Damascus steel question?

sanddan

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Has anyone here turned Damascus steel on the lathe?

I was watching a video on making Damascus steel and I had a thought, can you turn this steel on the lathe safely? In the video a mill was used to true up the edges and drill holes but can the steel hold up to turning and not delaminate?
 
If you are referring to modern pattern welded steel, it shouldn't delaminate if properly made. Aside from the actual welds, the various twists and folds which create the pattern would tend to mechanically lock the laminations. Antique Damascus blades had a reputation of being able to slice through armor without damage.
 
If you do a google image search for "lathe turned Damascus steel" you'll see a number of good examples. Mostly small items like rings and pens, but that's probably due to availability of the blank more than anything else. I've not done it myself, though.

-frank
 
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