Couldn't agree more - it is definitely a top-three stress reliever for me! :)
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I'm liking the pattern! That's going to be a nice looking razor.
What is the resulting carbon content in that razor?
203E is mild steel though. Only .2% carbon.
(S)A203 Grade E (S)A203 Grade F Pressure vessel steel plate--YUSHENG STEEL
The Damascus has a fairly low layer count so not a whole lot of carbon migration yet, and the nickel layer is running through the edge a lot. So I am wondering about how many low carbon boundaries will be criss crossing the edge.
There was no mention of pure nickel. That would stop carbon migration entirely. 15N20 or 203E doesn't have enough nickel to prevent it. Carbon migration has probably maxed out if this is run through four welding cycles.
There are 3 other carbon steels used in the makeup,15N20 is 1070 with nickel added .There are 10 layers of carbon steel and 3 layers of 203E with a finished layer count of if my memory serves me 416 layers.If you mix it with a high carbon steel and fold it a few times the carbon content will equalize through the blade. This last statement comes from a paper on using 203E in Damascus from a metalurgest and I wanted to link to it but the link is broken.Back in the day when pattern welded Damascus made its debue 203E was what 15N20 is today.It's added by some manufacturers of Damascus to give a high contrast.I won't be back in my shop for another week and a half when I will finish this razor up but I'm hedging it will turn out excellent.