The spiral triskelion shape is closed. The putty sealed the shape so when he poured powder into the tube the putty prevented the first powder from getting inside the shape. Once backfilled he removed the putty from the sealed shape and filled that empty space with a different steel powder to create the contrasting Damascus look.
A friend of mine was doing his PhD on Wootz steel, a historically legendary steel that originated in India, that was extremely hard and tough, which is where they say true Damascus steel came from via trade routes. It had ripply watermarks from bands of carbides, not strong patterns like you see here.
He gave me a small billet of wootz that he cast based on some historical texts he was reading, I think it's in my garage somewhere.
That would have made the job more difficult, trying fill specifically the inner spiral and not spilling it as he placed it in the tube.
I am super confident this person has a lot of experience and is doing this the easiest way. People who fabricate things put a lot of thought into making their work easier and more efficient.
Is there any chance you know how the whole plastic inside the billet works? Does it just burn out before the forge weld? I would have thought having plastic inside your powdered steel would have a negative effect on the structure of the steel, but I’m not a smith nor a metallurgist.
It’s a good question, most plastics will burn out.
You can see them drill a hole in the end to create an off-gassing port. Any residual from the plastic is likely just carbon and it probably increases the contrast between steels.
I bet this was just an experiment. Since 3D printing stuff like this and mixing it in ancient processes like metal forging we’re seeing folks use a new readily available technology in new and experimental ways.
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u/SeedlessPomegranate 4d ago
What was the point of the first step? The part where the putty was put on?