The customer requested a damascus grip cap, butt plate, and forend inlay for his single shot .45-70.
We didnt have any billets, so away we go...

I didnt get enough pictures of the process.

First step is to layer your dissimular steels. In this case we(Bailey Bradshaw and I) used 1018, 1084, and L6; 19 layers to be exact.
You must stack the steel first, then weld the seams. After welding the seams the billet goes into the forge to be forge welded and pressed. Bars are drawn out in our hydrolic press to a length of 22" or so.

Once cooled down we cut the billet into 5ths, about 4" in length each. For proper forge welding and end result you also must remove all slag from the previous time spent in the forge. Since we started with 19 layers and cut it into 5ths, we then stack the billets which will result in 95ish layers. before going into the forge we weld the seams agian

The forge welding, drawing into a bar, cutting, removing slag, and stacking happens agin. This result in a billet with 475 layers. At the end we press the bar in the hydrolic press using a special die that looks like gear teeth. this draws the steel grain structure into a ladder style pattern. You'll see below on a butt plate what im talking about.


billet being cut into 5ths after the first forging process:

billets cut and starting to remove slag


billet on the welding bench for arc welding. seams on the sides and ends are welded

Way on down the road turned into grip cap and forend inlay. Just after etching:


Grip cap heat colored and lacquered(bad picture):


Butt plate made, heat colored, and lacquered. the damascus shows up great!:

excellent work. I love it.

Now ain't those purty. Very Nice Work. You should be proud of those. I would be.

Aaron - You and Bailey should really consider doing this kind of stuff for a living... Just my opinion.

JDA

well done, well done indeed

Aaron, when you say weld the seams do you mean all the way around? If you do can you skip using flux? My only knowledge of this is from watching youtube video's. Either way thanks for sharing.

I didn't think I would like such a thing...but...nicely done!

I had Bailey's buddy make me some damascus for scope bases. The look was ok as the damascus was subtle. David Christman said no more! The damascus that he sent was very hard to machine.

J-Zola,

yes, welding the seams all the way around seals the inside of the billet from oxygen and negates the need for flux. It produces a nice clean weld with no "ghost" lines from trapped flux. Also saves the inside of your forge from the flux eating away the insulation.

Regarding the difficulty in machining, it depends on the alloys used. Mild steel an nickle machines easy, but any of the tool steel mixes can be a bear.

Fluxless damascus goes back a LONG time ! Especially in the UK ! Try it .
Scrap from that mixture of steels would make a fine useful knife
Your pattern I think is very appropriate for the rifle.

What process is used to create the starburst on the cap?

Adam

Cnc mill and a ball endmill to create that pattern. One could do it with a round file, but you would end up with one expensive grip cap.