Thread: Fresh Damascus

As I said time is part of the equation.

Originally Posted by 32t

I think that this is going to extremes here. There should be an acceptable failure rate. A factory rejects X amount and it is part of the game. As an individual your time is worth a lot to you. When thinking of it overall as a business it is part of the equation.

I digress but a good example to me is if a country sends 100 soldiers to war and one gets killed, as far as the country is concerned that is no big deal. If you are part of the individual soldiers family it is a big deal to you.

If you are going to make things out of custom or unique materials and are not accepting that failure is part of the equation then it is not for you.

I am inclined to agree here, while I too am a maker, and would be quite upset if this had happened to me. Mistakes happen, I know I've made a few throughout my life. Damascus for that price, maybe a mistake will happen now and again. That being said, I've used Alabama Damascus before, and while it may not be the best stuff out there, I think for their prices, it can't be beat. I've met the owner before, I don't believe they make cheap stuff to make cheap stuff, I believe they aim to make affordable damascus.

Either way, it is a super bummer, but that's how creating something from scratch goes... sometimes you gotta take a deep breath, throw it in the trash and start over.

I have a drawer full of reminders from over the years,I think I will take the rest of the billet and hammer out some of them fancy soap spoons.I got a new billet of 1080-15N20 and started over,I did have to tell the customer that it's going to take longer than expected and he was very understanding.

I've also found that razors are more susceptible to 'finding' cold shuts because you scoop out so much material, and therefore dig really deep into the heart of the billet where the last folds are. With kitchen knives for example, all you do is make it flatter and then surface grind. So any welding flaw will remain hidden as long as it is in the core of the steel.