Damascus steel, or Pattern Welded steel as it is also called, is a form of manipulating bits of steel of various alloys in such a way that they not only form a solid phase bond (a forge weld), but to display pattens from manipulating those bonds.

Think of it like a layered stack of cheese and lettuce in a sandwich. The cheese and lettuce are different, much like the differences in the alloy content of the steel. Because they are different they show as layers of different colors.

With most of my pattern-welding I use two modern steels called 1095 and 15N20. They are similar enough to weld, forge and heat treat together yet different enough chemically to display a good contrasting pattern. I also use 304 and AEBL for my stainless pattern weld as well as 304 and 316 alloy for my non-carbon stainless.

There is almost no limit to the pattern possibilities with this technique and many have used modern machining technology to form pictures of incredible complexity. A web search for Mosaic Damascus will yield an dizzying array of work.

I have and will continue to do modern pattern-welding, but part of me longs for the days of old (or my concept of those long past days) where a smith labored to make the iron and steel he used from raw ores with mud clay and charcoal and bellows and skill and then work them into a tool....but more on that later.

For now have a look around the site and you will see some patterns in steel which may catch your eye. I have been welding steels for some 20 years and see no end to the patterns yet.

I have had a great pleasure to learn from many craftsmen in this field. In particular I will thank Daryl Meier as he is a pillar upon which much of this craft stands. If you have not seen Daryl’s work then you are truly missing out.

I also give a deep bow to Paul Marx (my first teacher) Steve Schwarzer, Don Fogg, Daryl Meier, Hank Knickmeyer, Ed Schempp and Bill Fiorini all of whom have shared much over the years and with out their continued friendship I would certainly be less.

Mosaic Steel pendants which have been heat colored

I have several billets of 125 layer pattern weld on hand most of the time. Contact me for patterning possibilities and sizes.

I can do very large billets if there is a need.

Blanchard ground 140 thou plate of 1095/15N20 carbon steel ladder patterned material

Blanchard ground 250 thou plate of 1095/15N20 carbon steel ladder patterned material. Note the wide ladder spacing due to plate thickness.

Below is a photo illustrating the grain size differences from an “as forged” above and one which has been normalized below. This is the same billet illustrating the grain sizes possible with proper processing following forging.

All my plates of pattern-weld are processed to yield a soft small grain for processing prior to heat treating.

Note the almost complete lack of visible layers in the break..all 125 pieces have formed a single piece of steel.

“As Forged” Grain

The Grain after refining with a Normalizing process to both even out stress and make smaller grain structures

Multi-bar composite patterns

San-Mai

wrought iron sides and steel center

Pattern-welded steel

Forge welding under the 3B Nazel power hammer