a hand hammer, the layers always have a fair amount of randomness to them. I wanted to try making a razor with neat and orderly layers for once, kinda like the lines in a pinstripe suit.

So I made a 5 layer stack as always and forgewelded it together. But then I split it orthogonally to the layers in 2 equal parts (I cut it lengthwise with an angle grinder), and then took 1 piece (which had a rectangular cross section now) flipped it 90 degrees and drew it out and made it flatter but with the layers running horizontally in the blade instead of vertically. And then I forged a standard monster design razor out of that.

One thing that didn't go as planned was the thin crack you see in the tang. That was a lapse in judgement on my part. O2 through hardens immediately. 15N20 not so much. During quench, the blade hardened instantly but the tang must have retained enough heat to keep the inner layer of 15N20 soft. That contracted during the quench and caused a thin crack in the tang. Looking back this seems hard to avoid in this design using this combination of steels. Next time I think I'll twist the tang a couple of times to distribute those stresses.

Beautiful pattern Bruno. I think it gives the blade a very classy look.

Very nice.

Originally Posted by Bruno

So I made a 5 layer stack as always and forgewelded it together. But then I split it orthogonally to the layers in 2 equal parts (I cut it lengthwise with an angle grinder), and then took 1 piece (which had a rectangular cross section now) flipped it 90 degrees and drew it out and made it flatter but with the layers running horizontally in the blade instead of vertically. And then I forged a standard monster design razor out of that.

It looks great, but I cannot reconcile the blade with your description. I'm gonna have to do some figuring on the matter!

Originally Posted by Utopian

It looks great, but I cannot reconcile the blade with your description. I'm gonna have to do some figuring on the matter!

I'll make drawing later today and post it here.

Thank you. That will eliminate my need to think!

wow she is a monstrous beauty

A horizontal Zebra!

Irrespective of the crack, that's a beauty Bruno!

That's a beautiful and striking damascus pattern unlike any I've seen before.
Great "outside the box" thinking on this one!
Your work continues to cause amazement!

Pete <:-}

Here's the drawing of the process. I only drew a 3 layer stack because the principle is the same.