Copper Infused Twist Block

1 - Begin with your Damascus product wrapped as tightly as possible in .002 SST foil. Use double folds on all sides to ensure a tight seal.

2 - Preheat your furnace to austenitizing temperature – 1,925 degrees Fahrenheit.

3 - Place your wrapped piece in the furnace and allow your furnace to cycle back up to austenitizing temperature.

4 - Soak your piece for 15 minutes.

5 - Remove Foil quickly and Quench in oil until it stops smoking. You can also Plate or Air quench.

6 - Temper twice at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour each time.

**For advanced CRYO hardening, quench in liquid nitrogen for 4 hours, then re-temper once at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. For more information on cryo treatment, read through this forum thread.

**For rings and other small parts that don’t require a full heat treat we recommend using a torch and heating the material to a halloween orange. This is sufficient to harden the material and return the stainless qualities of the damascus back into the steel. Flaming will discolor the surface and prevent proper etching of the damascus so be sure to flame prior to final sanding steps.

Coating: ATP-641, Turco, or similar high temperatureanti-scale/decarburization coatings can be used in replace of foil to reduce scale or surface decarburization.

Data is representative of controlled heat treating equipment (e.g. oven,salts, etc.) temperatures and industrial standard quenchant.

Suggested quench oil: Parks 50–expected as quenched hardness may be lower if a slower quench oil or non-industrial quench medium is used.

Austenizing: Austenizing temperature (1,450 to 1,480°F /801°C) Soak time varies 5 to 15 minutes based on heat treating equipment and cross section–soak times are reduced to minimum for people heat treating in a forge–forge heat treating without PID temperature control limits accurate means of maintaining temperature. If using calibrated, proper industrial equipment for heat treating, use the supplied extended soak times based on over all steel thickness.

**Do not put blades in oven when cold, insert at or just below austenizing temperature–temperature variances is for difference in stock thicknesses and a window of margin for error.

Tempering: Once blade is quenched and near ambient temperature, blades should be tempered accordingly, the times suggested are to ensure even, consistent temperature.Figures supplied are as representative of industrial standards.*If using a small toaster oven or household kitchen oven for tempering, using a blade holding rack made from kiln furniture, a roasting tray lined with fine sand, or similar large object will help retain thermal mass to reduce wide swinging temperatures as the device fluctuates trying to maintain temperature.

Note: Final hardness values vary based on initial as-quenched hardness and percentage of conversion to Martensite. Only reliable testing methods, e.g. calibrated Rockwell hardness tester, can provide actual hardness values–hardness calibrated files and chisels are relative testing methods and inaccurate for true hardness value reading.

Temper twice for 2hrs.

Step 1: Sanding

Bring your Damascus to a 400 to 600 grit finish. If you’re using muriatic acid, you can bring the Damascus up to 1200 grit, or you can leave it at 400 grit. Either is effective however the color contrast is darker with Ferric Chloride For ferric acid, keep the grit between 400 and 600. Do not buff before etching. Buffing closes the pores in the metal, which will keep the acid from absorbing, and you’ll end up with an uneven etch.

Step 2: Washing

To etch Damascus, it should be perfectly clean. Thoroughly wash your piece with pure alcohol or brake cleaner and pat it dry with a clean rag.

Step 3: Dilution

If you’re using ferric acid, dilute it with Distilled water to a 10% Ferric, 90% Distilled water ratio. Never use tap water, spring water, or filtered water – they will all cause problems with the etc. Be sure that your distilled water hasn’t been sitting for more than a year. Muriatic acid needs no dilution.

Step 4: Warming the Acid

For both muriatic acid and ferric chloride, the temperature should be between 70 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, about room temperature. If you need to warm your acid for use, the best method is to place your container of acid into a large bowl of warm water. **Never put acid in the microwave**

Step 5: Submersion Etching

Hang your damascus piece in the container of acid so that it hangs freely and doesn’t touch the sides or bottom of the container. Leave submerged for 60 seconds then pull the damascus out of the etchant and brush the entire surface of the damascus with a soft bristle toothbrush, this will help remove any residual oil or grease that you might have missed during cleaning, and help to brush away the dissolving material as the acid does its job. After brushing submerge the damascus back into the etchant and leave it submerged for 15 minutes.

Step 6: Neutralization

Remove your Damascus piece from the acid and submerge it into your baking soda bath for 5 minutes to neutralize the acid. Pat dry. After neutralizing, spray damascus with WD-40 and hang for 3-5 hours which can darken the color contrast.

 ***You can repeat steps 5 for a deeper etch if you desire***